Entry #12- Technology for Sustainability

Technology for Sustainability

          It is important to improve our ways of life, and it is even more important to make sure these improvements have a sustainable future.  Creating new technology and using some old technologies will help us greatly.

          Companies are providing technologies to African citizens that include cell phones (the chargers are solar powered because most places do not have electricity), text messaging, the internet, services that provide real-time prices of produces and market changes, internet applications to track commodities, see weather forecasts, and provide online information and tips on livestock and pest and disease control for crops.  I think it is great that farmers can use these types of technologies to improve their farms and make more money for their families so they can live life a little more comfortably.

          ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) is an organization that also uses technology to help poor countries with way to effectively live off their land.  The people at ECHO figure out ways for farmers to use what little resources they have in their harsh environment to grow enough food for themselves and sell to others.  I visited ECHO’s farm site in Fort Myers about two years ago and will go again this year.  I was able to see how well they can do in different climates with their knowledge and testing evaluations.  They teach communities many sustainable, environmental friendly ways of farming that will help them long term.  This way Africans do not have to rely on donations and food aid; they can prosper on their own.

          One great story about someone who has prospered is told by Samuel Fromartz in The Missing Links: Going Beyond Production.  It's about a farmer in Zambia, Africa.  The farmer’s name is Justine Chiyesu and he became an entrepreneur in farming.  He started out on two hectares of land and worked his way up to 37 hectares.  He got involved in the PROFIT program, who taught him new techniques for farming (including how to properly spray his weeds with herbicide) and how to act as a dealer for other farmers in his area.  Justine also went straight to mills to sell his products instead of going through a middleman.  Then, because of his connection, he also became an agent for commercial farms in his area.  He has two cell phones (solar powered), earns thousands of dollars, and hired employees.  It’s great to hear about how someone can do so well in such bad conditions.  I am glad there are organizations like PROFIT that teach people how to improve their crop yield and better strategies to make a bigger profit.  These skills and information spread to others and eventually everyone does better.

          There are also organizations that are working with farmers to get them loans for tractors, which helps farmers significantly.  One of these companies is Dunavant, a U.S. company.  They buy cotton from Zambia and are financing tractors so that cotton production can be increased.  Dunavant seems to have a selfish prerogative, but it helps people lives in Zambia.

          Some projects are not as self involved.  There is a Hausa proverb that says, “The one who plants trees will never be hungry” (page 153).  This is a great proverb to live by and that is what the project called “Sowing Seeds of Change in the Sahel” is doing.  They are planting trees in areas that were once cleared and they are planting crops between the trees.  Some of these trees are acacia trees, which are edible and being imported from Australia.  The acacia trees add nitrogen to soil, help crops, and have seeds that are high in protein.  Hopefully the people there will benefit from this project to years to come, and climate change doesn't hinder the results.

          Plants are not the only things effected by climate change; livestock is effected as well.  It is hard to keep animals healthy and productive if there are droughts and harsh, extreme weather.  In the article titled Improving Food Production from Livestock, the authors state, “throughout the developing world, up to 1 billion people rely on farm animals for their livelihoods” (page 156).  This is huge.  Livestock markets are on the rise.  Like other countries, Africans have commercial dairy farms, feedlots, and confined stalls, rather than large areas of land for the animals to graze on.  Africans have some of the same technologies that more developed nations have, like more mechanized tillage operations and better feed strategies.

          Technology is important, but we have to make sure the way in which we use the technology will provide us with a sustainable future.

 ~Max G.

Entry # 11- Re-Focus on the Environment

Re-Focus on the Environment

          While reading the book State of the World, which is a culmination of many articles written by many different people, I learned some very interesting new things.  The articles in this book mainly focus on third world countries in Africa.  A major focus in pages 71 through 98 of this book is on agriculture.  Agriculture is suffering from climate change because of droughts, floods, extreme heat and other extreme weather.  There are many technologies that are being introduced in Africa to help with agriculture and its sustainability.

