Women Farmers Toil to Expand Africa's Food Supply

By Megan Rowling Tags: Bill Gates Foundation, Africa, women farmers, irrigation, technology, U.N. World Food Programme, underserved peoples, education, FAO, fertilizer, paulownia, agroforestry

LONDON, Dec 26 - Like many African women, Mazoe Gondwe is her family's main food provider. Lately, she has struggled to farm her plot in Malawi due to unpredictable rains that are making her hard life even tougher.

"Now we can't just depend on rain-fed agriculture, so we plant two crops - one watered with rain and one that needs irrigating," she explained. "But irrigation is back-breaking and can take four hours a day."

Gondwe, flown by development agency ActionAid to U.N. climate change talks in Poland this month, said she wanted access to technology that would cut the time it takes to water her crops and till her farm garden. She would also be glad of help to improve storage facilities and seed varieties.

"As a local farmer, I know what I need and I know what works. I grew up in the area and I know how the system is changing," Gondwe said.

This year, agricultural experts have renewed calls for policy makers to pay more attention to small-scale women farmers such as Gondwe, who grow up to 80 percent of crops for food consumption in Africa.

After decades in the political wilderness, farming became a hot topic this year when international food prices hit record highs in June, sharply boosting hunger around the world. The proportion of development aid spent on agriculture has dropped to just 4 percent from a peak of 17 percent in 1982.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for women to be at the heart of a "policy revolution" to boost small-scale farming in Africa.

Women have traditionally shouldered the burden of household food production both there and in Asia, while men tend to focus on growing cash crops or migrate to cities to find paid work.

Yet women own a tiny percentage of the world's land -- some experts say as little as 2 percent -- and receive only around 5 percent of farming information services and training.

"Today the African farmer is the only farmer who takes all the risks herself: no capital, no insurance, no price supports, and little help - if any - from governments. These women are tough and daring and resilient, but they need help," Annan told an October conference on fighting hunger.

A new toolkit explaining how to tackle gender issues in farming development projects, published by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), highlights the potential returns of improving women's access to technology, land and finance.

In Ghana, for example, if women and men had equal land rights and security of tenure, women's use of fertilizer and profits per hectare would nearly double.

In Burkina Faso, Kenya and Tanzania, giving women entrepreneurs the same inputs and education as men would boost business revenue by up to 20 percent. And in Ivory Coast, raising women's income by $10 brings improvements in children's health and nutrition that would require a $110 increase in men's income.

"The knowledge is there, the know-how is there, but the world -- and here I'm talking rich and poor -- doesn't apply it as much as it could," said Marcela Villarreal, director of FAO's gender, equity and rural employment division.

EQUALITY

Many African governments have introduced formal laws making women and men equal, but have troubling enforcing them where they clash with customary laws giving property ownership rights to men, she said.

Often if a woman's husband dies, she has little choice but to marry one of his relatives so she can keep farming her plot and feeding her children, Villarreal said. But if a widow is HIV positive, she might be chased off her land.

In Malawi, FAO is working with parliamentarians and village chiefs to let rural women know they are legally able to hold land titles. They are given wind-up radios so they can listen to farming shows in local languages and taught how to write a will.

"People continue to think that doing things for women is part of a welfare programme and doing things for men - big investments or credit - that is agriculture, that is GDP-related," Villarreal said.

"Women continue not to be seen as part of the productive potential of a country."

One powerful woman trying to change that is Agnes Kalibata, Rwanda's minister of state for agriculture. She said government land reform and credit programmes specifically target struggling women farmers - many of whom are bringing up children alone after their husbands were killed in the 1994 genocide.

This has helped raise their incomes, leading to better nutrition, health and education for their children, Kalibata said. Women are also getting micro-credit loans, which they use to access markets and cooperatives or set up small businesses, such as producing specialty coffee for export.

"They are not like rocket scientists, they are women from the general population who finally feel empowered that they can come out and do some of these things," explained Kalibata.

In the private sector, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have decided to put women at the centre of its agricultural development programme by attaching conditions to grants. It no longer finances projects that ignore gender issues, and it requires women to be involved in their design and implementation.

Catherine Bertini, a senior fellow at the foundation and professor of public administration at Syracuse University, said aid donors had not spent enough on support for women farmers.

"You can find the rhetoric but it's a limited number of people who actually walk the walk," she said.

