Nicholas Alifa’s Post

🌱 Join the Movement: Celebrate Soybean Year 2025 with SFPWA! 🌟 We at the Soy Food Promotion & Welfare Association are excited to propose the declaration of 2025 as the 'Soybean Year.' This initiative aims to highlight the importance of soybeans in sustainable agriculture, healthy diets, and economic growth. 🌿 Why Soybean Year 2025? 💚 Promote sustainable farming practices. 🍽️ Showcase the health benefits of soy-based diets. 🌍 Support global food security and nutrition. 🤝 Calling All Stakeholders! We invite farmers, consumers, industry leaders, and government bodies to join us in this endeavor. Your support is crucial in advocating for the recognition of soybeans as a key driver of agricultural and nutritional advancements. ✍️ Support Our Cause Help us urge the government to officially declare 2025 as Soybean Year. Together, we can make a significant impact! #SoybeanYear2025 #SFPWA #SustainableAgriculture #HealthyLiving #SoybeanAdvocacy Team SFPWA ICAR- Indian Council of Agricultural Research Icar-indian Institute Of Soybean Research Indian Agricultural Research Institute (Iari) Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance

FAO and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a Partnership for the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) initiative. The joint Partnership will play a pivotal role leading efforts to coordinate, grow, and strengthen the VACS movement across a wide range of public and private stakeholders.    "By joining forces with the CGIAR and CIMMYT, we bring together our collective capacities to build a strong momentum and platform to advance the VACS," said FAO’s Director-General QU Dongyu. "VACS effectively brings together the Four Betters set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – leaving no one behind."   “Our 2030 Strategy focuses on strengthening agrifood systems to increase nutritional value and climate resilience,” said CIMMYT’s Director General, Bram Govaerts. “We are proud to stand united, through VACS, with FAO, whose excellent track record on policy work and networking with national governments will help equip farmers with resilient seed and climate-smart cropping systems that regenerate, rather than degrade, the soils on which their diets and livelihoods depend.”   Launched in 2023 by the USDA in partnership with the African Union and FAO, the VACS movement aims to build sustainable and resilient agrifood systems by leveraging opportunity crops and building healthy soils to enhance agricultural resilience to climate change and improve diets. Nutrient-rich and traditional crops like sorghum, millet, cowpea, and mung bean are vital for food security and nutrition under climate change but have seen little attention so far. VACS recognizes the interdependence of crops and soils: Crops need good soil to be productive, and different crops can only be sustainably grown on some types of land.    https://lnkd.in/dFV9B6Y3   #BlackSoils #SoilHealth #HealthySoils

The #Top3 cultivated #Transgenic crops include #soybeans, #maize and #cotton. The main producers vary by region, with the #UnitedStates, #Brazil #Argentina. being significant contributors. The #future of biotech crops is expected to involve advancements in traits such as improved resistance to #pests and diseases, enhanced nutritional content, and better adaptation to environmental stress.#Biotechnology continues to play a crucial role in addressing #global challenges related to food security, #sustainability and #climate change. Ongoing research may lead to the development of more resilient and productive crop varieties.

There’s an interesting discussion in the document about terminology: “forgotten foods” vs. “underutilized foods” vs. “traditional foods” as well as other descriptors. I think “underutilized foods” is a better term, although not as catchy as “forgotten foods”. My reasoning is that I wouldn’t consider tomato, cassava, sweet potato, and many others as forgotten, although they may be underutilized in parts of Africa. In any case I’d like to see use of these nutritious foods expanded not only in Africa, but around the globe. Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) IFT International Division

We're proud to announce the release of the Compendium of Forgotten Foods in Africa, a landmark publication that sheds light on 100 traditional African food crops. This extensive collection details their botanical classification, agroecological suitability, agronomic needs, as well as their traditional, medicinal, and nutritional value.   Among the featured crops are treasures like African locust beans, African nightshade, baobab, Bambara nut, bush mango, cassava, fonio, marula, moringa, teff, and tigernut. These neglected, yet nutritionally rich crops, play a crucial role in diversifying diets and fostering climate-resilient agriculture.   A collaborative effort by the FAO and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa - FARA Research in Africa, the Compendium responds to the United Nations Food Systems Summit's call for collective action. It serves as an invaluable resource for researchers, nutritionists, policymakers, and development practitioners dedicated to advancing food and agriculture in Africa.   Join us in rediscovering and integrating these vital foods into our diets for a more sustainable and nutritious future.   #ForgottenFoods #AfricanAgriculture #SustainableFarming #ClimateSmartAgriculture    https://lnkd.in/dhaE8bww

