Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9504302053.A27821-0100000@lan.vita.org> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 20:53:52 -0400 From: DevelopNet News <mailto:dnn@LAN.VITA.ORG> Subject: Your DevelopNet News for May To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L
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May 1995 Volume 5, No. 5
IN THIS ISSUE
HUNGER WATCH
Biotechnology For Africa's Food Needs?
LITERATURE REVIEWS
Improving Alcohol Production
Nutrition in The Western Hemisphere
U.S.A.: Starting at The Bottom
ORGANIZATIONS
New in Print From PACT
VITA PROJECTS
Disaster Services
First VITASAT Gateway Gets License
ANNOUNCEMENTS
World Telecommunications at Geneva
Writers' Competition: $1,000!
* * *
DevelopNet News is published monthly by Volunteers in Technical
Assistance (VITA) in Arlington, Virginia, USA. For additional
information, please see the end of this newsletter.
* * *
H u n g e r W a t c h
BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR AFRICA'S FOOD NEEDS?
Biotechnology uses genetic engineering to solve problems for agricul-
ture, industry, and medicine. Will biotechnology enable Sub-Saharan
Africa to meet its food needs? Not yet, the experts say; this relatively
new branch of technology has not advanced far enough to produce more
food in that area of the world. But biotechnology eventually will be
among several solutions to food insecurity there. More important just
now are food policy changes and new technologies that focus on a range
of issues, from increased crop yields of cassava to better ways to cap-
ture and store water during the rainy season.
Applying biotechnology
In many parts of Asia famine was averted through Green Revolution tech-
nologies that could be applied consistently across millions of hectares
of land. But Sub-Saharan Africa presents special challenges -- poor
soils, unsuitable conditions for irrigation, and overall wide variations
in growing conditions. Millions of people subsist in fragile areas -- on
hillsides, forest margins, and in drylands areas where growing any kind
of crop is a challenge.
Noting the diverse growing conditions of Sub-Saharan Africa, Per
Pinstrup-Andersen (International Food Policy Research Institute,
Washington, D.C.) says, "Much of the agricultural research that has been
done in the past was focused on high-potential areas of Asia and is not
well-suited to Sub-Saharan Africa. We need more research to help these
farmers increase production per unit of land without damaging the envi-
ronment. We need more drought tolerance in crops grown in these regions,
such as cassava, maize, sorghum, and millet, and we need varieties that
are more high-yielding and resistant to pests and diseases."
Because the needs of crop plants are complex, some experts say that bio-
technology is not likely to assist in their improvement. "In the area of
increasing yields, traditional plant breeding has been delivering the
goods, not biotechnology," said Margaret Mellon (Union of Concerned Sci-
entists, Washington, D.C.). Agricultural researchers agree that biotech-
nology is not yet capable of dealing with complex traits. Roger Beachy
(Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California) adds: "But we can
certainly expect that in the next five or ten years, genetic engineering
will help to arm plants against some of these problems."
According to plant biologist Indra Vasil (University of Florida, Gaines-
ville; and UNESCO), biotechnology can indirectly help solve Africa's
food problem right now. Biotechnology helps to identify new genes,
through gene mapping, which makes it easier for plant breeders to select
the right gene combinations. For such insect pests as aphids, white
flies, and caterpillars, biotechnology will also likely be the primary
method of control, replacing chemicals and pesticides, according to
Beachy.
Beachy notes that many voracious insects have been controlled through
massive chemical spraying. Recently, the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (Ibadan, Nigeria) and other organizations have had
great success in keeping insects in check through biological control by
identifying and using natural predators or using natural fungi or bac-
teria in sprays. Understanding such factors may be the only environ-
mentally safe way to control the primary culprits that limit production
of crops in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Improving crops is not the only way to improve yield. Most of Africa's
agriculture is rainfed, instead of irrigated, and vulnerable to drought.
African leaders cite a need for new, small-scale technologies to irri-
gate lands during the dry spells. Africa must move to agriculture that
relies on water collected during the rainy season, said Uganda's vice-
president, Speciosa Wandera Kazibwe. "We must tap underground water and
the water in our fresh water lakes and rivers. But we must adopt tech-
nologies for storing and using water that are appropriate for our small
farms."
Strong, local research programs.