Bertini, who headed the U.N. World Food Programme in the 1990s, said policy makers could best be persuaded to focus on women farmers by playing up the economic benefits rather than talking about gender equality.

"You convince people to do it because it's the most practical way to increase productivity and income to women," she said.

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The World After 2020

Tags: global warming, deforestationMBendi Newsletter: 28.Nov.2008

In our last newsletter, we commented on the energy implications of the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook 2008. The outlook also had much to say about the likely environmental impact of their reference scenario, so I dug through our Signposts for the past three months to see what new evidence there is for climate change. Here's a summary of what I found.

First some new forecasts to set the scene. Ice sheets on Antarctica and Greenland would raise world sea levels by about 70 meters if they melted completely. Fortunately, the UN Climate Panel projects that sea levels will only rise by between 18 and 59 cm this century. Scientists in Japan forecast that peatlands, concentrated in high latitude locations including Canada, Russia and Alaska, could experience a 40% carbon loss from shallow peat and 86% carbon loss from deep peat with a warming of four degrees C.

The IEA reference scenario forecasts that world greenhouse gas emissions, including non-energy CO2 and all other gases, will grow 35% between 2005 and 2030, leading to a doubling in the concentration of those gases in the atmosphere by the end of this century and an eventual global average temperature increase of up to 6°C on today. Separately, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography warned that the earth will warm about 2.4° C above pre-industrial levels even under extremely conservative greenhouse-gas emission scenarios and under the assumption that efforts to clean up particulate pollution continue to be successful.

So, where are we right now? Starting with the atmosphere above us, the UN Climate Change Secretariat reported that emissions by 40 industrialized nations dropped 0.1% from 2005 to 2006 driven by a fall in U.S. emissions. However, 2006 emissions of 18.0 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide were still 2.3% up from 17.6 billion in 2000 and only 4.7% down from 1990 levels of 18.9 billion tonnes. Most of this drop is due to the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, whose emissions have risen 7.4% to 3.7 billion tonnes just since 2000.

The Global Carbon Project reported anthropogenic CO2 emissions have been growing about four times faster since 2000 than during the previous decade. Worldwide man-made emissions of CO2 increased 3% in 2007. The annual mean growth rate of atmospheric CO2 was 2.2 ppm per year in 2007, above the 2.0 ppm average for the period 2000-2007 and 50% above the average annual mean growth rate for the previous 20 years of 1.5 ppm. Atmospheric CO2 concentration was 383 ppm in 2007, 37% above the concentration at the start of the industrial revolution and the highest during the last 650,000 years and probably during the last 20 million years. Natural land and ocean CO2 sinks removed 54% of all CO2 emitted from human activities during the period 2000-2007.

In 2006, China passed the USA, still the leader in emissions per-capita, to become the largest CO2 emitter, and India will soon overtake Russia to become the third largest emitter. More than half of the global emissions come from less developed countries. However, developing countries with 80% of the world's population still account for only 20% of the cumulative emissions since 1751; the poorest countries in the world, with 800 million people, have contributed less than 1% of these cumulative emissions. Japan reported 2007 emissions were at record levels due to closure of a nuclear power plant.

An MIT report in Geophysical Research Letters indicated that levels of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide, rose abruptly in Earth's atmosphere in 2007. Methane has more than doubled in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times, but stayed largely stable over the last decade or so before rising in 2007 simultaneously at all the places scientists measured around the globe.

Moving from the air to the oceans, an Australian study showed rising carbon dioxide levels in the world's oceans due to climate change, combined with rising sea temperatures, could accelerate coral bleaching, destroying some reefs before 2050. Scientists reported that the number of polluted "dead zones" areas of oxygen-starved water in the world's oceans is growing at about 5% per annum and coastal fish stocks are more vulnerable to collapse than previously feared. According to the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies in Spain marine organisms are more vulnerable to low oxygen content than currently recognized, with fish and crustaceans being the most vulnerable.

The Center for Australian Weather and Climate Research reported in Nature Geoscience that the Southern Ocean, the world's largest carbon sink, has maintained its ability to soak up excess carbon despite changes to currents and wind speeds. The ocean was becoming warmer and less saline. Currents had not changed in strength, though they had shifted closer to Antarctica. CO2 is absorbed by the ocean's turbulent surface layer and then carried to the depths by circulation patterns. It is also absorbed by phytoplankton and other organisms, which fall to the ocean bottom when they die. Some of the carbon-rich water from the depths rises near Antarctica, releasing CO2, while further away from the continent, it sinks again because it is less dense. Overall the ocean absorbs much more than it releases.

