A Traveller’s Eye, A Thinker’s Heart
I like to tell stories. I like to take photos.
And I like to share them. Enjoy.
-
CELEBRATING THE RICE PLANTING
In Sierra Leone a group from the local cooperative showed me how they are now transplanting their rice seedlings in straight rows, rather than randomly broadcasting the seed. After toiling under hot and humid conditions for several hours they still had the energy to show me their musical talents as well.
-
GROW YOUR OWN SEEDS IN THE GAMBIA
For most of us if we need seeds we pop into the local nursery and for a relatively small fee we can get any sort of high performing seeds. But it’s not so easy for smallholder farmers around the world. Seeds of improved varieties may not be available and if they are they can’t afford…
-
BETTER PORRIDGE FOR THE GAMBIA
The people of The Gambia like to start their day with a bowl of porridge, which they call ‘mono’ in their local Mandinga language. But the processed porridge they buy in the market isn’t very nutritious. Members of a farming cooperative from the village of Jahaur, which is about half way up the country on…
-
A SWEETER ABLO
Ablo is a traditional Togolese corn cake. It’s made by steaming some paste and comes out as as kind of a dumpling like cake. The farmers of Atti-Apedokoe grow plenty of maize but they don’t always get great yields these days. So they attended a training session offered by staff at the Institut Togolais de…
-
CASSAVA IN YOUR BREAD
The people of Togo eat a lot of bread. But to make bread you need wheat. And Togo doesn’t grow much wheat. It has to import it and Russia is one of the major suppliers. So the folks at the Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique (ITRA) and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture taught the…
-
THE FRIENDLY FACES OF TOGO
On my second day in Togo, the team of the Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique (ITRA) took my travel companion from the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Nhamo Nhamo, and me to a village about a hour or so from Lome. About 40 locals came from three villages to meet us. I learned of their…
-
TRY SOME SORGHUM IN YOUR COUSCOUS
The villagers of Atti-Apedokoe in Togo love their couscous. For generations, they’ve made it with maize (corn). But maize isn’t terribly resilient to all the challenges that Mother Nature is throwing at our farming systems these days. So scientists at the Institut Togolais de Recherche Agronomique and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture – ICBA…
-
TWO STANS AND ALFALFA
The glaciers of the Tien Shan mountain range in Central Asia are receding quickly. And that’s causing a lot of concern amongst the farmers of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The glacial meltwaters which allowed them to irrigate their crops are no longer abundant. And without adequate water, yields plummet. I joined a group of scientists brought…
-
THE WRITER’S DEN
I had a good job in 1984 at an agricultural research center called CATIE in Costa Rica. I was tasked with writing a complete textbook on agroforestry. It would have taken a year, maybe two. It was a secure job at a very reputable international center. I quit the job after about five months. I…
Adventure Adventures Agriculture Austria Backpacking Bangladesh Belize Bolivia Botswana California Canada Cassava Chickpea Colombia Community Seedbanks Costa Rica COVID Cowpea Crop Diversity Current Affairs Czech Republic Ecuador Egypt Environment Eulogy Family Finger millet Finland Flora Food Security France Friends Georgia Germany Grasspea Greece Guatemala History Hitchhiking Honduras ICARDA India Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Language Laos Lebanon Liberia Life's Experiences Literature Lousiana Malaysia Media Mexico Monaco Morocco Mozambique Nature Nicaragua Norway Pakistan Papua New Guinea Peace Corps Peru Philosophical Photography pigeonpea Portugal Potato Recollections Religion Rice Sierra Leone Singapore Sorghum South Australia Spain Sweden Sweetpotato Switzerland Syria The Gambia The Netherlands Togo Turkey United States Vietnam Washington Western Australia Wine Wisconsin Zimbabwe
What are you looking for?
If you see this after your page is loaded completely, leafletJS files are missing.