The ability to upgrade agriculture in Africa also hinges on the exis-
tence of strong national agricultural research programs. Vernon Ruttan
(University of Minnesota, St. Paul) says that in Africa, agricultural
technologies that lead to large increases per hectare of land are typi-
cally very location-specific. But they can only be adapted to particular
locations to the extent that there are strong research programs in those
locations.
Furthermore, the national agricultural research programs offer improve-
ments in crop technology to farmers free of charge. "Innovation in
Africa will not be accomplished through the private sector," said Klaus
Leisinger (Ciba-Geigy Foundation for Cooperation with Developing Coun-
tries, Basel, Switzerland). It must be accomplished through the inter-
national research organizations, combined with national programs and
academic institutions. The reasons are that the commercial market in
Africa is too small to be developed by the private sector and improved
crop varieties must be affordable to the small farmer.
Transfer of knowledge to farmers
But new technology is only as good as the mechanism of its dissemination
to farmers. According to African leaders, this link has been quite weak.
"In my country, a lot of agricultural research has been undertaken in
the last 60 years," says Kazibwe. "But the bulk of these findings are
allowed to gather dust in our archives and research institutions. The
challenge is to communicate the findings to the people who need this
information -- the farmers."
Extension services are also needed to spread the word about better agro-
nomic practices that could help increase crop yields. Fungal and viral
plant diseases are particularly devastating in Sub-Saharan Africa,
according to Beachy, because of the presence of weeds and the lack of
freezing temperatures that help to control them. Weeds are a major
reservoir for viruses and diseases. But extension services have not
delivered this information to many rural and nomadic farmers, who
traditionally plant crops such as cassava on the edge of the forest
instead of in plots that are tilled and kept clear of weeds.
Technology Part of a Larger Mosaic
It has been said that technological innovation is just one stone in a
large and complex mosaic. Kazibwe reminds us that, in the drive to
develop the best technology, indigenous knowledge should not be
forgotten.
According to Francis Idachaba (University of Agriculture, Makurdi,
Nigeria), unsound food policies and governmental instability in large
part hinder the ability of technology to help the small farmer. Some of
the poor policies have included government taxation of agriculture to
finance nonagricultural products; lack of government support of agricul-
tural extension services; poor rural infrastructure, including roads,
water supplies, and physical markets in which to buy, sell, and store
crops; and unfriendly macroeconomic policy environments, including poor
exchange rates that hinder African agricultural exports.
Idachaba says, "Policy changes are being made that define the proper
role of the government in agriculture. But still, . . . policy failures
persist because their political cost has been too low. . . . Rural peo-
ple must put political pressure on governments to support improvements
in agricultural technologies. In African countries, there are no 'farm
lobbies,' but they are urgently needed."
Adapted from an article, "Applying Science to Sub-Saharan Africa's Food
Needs," in 2020 News & Views, on-line newsletter of the International
Food Policy Research Institute (Washington, D.C.), February, 1955.
L i t e r a t u r e R e v i e w s
IMPROVING ALCOHOL PRODUCTION
K.O. Nwannorrh, K.O. Akali, and C.U. Nwanojuo, 1994. "Molds as Local
Substitutes in Alcohol Production." Discovery and Innovation (Nairobi),
volume 6, no. 2, pages 198-201.
Alcohol (ethanol) is of great industrial and medical importance world-
wide. It is most often produced by a strain of "brewer's yeast" (Sac-
charomyces cerevisiae), which is highly active in breakdown of sugar
(glucose) as well as alcohol production, starting with a variety of raw
materials or substrates. But yeast breaks down sugar indiscriminately,
giving rise to a variety of products, some of which are not alcohol and
must later be separated from alcohol by additional processing.
The authors (Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria) note that several
kinds of mold produce alcohol, a fact that is known throughout the
world. Some molds are more selective than yeast regarding the product of
fermentation. When hydrolyzed cashew-nut juice was the substrate, one
mold (Rhizopus nigricans) was more efficient than yeast in producing
alcohol without unwanted by-products. Wood cellulose is a highly pro-
mising source for mold fermentation and its use, in many locations,
would allow for obtaining 90% of the needed substrate from local resour-
ces. Thus, the use of mold instead of yeast for fermentation may sim-
plify and reduce the costs of alcohol production.
