Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.

Though rarely consumed in the West, millet is a staple grain for much of the world’s population, particularly in South Asia and East Africa, and has been cultivated for thousands of years. The African native variety, finger millet, likely originated from the highlands of Ethiopia and Uganda and is one of the most nutritious all of the world’s major cereal crops. It can be used to make porridge, bread, malt, animal feed, popped millet (like popcorn), Ethiopian liquor called arake, and even beer.

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.

In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, people are forced to travel long distances and spend hours at a time collecting the water needed for cooking and drinking from far away streams or wells. But the residents of Cabazane, South Africa have found a much less labor intensive alternative. They use gravity and let water come to them.

Listen to Radio Fanaka Fana and Radio Jigiya, in the Fana and Zégoua regions of Mali, and you are much more likely to hear tips for improving compost piles and soil quality than you are pop music hits or current events. That’s because the station is participating in Farm Radio International’s Africa Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI), a project to test the viability of using radio as a tool for spreading agricultural information to farmers throughout Africa.

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.

In the main section of the Lederer Youth Garden in northeast Washington D.C., run by the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), a staff member pulled up a weed from the rows of ochre, peppers, and watermelons. “This will sell for 3 dollars a bunch at the farmers market,” he said. “But here in our garden, we consider it a weed.”

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.

This is the third blog in a series about the increasing prevalence of large-scale land acquisitions, or land-grabs.

Nourishing the Planet interviews Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

The best pest control is learning to live in harmony with pests. Read about farmers can rely on a natural system to provide pest control.

Cross posted from Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.

In this regular series we profile advisors of the Nourishing the Planet project. This week, we feature Chuck Benbrook, Chief Scientist at the Organic Center.

Cross posted from Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.