Welcome to AsiaDHRRA

IHT| By Keith Bradsher and Andrew Martin | Published: June 30, 2008

At least 29 countries have sharply curbed food exports in recent months, to ensure that their own people have enough to eat, at affordable prices.

When it comes to rice, India, Vietnam, China and 11 other countries have limited or banned exports. Fifteen countries, including Pakistan and Bolivia, have capped or halted wheat exports. More than a dozen have limited corn exports. Kazakhstan has restricted exports of sunflower seeds.

The restrictions are making it harder for impoverished importing countries to afford the food they need. The export limits are forcing some of the most vulnerable people, those who rely on relief agencies, to go hungry.

continue reading why hoarding nations are aggravating the food crisis….

For TechTuesday, we are very excited to try out the new version of FrontlineSMS. I’ve been having fun toying with the previous version and am now looking forward to testing the new version on a suitable popular campaign here in the Philippines.

Visit Kiwanja.net- developers of the app and download frontlinesms here.

AsiaDHRRA welcomes Ms. Yeo Jeong Suh, KoDHRRA Member as she starts her one year On-the-Job Training (OJT) at the AsiaDHRRA Secretariat Office in Quezon City Philippines.

During her stay Ms. Suh plans to;

1. Gain insight, deepen understanding and appreciation of the work of NGOs in Asia particularly in the Philippines
2. Acquire basic knowledge on managing NGO operations
3. Develop skill on project development and management
4. Enhance skill on documentation and research
5. Assess OJT program experience and prepare re-entry plan on KODHRRA strengthening

Ms. Yeo Joung Suh or Elley has extensive experience in research work having served as research assistant to various professors in Korea and the US. She was also previously an Assistant Research Fellow at Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET).

AsiaDHRRA’s OJT program was designed as part of the second liner development program of the network.

FarmFriday brings you this interesting research from www.eldis.org on the effects of the rising interest in biofuels and how it is affecting poor peoples access to land

The study concludes that, while biofuels can be instrumental in revitalising land use and livelihoods in rural areas, these possibilities depend on security of land tenure. Where competing resource claims exist among local resource users, governments and incoming biofuel producers, and where appropriate conditions are not in place, it finds that the rapid spread of commercial biofuel production may result - and is resulting - in poorer groups losing access to the land on which they depend.

read how the biofuels boom is limiting poor people’s access to land here (PDF)…

For HungerWednesday! we feature this nice read from Fred Magdoff at the MonthlyReview.org as he examines the causes of the global food crisis and proposes solutions. Interesting reading indeed!

An acute food crisis has struck the world in 2008. This is on top of a longer-term crisis of agriculture and food that has already left billions hungry and malnourished. In order to understand the full, dire implications of what is happening today it is necessary to look at the interaction between these short-term and long-term crises. Both crises arise primarily from the for-profit production of food, fiber, and now biofuels, and the rift between food and people that this inevitably generates.

read more about the sources and solutions to the world food crisis…

For TechTuesday, we have an announcement from MobileActive.org requesting for proposals on mobile applications.

To be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from October 13-15, MobileActive08 will convene practitioners, researchers, technologists, and donors to explore how mobile technology is being used to advance social development and the work of NGOs. SANGONeT and MobileActive.org invite interested individuals to submit session proposals and ideas for showcasing products and/or mobile applications. The deadline for submissions is 30 June 2008.

details of the MobileActive08 call for proposals can be found here…

MarketMonday presents this very useful writeup by the PhilRice team on how to increase income through implementing effective rice marketing strategies.Palay seeds should not stay long in warehouses. They should reach the market at once.

After three to four months of labor in the ricefield, the farmer’s much awaited benefit comes next. It is the selling of his produce. There are strategies to ensure that the farmers get what is due them for their hardwork.

The X-factor

Just like in beauty pageant, the x-factor in the rice produce must be maintained to command high value. After harvest, the palay harvest must be threshed and dried. Properly dried palay commands higher price in the market.

Seed grower Lorenzo Duqueza of Nueva Ecija said he has been maintaining since 1986 a seed cleaner which he uses for his produce. He is able to clean 20-25 bags per hour because of this machine.

learn how to increase income through effective marketing strategies… 

Our good friend Conchi Quintana from WRF shared this interesting update on the rice crisis (from the BBC NEWS) affecting asian countries.

Asian countries have been struggling to cope as the cost of rice has reached record levels. The price of the staple crop has risen by as much as 70% during the last year, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), with increases accelerating in recent weeks.

Shortages have begun to hit some importing countries.

Factors contributing to the price rise include:

• Poor harvests resulting from extreme weather
•  rise in demand in some rice-importing countries, where populations and incomes are growing
• he expectation of further price increases - resulting in hoarding
• ow stockpiles and a long term lack of agricultural investment

read more about which asian states are experiencing the rice pinch….

FarmFriday brings you this update on the maligaya flatbed dryer– one of the most popular search terms here in our blog.  To those interested in the dryer, please contact the Philippine Rice Research Institute for more info.

Drying palay on the road, which is a practice that most farmers do, is wasteful as it can result in 0.7 to 8.7% rice losses, according to the 1996 report of the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE).

Cognizant of this problem, the Department of Agriculture through its various agencies has been distributing several units of the Maligaya flatbed dryers.

The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), for one, is expected to finish soon the distribution of 20 Maligaya flatbed dryers, its share of the 709 proposed dryer units under the project “Mechanical drying support to farm clusters.” Twelve of the 20 units have already been installed in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Pampanga as early as October last year while the remaining 8 units are expected to be installed this month in Sta. Cruz, Zambales and in the rest of the municipalities of Nueva Ecija and Pampanga.

On the other hand, around 200 dryer units have been installed by BPRE in the remaining provinces of the country since last year while another 500 units will be installed this year.

read more about the distribution of the maligaya flatbed dryers here….. 

TechTuesday brings you these very useful tips on writing radio scripts. This is from our favorite farm radio resource - Farm Radio International

This paper is intended to share with the reader the steps in script writing that we at Farm Radio International follow to ensure that our final product - which is the written radio script - is credible and useful to you, the radio broadcasters we are mandated to serve. By sharing the steps behind our work, it is also hoped that radio broadcasters may gain some insight to the steps that they themselves can take to produce a high-quality information product that will be of direct benefit to the people in rural areas who listen to their radio programs.

learn to write effective farm radio scripts here ….

i stumbled upon Mr. Kees Blockland’s very informative blog while googling for vietnam farmers. Kees’ blog “collects stories from all over the world on farmers fighting poverty and comments on the efforts of farmers worldwide in building their own development”

Its’ FarmFriday! i picked up this interesting infographic at the very informative biofuels blog Gas2.0. Click the image for a larger view

Visit VietDHRRA’s newly launched website!

The bilingual website features organizational information about VietDHRRA, and updates about their programs and projects