NUTRITION IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
"Nutritional Situation in the Americas," 1994. Epidemiological Bulletin,
Pan American Health Organization, no. 3 (September), pages 1 - 6.
Who gets enough to eat in the Americas? According to this report, "The
economic crisis that began in the 1980s has reduced the population's
real income and the purchasing power in most of the countries."
Estimating the state of nutrition of a population is not an exact sci-
ence: it is difficult because of the lack of uniformity in the infor-
mation available. This, in turn, reflects the varying extent to which
countries actually use the agreed standards of measurement. Measuring
even the age and height of school children is not done in the same way
everywhere.
Often, the existence of a condition (for example, underweight among
school children) is based on whether the individual measurement is more
than two standard deviations from the population mean. Using such a
criterion, less than two percent of children in Paraguay, the United
States, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, and Uruguay are underweight in rela-
tion to height, and more than five percent in Venezuela and Mexico are
underweight.
The report documents sizeable deficiencies in iron, iodine, and vitamin
A among various regions in the Americas. But "almost all of the Region's
countries have experienced a rise the prevalence of noncommunicable
chronic diseases associated with diet and nutrition." These changes, in
many cases, are related to changes in dietary habits, and affected
children as well as adults.
Obesity is associated with a host of health problems. Obesity is very
prevalent throughout the Americas, especially among females, and it is
more prevalent at lower socioeconomic levels. The article emphasizes
that "obesity is a public health problem that requires special
attention."
U.S.A.: STARTING AT THE BOTTOM
"Success Starts at Grass Roots," 1995. In Urban Health Challenges for
the 21st Century, Proceedings from INMED's 5th Millennium Conference,
held in Washington, D.C., 21 to 24 June 1994, pages 4 - 5.
In Washington, D.C., the infant mortality, 21.9 per 1,000 live births,
was the worst for any city in the United States of America. Mohammad
Akhter, then commissioner of public health, hired 25 indigenous workers
-- "illiterate grandmothers" -- who lived in the community. Their job:
to talk to young girls, urge them not to get pregnant, and to report
what pregnancies did occur. The health authorities provided a maternity
care van for free prenatal care to the pregnant women and girls. Within
a year the infant mortality dropped to 16.4. Akhter says, "Once you tar-
get your resources, use indigenous people, bring the people in, take the
services where the people are, you can make the difference." In two
years of a campaign to immunize children, the immunization rate jumped
from 38% to nearly 70% for children 0 to 2 years of age; for school-age
children the rate reached 96%.
O r g a n i z a t i o n s
NEW IN PRINT FROM PACT
PACT Publications is the publishing arm of the nonprofit organization,
Private Agencies Collaborating Together. We call our readers' attention
to some recent offerings. Quoted descriptions are from PACT.
Ted Lankester, 1992. Setting Up Community Health Programmes; a Practical
Manual for Use in Developing Countries. 304 pages, $22. "This practical
manual covers all aspects of setting up and running community health
programs, with emphasis on the need for consultation with the local com-
munity. The book follows a logical progression with chapters on pre-
start-up: raising health awareness; starting a program; community survey
and diagnosis; the community health worker; and the practicalities of
running particular programs, such as immunization and TB. The final sec-
tion on appropriate management covers various aspects including evalua-
tion, personnel management and cooperation with others."
Thomas P. Fenton and Mary J. Heffron, 1993. Third World Resource Direc-
tory 1994-1995. 263 pages, $59.95. "This is a guide to print, audiovis-
ual and organizational resources in Africa, Asia & Pacific, Latin Amer-
ica & Caribbean, and the Middle East. There are over 2,500 annotated
entries, a directory of 2,300 international nongovernmental organiza-
tions, and complete and up-to-date information on education and action
resources."
Maria Otero and Elisabeth Rhyne, 1994. The New World of Microenterprise
Finance; Building Healthy Financial Institutions for the Poor. 302
pages, $26.95. "Recently the field of microenterprise finance has
evolved toward larger scale and greater self-sufficiency to provide
access on a massive scale to the poor. New and innovative techniques --
repayment motivation, streamlined administration, and market-based pri-
cing -- have transformed the customer relationship and financial system.
