Tackling the future challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry - vTI

RAHMANN G & GODINHO D (Ed.) (2012): Tackling the Future Challenges of Organic Animal Husbandry.
Proceedings of the 2 nd OAHC, Hamburg/Trenthorst, Germany, Sep 12-14, 2012
Production and sharing of knowledge on agro-climatic tools (what local knowledge is required for
the management of seasonal rainfall), Production and sharing of knowledge on the use of local
seeds/traditional varieties to deal with the effects of CC, Production and sharing of knowledge on
tools for managing soil fertility (CO2 sequestration in soil is an advantage).
This PeoPLE model aims at strengthening the five types of capital in farming communities-human,
social, natural, financial and physical. Relying on locally available regenerative resources instead of
expensive external inputs reduces vulnerability. Using local resources also has a positive multiplier
effect on the local economy by creating jobs and improving incomes and food security in the whole
community. This catalytic effect, in particular, when combined with locally deployed renewable
energy, breathes new life to rural communities and creates conditions for self-sustaining growth.
This PeoPLE model produces broad based positive impacts and multiple benefits for current and
future generations in such diverse areas as income and employment generation, improved nutrition
and health, sustainable HIV/AIDS and environment management but also help to shatter the myth
that without the traditional nutrients deficient staple cereals like maize, white rice and tubers, countries
of Sub-Saharan Africa cannot break from the yoke of perennial food/nutrition insecurity, ill
health and poverty.
Discussions
The Promise of the PEoPLE model
What is most significant, perhaps, about this model and which can help turn the Sub-Saharan vision
for a food secure future through ecological and organic agriculture-the alternative for Africa-into
the region’s concrete action for food security, is that it is a local solution, using local resources,
designed and carried out by local communities for their children’s future. Suffice to mention that
most small scale farming systems in the region are mixed.
Indeed, the PeoPLE model perhaps holds the greatest promise for improving livelihoods around the
world through tackling the future challenges of organic animal husbandry, besides providing the
tools to build a brighter, cleaner and more prosperous future. Besides, it allows nations of the world
to open themselves to modernity without losing sight of their traditions and values like herbal medicines.
Besides, the model utilizes locally available resources, farmers and local professional and assists in
resource protection, while acknowledging the need for a people to change a whole or part of their
traditions and culture, which is a major challenger but must be fully encouraged. This is important
because changes in the climate indicate that species with the best chance of survival and prosperity
are those which learn to adapt now. IRLI has indicated that even with the availability of water,
some crops such as maize (perhaps the most important staple cereal for Sub-Saharan Africa and
main source of feeds) may not thrive well in a warming world and changing diseases and pests patterns.
Organic Grain amaranth is not only drought tolerant but is also able to withstand high temperatures,
and is diseases and pests resistant.
Environmental degradation, low agricultural productivity, high post-harvest losses, limited connections
to markets, energy poverty, limited non-agricultural opportunities, hunger and thirst all conspire
to make rural areas of poor countries inhabitable, (UNCTAD, 2011).
The PeoPLE model promises to revitalize rural areas of poor countries by checking this vicious
circle and transforming them into vibrant places for small-scale farmers’ families and young people
through integration of organic livestock into these farming systems. The high-external-inputdependent,
industrial agriculture route places poor countries in a situation of extreme vulnerability.
Indeed, this model promises to provide a revolution in agriculture that is based on inexpensive, locally
available inputs hence saving on the huge foreign currency reserves governments in these
countries spend on agro-chemicals (synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides).
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