Farmer Stories
1. Kenya: Rainwater harvesting improves rural livelihoods (Various Sources)
Nelly Bassily March 18, 2008Dr. Benjamin Ikombo has been a farmer in the Machakos District of Kenya for many years. He says that, generally, the local […]
2. Africa: Small-scale farmers experiment with anti-malarial plants (The Monitor, World Agroforestry Centre)
Nelly Bassily March 18, 2008The Artemisia annua plant can be found growing wild on mountain ranges in China and carefully maintained in ornamental gardens in Europe. […]
3. Kenya: Market forces persuade some farmers to abandon traditional crops (Business Daily, The Nation)
Nelly Bassily March 18, 2008Willy Kigen says that maize cultivation has become a losing business. He grows his grain on a seven-acre farm in Uasin Gishu […]
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Civil war landmines threaten returning farmers (by Sylvie Bora, for Farm Radio Weekly, in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Nelly Bassily March 10, 2008[ratings] Echa Byaombe spent almost a decade of her life in a Tanzanian refugee camp. The civil war in her native Democratic […]
Tanzania: Para-vets help keep herds healthy (Farm Radio Weekly, Arusha Times)
Nelly Bassily March 10, 2008Gidinyangu Ginyudu’s bright red robe contrasts sharply with the drab-coloured plane in Northern Tanzania where he watches over his livestock. The herdsman […]
Uganda: Farmers find that human urine is an effective fertilizer (The Monitor)
Nelly Bassily March 10, 2008Jane Mugerwa has found an innovative and inexpensive way to revitalize her banana plantation. Her crops were affected by a disease called […]
1. Burkina Faso: Women’s group finds new use for “green gold” (by Mahoua Hien, for Farm Radio Weekly, in Burkina Faso)
Nelly Bassily March 04, 2008The shea tree has long been known as “green gold” to women in Western Africa. Many parts of the tree are harvested, […]
2. Southern Africa: Black women break into commercial farming (by Frauke Röschlau, for Farm Radio Weekly, in Windhoek, Namibia)
Nelly Bassily March 04, 2008Many people in the farming community of Nina, in eastern Namibia, were shocked when Clara Bohitile purchased some unused land to begin […]
Past FRW stories of women in agriculture
Nelly Bassily March 04, 2008Through our first 12 issues of FRW, we have “met” many innovative and groundbreaking women in agriculture. As International Women’s Day approaches, […]
1. Africa: Vitally-important wild fruits on the decline (National Research Council)
Nelly Bassily February 25, 2008In parts of Western and Central Africa, the Icacina plant is known as a living grocery store. Growing wild and untended in […]
2. Ivory Coast: Fighting the swollen shoot virus (Various Sources)
Nelly Bassily February 25, 2008When a coffee pod is healthy, it resembles an oblong melon — golden or reddish in colour with multicoloured speckles. A coffee […]
3. Rwanda: 5,000 farmers contracted to grow maize for beer (The East African)
Nelly Bassily February 25, 2008The maize growing in Rwanda’s fields today may be enjoyed in its bars tomorrow. The brewers of the country’s favourite beer recently […]