          Many communities, like Guinea, are now focusing on agriculture to export and are relying on other countries for imports, instead of growing agriculture for local economies.  For example, Guinea used to grow an abundance of many varieties of rice for their community, but they have decreased those efforts and now grow tons of cashews to export.  It has become cheaper for them to import rice and export cashews.  Just like many other countries, including the Unites States, Africans sell many imported products rather than make and grow their own products to sell.  Citizens end up consuming mostly processed foods that end up causing health problems.  African citizens are being encouraged to grow and sell food locally.  We, in the United States, also need to make and grow things locally and sell at farmers’ markets and other local stores.

          There are, however, African communities that heavily rely on their local agriculture for consumption.  One of these communities is Ethiopia.  There are nongovernmental organizations that are working with farmers in Ethiopia to teach them how to protect wild coffee plants.  They learn when to pick the plants, how to dry them to get the most out of them when selling.  Unfortunately, the forest there is getting smaller, so they are not sure how long the wild coffee plants will be around.  Communities everywhere need diversification so they have a variety of products all year and have enough for themselves and extra to export.  It also makes them less susceptible to devastation caused by “climate change, predators, and epidemics of diseases that attack crops” (page 74).

          Farmers in Africa have been trying different approaches to better their crops and profits, such as purchasing drought-tolerant seeds, installing drip-irrigation systems, or even purchasing weather-based insurance.  Governments and businesses are trying to determine different ways to help the farmers with their agriculture that will withstand climate changes.  I’m curious to find out the results of the experiments to know what methods work best in which environment.

          There are also efforts being made in the Sahara desert.  The Sahara desert is slowly becoming larger by growing southward.  There are plans to plant billions of trees in the Sahara and create a Great Green Wall.  This is a wonderful idea, but as Chris Reij writes in Investing in Trees to Mitigate Climate Change, “the harsh reality is that only 10-20 percent of planted trees survive more than two or three years, particularly in dryland conditions” (page 86).  It will take a lot of research and work to have good soil and the right kinds of trees that will thrive and promote more growth.

          There are already projects in Africa to re-green areas, which includes regeneration of woody species, regeneration of deforested land, enhancing soil fertility, and having farmers learn from each other the best techniques to pruning, planting, and tree management.  These projects have had much success in places such as Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.  This is a great motivator to get others to re-green.  Others see that it works and all the benefits and want to make changes in their communities as well.

          The articles in this book also touched on some other subjects that involves problems in Africa.  One of those problems is with the fish population.  “After exhausting most of the fish stock in their own seas, fishing fleets from Europe, China, Japan, and Russia have found ideal conditions on the African coasts” (page 73).  That is making it more difficult for the local African fishers to make a living, and governments are granting them fishing licenses for money.

          I also learned some other interesting information about fish.  Fish used to live in rice paddies, which controlled the insects (including mosquitoes that spread diseases) and provided protein.  However, insecticides are used now instead of fish, which causes environmental problems and less diversity, but some farmers have gone back to using fish.

          Another problem that people are having is that more than one million people die every year from inhaling smoke from cooking fires.  There are organizations teaching people how to use solar cookers instead of fires, which is saving people from respiratory problems, saving them time on collecting wood for fires, and helping the environment.  I personally made my own solar cooker about 2 years ago and have seen other solar cookers in action.  They work great.

          From planting trees to putting fish in rice paddies, there is so much that people around the world can do the help the environment.

 ~Max G.

Entry #10- Biophobic or Biophilia, that is the question...

Excerpt from: Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect

by David Orr

Are You Biophobic or Biophilia?