Scientists calculated temperatures had risen about 2 Celsius in the past 40 years in the Arctic and by a few tenths of a degree in Antarctica, where some winter sea ice has even expanded in recent decades. The University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that Arctic sea ice melted to its second-lowest level in the summer of 2008, 34% percent below the average from 1979 to 2000, but 9% above the record low set in 2007, the warmest year on record in the Arctic. The annual report of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that autumn air temperatures in the Arctic had climbed to a record 5 degrees C due to major losses of sea ice caused by a warming trend dating back decades. Wild reindeer and caribou herds appear to be declining in numbers. Surface ice is also melting in Greenland.

However, in line with the adage that every dark cloud has a silver lining, the UN Environment Programme reported that a 3 km thick cloud of pollutants hanging over Asia may be delaying the worst effects of global warming. And the Earth Policy Institute published figures showing that while the number of cars and bicycles manufactured during the 1950's and 1960's was almost the same, nearly three times as many bicycles were manufactured as cars in 2007 and bicycle sales continue to rise even while car sales plummet.

I recently read John Firor's The Changing Atmosphere, which succinctly describes the phenomena of acid rain, stratospheric ozone and climate heating. Long before the end, one feels he is describing a situation that calls for immediate action - I was horrified to find the book was researched and published all of twenty years ago and, apart from getting rid of CFCs, we haven't made a lot of progress since then. However, we're heartened that the new US government plans to comprehend the environment in its proposed economic rescue package. They could well take a leaf out of the book of Portugal, which aims to have 60% of electric power provided by solar, wind, wave and other clean sources by 2020 and which last week signed an agreement with Renault and Nissan to create a national network for zero-emission cars by the end of 2011. Now that's what Detroit should be proposing to Congress is exchange for a bail-out...

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Invest in Timber: Save the Rainforest & Make Money Too..

Tags: paulownia, managed forests, US Forest Service, underserved peoples, PanAmerican Properties, PanAm Pro, ENOCIS, Enoch Olinga College

What are the characteristics of timberland as an investment?

Trees grow.  The value of timber products in each tree tends to increase over time.  That is, trees grow into more valuable products over time (pulpwood into saw timber into poles and plywood).  Even with constant stumpage prices, tree volume increases and more valuable products are available for harvest, so value naturally increases over time. Timber investment usually involves an additional investment in land. However, investing in a managed forest, the entrepreneur relieves themselves of the cost of the land, maintenance and personnel costs involved with independent investment in timber. PanAmerican Properties, Inc.  offers a lucrative investment opportunity whose proceeds rest in a tax free zone. Additionally the program restores deforested areas of the rainforest and creates jobs for the underserved peoples of Panama. Proceeds from the project are used to educate students of excellence by providing them scholarships via the Enoch Olinga College

Timber investments offer the flexibility in cash flows; timber sales can be timed for the market.

Timber investment typically involves a long time period.  However, the age structure of purchased forest stands establishes the possible cash flows. Timber can be illiquid, but this can create buying opportunities for investors. Natural risks like diseases, insects and fire can cause losses, but mortality due to all causes is less than 0.5 percent in large holdings.

One of the advantages of the PanAm Pro project is the investor receives a deed which can be negotiated, sold or gifted to third parties.

The paulownia reforestation program offers a much faster and more lucrative turnaround of their assets. Traditionally, it takes twenty or more years before the investor receives a return with paulownia the first return on investment is within 12-18 months. A typical paulownia contract is ten years.

What factors influence the rate of return?

Changes in timber prices.  Since World War II pine saw timber prices have exceeded inflation by 2 to 3 percent annually and pine pulpwood has kept up with inflation.  USDA Forest Service projections are for continued real price increases.

Tree growth and yield.  Tree growth is highly impacted by site quality and forest management intensity.  Tree growth can be accurately predicted via computer models.

Changes in tree value.  Forest management practices control stocking and influence the size of trees on a tract (and thus the products that can be produced).  Overall value can be maximized.

Changes in land value.  Increases in land value typically increase overall rates of return.

Costs.  Cost effective forest management will result in higher rates of return.   Rates of return of 13 to 16% can be generated in Canada and the USA compared with returns of 3 to 6% in UK and Europe with even higher rates of return in Panama the difference rates of return can be attributed to the cost of land and lower labor costs.