"Part I of this book details a vision and framework for the future of
microenterprise finance, guided by certain fundamental principles. Parts
II and III present the basic methodologies of microenterprise finance
and describe institutions that have embodied and applied the new tech-
niques. This book takes a systematic view of all the issues in the field
if microenterprise finance and integrates them into one approach."
Information: PACT Publications, Inc., 777 United Nations Plaza, New
York, New York 10017. Tel. +1 (212) 697-6222, fax +1 (212) 692-9748, e-
mail <mailto:pactny@undp.org>.
V I T A P r o j e c t s
DISASTER SERVICES
In recognition of its experience, VITA has been asked to operate a toll-
free telephone number, 1 (800) 284-0609, that provides information to
persons in the United States wishing to donate goods and services in the
wake of the bombing of the federal office building in Oklahoma City on
19 April. The telephone number will operate from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven
days a week, until further notice.
The hotline, which is physically located in VITA's offices and jointly
staffed by VITA and the (U.S.) Federal Emergency Management Administra-
tion, received 696 calls in its first four days of operation, starting
Saturday, 22 April. In this activity, VITA works with FEMA and the State
of Oklahoma. Recently, under other arrangements, VITA operated hotlines
for disaster relief in Haiti and Rwanda.
Information: Richard Muffley, VITA <mailto:rmuffley@vita.org>
FIRST VITASAT GATEWAY GETS LICENSE
VITA has come one step closer to realizing its long-standing goal of
implementing a low-cost, low-maintenance communications system to serve
developing countries and areas where telephone service is unreliable, or
not available now or in the near future. In April, VITA's communication
program, VITACOMM, received its first license to install, operate, and
maintain a gateway; it will be located at the University of Cape Town,
South Africa. The gateway is the first of five for which VITA is seeking
licenses. The others will be located in Australia, Chile, Norway, and
the United States.
The gateway network will allow the VITA satellite to downlink messages
to Internet sites, thereby cutting down the amount of time for a message
to get delivered from or to a developing country location.
The South African gateway will operate at the University of Cape Town's
Electrical Engineering Department. VITA's President, Henry Norman, is
confident that the arrangement will work well since the department
already provides spacecraft command facilities for other satellites, in
addition to serving as the Internet hub for all the universities in
South Africa.
Information: Joe Sedlak, VITA <mailto:jsedlak@vita.org>
A n n o u n c e m e n t s
WORLD TELECOMMUNICATIONS AT GENEVA
"Telecom 95: 7th World Telecommunications Exhibition, Forum, and Book
Fair" will be held in Geneva (Switzerland) 3 to 11 October 1995. It will
emphasize "the interaction of technologies and markets within an expan-
ded communications marketplace." The Forum includes a strategies summit,
"Breaking Down Barriers Towards a Global Information Society," and a
technological summit, "Convergence of Technologies, Services, and Appli-
cations." From experience with the last such meeting, the sponsor, the
International Telecommunications Union, expects the Exhibition (which
includes separate displays by 46 countries) to attract 133,000 visitors
and the summits to involve the participation of 1,000 to 1,500 persons.
Information: Telecom 95 Secretariat, International Telecommunications
Union, Place des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. Tel. +41 (22)
730-6161, fax +41 (22) 730-6444, telex 421 000 uit ch, e-mail
mailto:<telecominf@itu.ch>.
WRITERS' COMPETITION: $1,000!
The quarterly periodical Small Enterprise Development, an international
journal, is published in London. It provides a forum on the design and
administration of small enterprise development programs in developing
countries, and is sponsored by a group of leading development organi-
zations. This year it is launching an annual competition for the most
interesting and best written articles on small enterprise promotion. The
first prize is $1,000 and there are two $500 prizes. The first submis-
sion deadline is 30 June 1995 and entry is open to citizens of low to
middle-income developing countries.
Information: Malcolm Harper, editor-in-chief, Small Enterprise Devel-
opment, 103-105 Southamption Row, London WC1B 4HH, U.K.; tel. +44 (171)
436-9761, fax +44 (171) 436-2013.
* * *
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DevelopNet News is an electronic newsletter published monthly by Volun-
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VITA specializes in information dissemination and communications tech-
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small enterprise development, and information management. It has pro-
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