               I learned two new words when reading an excerpt from Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect: biophobia and biophilia.  A person that has biophobia doesn't want to be around the natural environment; they would rather be among manmade things and technology.  A person who has biophilia loves to be around nature.  It seems that over the years the majority of people have become biophobic more so than biophilic.  Our world has become very fast paced with new technologies and overpopulation.  The environment is being pushed aside and kids are growing up with less and less of a natural environment around them in many areas of the world.  The author paints the picture of why more and more people are becoming biophobic by stating, "undefiled nature is being replaced by a defiled nature of landfills, junk yards, strip mines, clear-cuts, blighted cities, six-lane freeways, suburban sprawl, polluted rivers, and superfund sites, all of which deserve our phobias."  We get caught up in work and business trying to make money so that we can live comfortable lives.  However, the air is not as clean as it used to be, the climate has changed, and there is constantly new construction to keep up with the growing population, which only hurts the environment more.  The biophiliacs and biophobics need to come together to educate the mass population to take good care of and enjoy the natural environment that should be all around us.  The future of all humans, plants and animals depend on it.

 ~Max G.

Entry #9 - Environmental Ethics

Excerpt from: A Sand County Almanac

by Aldo Leopold

Ethics for the World Around Us

               Societies have created an ethical standard between people, societies, businesses and organizations, and some animals.  However, most people don't have an ethical standard with land and feel that can do whatever they want with it.  Many people don't think about how their landscaping or the fertilizers and pesticides they use will affect the environment elsewhere.  Some people do thinks about the effects, but think they're so small that it doesn't matter.  The ethics we have towards other people need to be a standard for the environment and ecosystem, which include soils, waters, animals, and plants.  Ethics provide us with guidance in order for us to do what's right for our societies.

               I think people in the past are much like people in the present when it comes to land- some are careful, some destroy it, but we all use it to our benefit, unknowing to what the long term effects may be.  What can we do for the conservation of land?  Aldo Leopold writes, "obey the law, vote right, join some organizations, and practice what conservation is profitable on your land; the government will do the rest."  The author doesn't seem to have much faith in the over majority of the population and I can understand where he's coming from.  Many people won't continually do good things for the environment unless it will benefit them monetarily or if it's convenient.  It's the sad truth.  I liked the example the author uses regarding songbirds.  The number of songbirds started declining and we didn't make any changes until there was "distinctly shaky evidence to the effect that insects would eat us up if birds failed to control them."  Not everyone is this selfish and I hope the future brings more unselfish people.  The government has thankfully stepped into many areas to create conservation, such as preserves, water management, parks and wilderness management, and forestry regulations.  The government helps keep the land pyramid together.  Not everyone likes the government control, but I think it's good in these cases because it keeps greedy businesses from destroying the environment.

~Max G.

Entry #8- Where we are headed...

Excerpt from Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

What Will the Environmental Lead Our World To?

               Many people don't usually think about the environment as being the cause of a specific society's decline and failure.  We think of major events, like the ice age, that affected everyone around the world.  However, after reading an excerpt from Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond, my eyes are open to the possibilities of societies paving their own way to demise because of environmental problems they created themselves, also known as ecocide (ecological suicide).  Among past societies that experienced ecocide was Norse Greenland and the Mayans.  I think Haiti could experience ecocide if it weren't for other countries helping them.  Some examples of why these problems are occurring are deforestation, water management problems, overpopulation, and chemicals in the environment.  Some people think that past societies destroyed environments, while others think past societies did nothing to harm the environment and embraced its perfection.  I think there have always been both kinds of people.  Ecosystems are very complicated and intertwined, so it's difficult to determine how ecosystems will be affected when humans use resources or kill any animals.  Some people think resources (animals and natural materials) are so abundant that we'll never run out, but this is not true; some animals have been hunted to extinction.  And other people don't believe there are major problems in the environment and we can keep living as is and keep the population growing at a fast rate.  So, why did some societies collapse, but others didn't?  Reasons could have been environmental damage, climate change, wars and battles, decrease in trade from neighboring towns, or their responses to environmental changes.  What can we do to help fix these environmental problems?  Jared Diamond suggest we team together with big businesses.  Some large businesses do things that end up harming the environment, but some of them also develop policies to conduct their business in a way that will prevent harm being done to the environment.  Jared Diamond wrote the following wise advice, "... if environmentalists aren't willing to engage with big businesses, which are among the most powerful forces in the modern world, it won't be possible to solve the world's environmental problems."  Compromising and working together usually bring about the best solution.
~Max G.