What rates of return have historically been earned by timber investments?

University studies show real rates of return in the 10 to 12 percent range can be reasonably expected.  A leading timber index based on actual returns found rates of return vary from 11 to 16 percent depending on region.  Since 1986 the major timberland property index has returned just over 16 percent annually (40% from income and 60% from capital appreciation).

Timber income represents a cash flow; how predictable is this cash flow?

Timber can produce a managed cash flow.  Timber can be stored on the growing tree in bad markets and will grow in volume while stored.  Age structure of the forest stands dictates cash flow opportunity and age structure is known at the time of investment.

Timber income will be impacted by:
Stumpage price change, which is a function of timber supply and demand.  Government projections show real price increases should continue for the foreseeable future.

Land value changes will obviously affect returns.  Government projections are for continued real land value increases.

Tree growth is a major impact and can be modeled by computer; the level of forest management greatly affects tree growth.

How risky is timberland investment?

Stumpage price, land price and tree growth can be considered risks.  As discussed under predictable cash flows, diversification minimizes these risks.  Control of age structure and storing wood on the growing tree reduce stumpage price risk.  Land prices tend to be rather predictable; timber is usually not produced on development-type land.  Tree growth is variable, but easily modeled on a computer.  Geographic diversification minimizes mortality risk from fire, insects and disease (which average less than 1% on large forest properties).

How do timberland assets correlate with other financial assets?

Published studies demonstrate timberland assets show relatively strong negative correlation with all other major financial assets (treasury bills, government and corporate bonds, and stocks).  Timberland assets have a low, but positive, correlation with inflation.  Geographic diversification will lower the magnitude and volatility of timberland returns.  Additional diversification occurs naturally; timber product prices (pulpwood, saw timber, poles, plywood, etc.) are only lowly correlated.

How volatile are timberland returns?

Like all investments, higher returns usually mean more volatility.  Timberland lies above the "capital market line"--meaning it produces high returns relative to volatility.  For example, from 1960 to 2001 stocks (S&P 500) returned 10.1 percent with a standard deviation of 16.6 percent, while timberland returned 12.6 percent with a standard deviation of 13.2 percent.

The Capital Asset Pricing Model shows timberland is a negative BETA and a positive ALPHA asset class.  This suggests timberland is a "negative risk" investment and should be required to generate even less return than a risk-free investment.  That is, timberland appears to be undervalued in term of returns generated relative to risk.

What is the outlook for timberland as an investment?

Institutional investors own over 4 million acres of timberland in the South.  Within a decade, this is expected to exceed 12 million acres.  Timberland has been shown to provide excellent portfolio diversification.  It is negatively correlated with most other financial assets, including real estate, and positively correlated with inflation.  Professional timber management investment organizations can easily manage investment risk via geographical diversification and proper forest management.  Timberland is above the capital market line; or another way of saying that is it produces significant returns that exceed those expected for its risk level.  Timberland is expected to experience dramatic increases in its share of institutional investment over the next decade.  Timberland's historic returns justify this interest.

For more information on paulownia, you may visit the web site paulownianow an informative site with a lot of pictures and technical information. There is even a pictorial instruction on how to plant paulownia seeds which can be purchased from the institution by contacting them at info@paulownianow.org

For investment information on managed paulownia plantations you may contact PanAmerican Properties, Inc.

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Panama and How Paulownia Can Help the Poorest Sector of the Nation

Tags: Panama, paulownia, education, reforestation, environment, Panama Canal, Native Americans To fully understand the benefits of living and retiring in Panama you must first gain a perspective about the country of Panama and how it compares to the United States.

The Republic of Panama situated in the lower part of Central America and the Caribbean.  The Republic of Panama is a small coastal isthmus nation with over 75,000 km 2 of area about the size of the State of Maryland with boundaries connecting it to Costa Rica and Colombia, and bisected by the Panama Canal.  The climate is tropical, wet and rainy with a mean temperature of 27.7 C and average annual rainfall of 190.8 mm.  Panama, a cultural melting pot, inhabited by diverse Native American groups, it was colonized by Spain and formed part of Colombia from 1821 until it declared independence in 1903 becoming the Republic of Panama.