🌱 Harvesting diversity, feeding hope ‘Potato is a crop that contributes to better agricultural production, better nutrition for people, a better environment and life’, according to the FAO guide on the #InternationalDayOfPotato.  How does this special tuber achieve this? 🥔Potatoes are nutrient-rich, packed with vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre; 🥔Adopting sustainable potato production systems can enhance adaptation to climate change and biodiversity; 🥔 Potatoes are a staple crop that can contribute to food security and foster economic opportunities for farmers and communities worldwide.  Learn more about this: https://lnkd.in/d_e-h6-r  

𝗛𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀! 𝟭𝟬 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗼𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗞𝗲𝗻𝘆𝗮 County governments from the Central Region Economic Bloc (CEREB), comprising 10 Counties in Central Kenya, held a meeting to coordinate support for the upscaling of agroecology in the region. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹? Facilitating consumption of agroecological food products and facilitating producer-consumer linkage via a food traceability mechanism for agroecological products. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁? ✅ Support food security in one of the most populated regions of the country ✅ Reduce the burden on people’s health and public healthcare expenditure related to non-communicable diseases 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱? “We are in the process of establishing a master plan [for CEREB] and want agroecology to be at the centre for sustainable agriculture,” said Murang’a County Director of Agriculture, Value Chains, Policy, and Strategy, Daniel Gitahi". As Hans von Zinkernagel (Biovision Foundation), present at the meeting mentions in the TV feature story: developments within CEREB and at the national level in Kenya, where a National Agroecology Strategy is being finalized, “connects to other developments in the world related to the upscaling of agroecology”. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗻: ⏩𝗞𝗲𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Central Region promotes growing, consumption of organic food - https://lnkd.in/evbbYDXT ⏩𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿: Central embraces agroecology for food security and to curb diseases - https://lnkd.in/e4nPHHCT ⏩ 𝗞𝟮𝟰𝗧𝗩: CEREB pushes for agroecology to enhance healthy food production in Central Kenya - https://lnkd.in/e4eWxTvK #Agroecology #AgroecologyPolicy #SustainableAgriculture #HealthyFoodSystems #Biovision #Kenya #AgroecologyWorks, Martin Muriuki, PELUM Kenya Association

🧑🏽🌾Working with farmers is key to increasing the adoption of biofortified crops. Through a collaborative strategy and efforts to develop and bring biofortified crops to market, HarvestPlus provided training and technical support to over 297,000 farmers and value chain actors during 2023, strengthening their ability to grow and sell biofortified crops. Over 443 varieties of 13 biofortified staple crops were available for farmers to grow.  📗👉 To learn more about the impact of our work in Asia, Africa and Latin America, please download the report. https://lnkd.in/eqyhJtVW #HPAR2023 #HarvestPlus #HiddenHunger #Biofortification #FoodSecurity Global Affairs Canada | Affaires mondiales Canada HarvestPlus Solutions International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) AGRA FAO USAID Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Today, Atlas Foods (Pvt) Ltd and Fatima Fertilizer collaboratively organized a comprehensive training session focusing on Sustainable Rice Production and Nutrition Management of Paddy. This session was attended by key personnel from the Agriculture Extension Department, including the Assistant Director, Agriculture Officer, and Field Assistants. The training aimed to enhance the knowledge and skills of the attendees in sustainable rice production, SRP standards, good agricultural practices, and effective nutrition management for paddy cultivation, ensuring a more productive and environmentally friendly approach to rice farming. #AtlasFoodsPakistan #SustainableRicePlatfarm #Rice #Sustainable #Basmati #sustainability #organicfood #organicrice #organic #sustainability #basmatirice #safety #organicfood #export #Pakistan #MNSUA #SyngentaPakistan #RegenerativeAgriculture #Regenerative #HealthySoil #RegenerativeProduction #SuryaFoods #SustainableFarming #FatimaFertilizer #Nutritionmanagement #EbroFoods

#SharingMyResearchonSSETS Certain crops with immense nutritional, health and economic benefits, have been neglected by the farmers. Due to such neglect, these crops have become endangered and gradually becoming extinct. For example, the African Yam Bean (AYB), from previous studies, have been reported to have the potential of producing both pods (aeriel) as well as tubers (under the soil). While the Bean contain protein that is comparable to what can be obtained in soybean, the tuber also has more of carbohydrates, thus making consumption of the whole crop a balanced diet. In one of my studies, I was able to source for 50 different accessions of AYB, from four agro-ecologucal zones of Nigeria, screen them on the field for their agronomic performance, yield and tuber (dual) production potential as well as the assessment of their nutrional content. The outcome of the research revealed, that, not all accessions of AYB can produce pods and tubers at the same time. However, they all produced pods. Also, there were variations in their yield capacity and nutritional contents. For the privilege guven me to share my research experience #SSETS, I thank the @Foreign, Commonwealth Developmemt Office; @Lancaster University, @British Council, @National Open University, and @The Federal University Wukari.