#sengal

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GOD IS GOOD GOD IS GREAT SENGAL AFCON CHAMPIONS

[notwiselybuttoowell]

‘Fonio just grows naturally’: could ancient indigenous crops ensure food security for Africa?

Calls are growing to invest more in the continent’s traditional grains as a way to break its reliance on imported wheat, rice and maize

With sweeps of his arm, Jean-Pierre Kamara showers handfuls of tiny seeds over the freshly ploughed land near his village in Senegal’s southern foothills. A team of young men ahead of him loosen more of the clay soil for sowing, while older villagers trail behind, raking the earth back over the seeds.

Only breaking at midday to refuel on peanuts and palm wine, the village works methodically as a unit to grow fonio – a precious grain crucial to their diets that only takes days to germinate and can be harvested in as little as six weeks. Though laborious, growing fonio, one of Africa’s oldest cultivated grains, is simple and reliable, say Kamara’s Bedik people.

It grows naturally, they insist, where mainstream crops such as wheat and rice are harder to cultivate. It is also well adapted to the climate, nutritious, tastes good and can be stored far longer than other grains.

“If you put in front of me some fonio and also something made of maize, I’ll push aside the other because the fonio is much healthier. There are no chemicals used; it just grows naturally and then we harvest it. We don’t add anything,” says Kamara.

The benefits of fonio are so marked that academics and policymakers are now calling for the grain – alongside other indigenous foods, such as Ethiopia’s teff, as well as cassava and various millets and legumes – to be embraced more widely across Africa to improve food security.

[sfcreative]

Great 2nd half between Qatar vs Senegal! With a 3-1 finish to the Senegalese kings they knock the hosts out of the World Cup.

©️Getty Images ®️Third party rights SF Photography

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[vedatcelik13]

En ze hebben God ook vermood.

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A world without climate change would not just be a safer, healthier, and more beautiful place. It would also be more just. Currently, those who are least responsible for the climate crisis bear the brunt of its consequences. Industrialized countries, on the other hand, have the resources to adapt to the new climatic reality — resources they’ve acquired by using (and misusing) our planet’s natural resources.

Climate change in Senegal

In Senegal, meanwhile, farming communities are facing unprecedented heat and drought due to climate change. Their farms mostly consist of corn and peanut monocultures. Monocultures are a colonial introduction – another injustice – and depend on toxic pesticides and fertilizers. They deplete the soil, and are not well equipped to withstand Senegal’s current climate. When the crop fails, there’s no harvest at all.

How trees address climate justice

Planting trees helps. They don’t just tackle the climate crisis by removing CO2 from the air — Ecosia’s trees capture several thousand tonnes of CO2 every day. But they also help communities adapt to the effects of climate change.

In Senegal, we’re helping farmers grow forest gardens — the opposite of monocultures. In a forest garden, up to 4,000 trees – each playing a specific role – grow alongside a great variety of fruits and vegetables. They create a protective microclimate, provide shade and moisture in the dry season, and protect the crops from the wind and animals.

Forest gardens produce more, more diverse, and healthier food than monocultures. They also increase people's income by a staggering average of 400%. This additional income helps families cover essentials such as school fees and medical bills. Crucially, families are now able to produce and sell food year-round, even in the dry season.

Malnutrition plummets as a result. Our local partner, Trees for the Future, asked Senegalese farmers if their family ever goes hungry. 37% of farmers who have a monoculture answered yes. Those who've had a forest garden for four years all answered no.

The trees you help us plant tackle climate change, help local communities adapt to its consequences, and address a destructive colonial legacy. Watch the video above to see how a forest garden has changed one family’s future. And thank you for making this part of the world safer, healthier, and more just.

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Produced by Joshua Gottlieb (IG: @joshigot)

Editing & post-production by Pako Quijada (IG: @pakoquijada)

Motion graphics & animation by Pako Quijada

Cinematography by Shane Thomas McMillan (IG: @dokumentarian)

[leomessifootballclub-blog]

Usually, in every World Cup, there are only a handful of countries that can actually win the World Cup. But this year literally anyone can win it.   

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