The country now enjoys a politically stable and democratic government.  The Balboa, Panama’s exchange of currency is par with the US dollar, and is interchangeable with it, even in coin machines. Merchants accept all major credit cards recognized in the US and there is free trade between the countries.  American citizens can travel freely within the country.  The parallels continue:  The population is mostly Christian but enjoy complete religious freedom.  There is 110 AC electricity, they are in the Eastern Time zone, and have the same sources transportation.  Panama has a complete network of highways and many people travel by car or bus.  Major airlines also service the country, as well as public transportation and rail systems.

Panama’s strategic geographical position and the Panama Canal have made the country a world leader in marine transportation, finance and commerce.  The official language is Spanish but English is taught in most schools; and is the official second language. The literacy level of the population is 92.3% one of the highest in Latin America. 65% of the population is dedicated to commercial and service activities. 

Panama has a population of approximately 2.8 million people and an annual growth rate of 3.9%.  The per capita income is $2,794 a year one of the highest in Central America, with a .5% inflation rate the lowest in Latin America, and a 12.8% rate of unemployment. [1]

On the surface, Panama and the United States seem very close in culture and technology. In fact, Panama is closer to Texas than Texas is to New York City.  In spite of similarities, Panama is strikingly different in so many ways.  To grasp this, we must admit the painful; they are a third world country, with staggering demands and limited resources.  The third world does not live the healthy, well-educated abundant life we almost take for granted.  Panama is no different.  Some unique problems cannot be legislated away with a humane constitution or eliminated by technical advancement in urban areas.

Although having a relatively high per capita income this number hides the fact that 10% of the poorest sector of the country receive only 0.5% of the total income of the Nation while 10% of the richest receive 42% of the total income of the Republic.  Although one of the richest countries in Latin America it has one of the worst distribution of wealth.  This absence of social equity affects approximately 50% of the population in a significant manner.  The indigenous and other minority populations are affected most dramatically of all. [2]

During one of the darkest times in the history of Panama, the 1980’s when an international embargo was placed against the country and the banks froze all assets a financial anomaly occurred which is note worthy.  Although loans of almost all types were going into default, two areas did not appear to be affected by the economic situation:  home and educational loans.

In fact, the education industry experienced a slight increase in sales possibly because the increased amount of time unemployed people had on their hands.  No other country other than Japan readily comes to mind as having such a high respect for education.  When an educator dies people line up for the funerals.  No notable private school has ever gone bankrupt and the laws regarding educational institutions are quite favorable making the education business one of the most secure investments in the Republic of Panama.  Although schools do not make large earnings on the bottom line, they do demonstrate a steady income and growth potential.  Educational facilities are one of the “blue chips” in private industry in Panama.

For the above reason the Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS) www.enocis.org has implemented a socio economic development project in the areas of extreme poverty of Panama, the PanAmerican Properties, Inc. paulownia elongata reforestation project. www.paulownianow.org The project has two objectives one, to create new sources of income for the poorest sector of Panamanian society and two, produce new sources of revenue for entrepreneurs with a high rate of return with an additional environmental benefit at no additional costs. You may read more about these opportunities or participate in the Paulownia Reforestation project at the following url. http://www.paulownianow.org/index_files/earth.htm

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[1] Real Estate and Terminology, CB Richard Ellis LA, 1999.  CB Richard Ellis is a US, internationally recognized real estate and development company traded on the US stock Exchange and operating in over 20 countries throughout the World.

[2] The National Census of Panama, the Office of the Comptroller General

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Enter the PanAmerican Properties Essay Contest.

Tags: essay contest, paulownia, empress tree, environment, PanAmerican Properties, Sons of David, lumber, biodiversity, forest management, conservation, ecosystems

Enter the PanAmerican Properties Essay Contest.

Reduce your carbon footprint with every tree you plant...

WORLDS FASTEST GROWING HARDWOOD SHADE TREE!

THE ROYAL EMPRESS TREE

Also known as Sapphire Dragon Tree, Paulownia, Kiri Tree, Foxglove Tree & Princess Tree

Paulownia trees are your best choice for a fast growing, beautiful tree that is unsurpassed in its ability to help our environment simply by growing.

Save the Earth

Essay Contest

Trees on Steroids!! How planting paulownia trees, one of the fastest growing trees in the world, can help reduce your impact on the environment.

1. Entries received from 1 October 2008 to 30 November 2008 will be eligible to participate. All entries will become the property of the Sons of David Foundation, to be published at their discretion.

