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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Sun Dec 26 2010 - 21:54:51 EST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/northwestwales/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9238000/9238339.stm
Page last updated at 09:00 GMT, Sunday, 26 December 2010
Bangor University team work with farmers in Eritrea
*Experts in Bangor are working with farmers in Eritrea, one of Africa's
poorest countries, to help them choose the best crops for their environment.
*
Cariad, the Centre for Advanced Research in International Agricultural
Development, based at Bangor University, is beginning a three-year £453,000
project funded by the European Union.
They work with the farmers, drawing on their knowledge of local conditions
and crops to develop new, sustainable varieties of staple foods and the best
methods of growing them.
Eritrea in north east Africa is one of the driest parts of the continent and
subject to frequent droughts which are likely to worsen as climate change
leads to more erratic rainfall.
Cariad is among the world leaders in this field and has worked in Asia and
other parts of Africa, but never before in Eritrea.
Project leader Dr Philip Hollington said: "We've always worked closely with
the poor farmers themselves, concentrating on the marginal lands where the
soil has little fertility.
"Their problems don't get addressed by the national or international
research effort.
"They tend to do all their testing on research stations where they irrigate
and spray the crops, and so come up with varieties that aren't relevant."
With the help of other organisations on the ground, Cariad finds out what
farmers want out of crops like sorghum, pearl millet or chickpea.
Flavour, cooking quality, yield and price in the market are all vital.
"One of the most important things is the time the crop takes to come to
maturity," explained Dr Hollington.
"They can usually predict when a drought is going to arrive, so if a variety
matures before that, it's fine.
"We help identify varieties that have all those characteristics."
*Marketing*
The farmers are encouraged to give a sample of the new varieties a go, and
report back.
Cariad helps set up seed production groups of around 100 members, trained in
marketing and developing business plans, which can be the most important
element in the scheme's success.
Meanwhile, the team fear work they have done in Pakistan may have been
destroyed in this year's catastrophic floods.
"The outlying work stations and farms we were working with were right in the
middle of the badly affected area," Dr Hollington said.
"We know those we worked with in the university are ok, but we haven't heard
what's happened to the farmers and their villages. It's still a big worry."
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