2. All entries should be from 750- 1500 words and may be submitted in English, Spanish, French and German. Send entries to essay@paulownianow.org

3. One winner will be selected within 60 days of the close of the contest.

4. The winning essay will be published by the Foundation on the Paulownia web site www.paulownianow.org and blog http://www.paulownianow.blogspot.com

5. The prize!! 100 paulownia seeds plus planting instructions, valued at more than $100 USD, will be sent to the winning contestant.

6. For any question please write to info@paulownianow.org. Your participation in this contest can make a difference in the lives of many living in extreme poverty.

Lumber from Paulownia trees has been greatly revered in Japan and China for centuries. With the decline of our native forests to the lumber industry, Paulownia trees have come into the spotlight worldwide for their ability to produce high quality timber at a much faster rate than any other hardwood tree.

With an extraordinary growth rate and huge air filtering leaves that convert carbon into oxygen at a higher rate than almost any other tree, Royal Empress Trees are rapidly becoming an important part of the solution to reducing our impact on the Earth.

PanAmerican Properties is developing a reforestation initiative designed to create a neutral zone between the indigenous reservations, legitimately established by both international and national law and the non indigenous communities that are invading these reservations and are cutting down the forests to grow grass for grazing cattle.

This newly titled property separates both populations and not only reduces racial tension but also permits the indigenous communities restore their ecology and the environment.

The project offers the nation a politically correct solution to a longstanding serious issue. Strategic reforestation, whereby the Latino and the indigenous populations will be responsible for the growth and maintenance of the trees and be the beneficiaries of the income derived from the selective cutting of the forest.

This sustainable development offers an environmentally friendly solution to generate income for both groups in areas of extreme poverty. This project creates new jobs and sources of income for students graduating from the PanAm Pro training programs for small business, agriculture, agro forestry, and forest ranger.

PanAm Pro pursues non-confrontational, pragmatic, market-based solutions to conservation challenges. This makes it essential for us to work collaboratively with partners—communities, businesses, government agencies, multilateral institutions, individuals and other non-profit organizations.

Most of the world’s biodiversity exists in areas inhabited by people. Effective conservation cannot be achieved unless the people who live and rely on those lands are an integral part of the conservation process. The Foundation depends upon partnerships with indigenous people and local communities to conserve some of the most biologically critical and threatened ecosystems on Earth.

PanAm Pro works with local communities to improve their quality of life from better management of the resource base, including water use, tourism and forest management. This will help maintain and improve local livelihoods, strengthen local economies and improve their capacity for conserving the remaining biodiversity.

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A Brief Overview of Subsistence Farmers in Panama

Tags: Slash & burn, deforestation, subsistence living, Panama, extreme poverty, indigenous, malnourishment, rice, marginalization Authored by M.C.

Despite a deceptively high national per-capita income, there is much poverty in Panama. The "poster child" of Panamanian poverty would be malnourished, rural and indigenous. There would be no shortage of models for such a poster; 87.7% of the rural indigenous population and 33.5% of the total rural population has been classified as suffering extreme poverty. This means they have a per-capita income of less than $470 dollars per year, insufficient to provide a minimum daily consumption of 2280 calories (Government of Panama, 1998).

At the same time, the natural resources, which sustain the rural population, and with wise use could produce an acceptable standard of living, are being depleted at an alarming rate. For reasons of climate, geographical location and topography, Panama has an apparent comparative advantage in wood and other forest products. Nevertheless, little has been done to develop this advantage.

Often, thousands of dollars of valuable wood is burned to clear land where less than one hundred dollars of rice or corn will be harvested. The annual rate of deforestation has been estimated at 50,000 to 70,000 Ha. per year. Areas of extreme soil degradation due to erosion comprise more than 2,000,000 Ha. More than 1,700,000 Ha. of land that is unsuited to agricultural production is currently in use, and will likely be added to the total of degraded land in the future. Thus, it is probable that the migration to urban areas will continue or increase from its current level (Stewert, 1996).

Who they are and what they are like about 45% of Panama’s population is classified as rural, with 1,007,247 rural non-indigenous and 206,489 rural indigenous people (GOP, 1998). While exact figures for the number of subsistence farmers are not available, a drive through the countryside will suffice to know that the majority of the rural working population is engaged in subsistence agriculture at least part of the year. Within two hour’s travel in any direction from Panama City’s tall buildings, one will encounter subsistence farmers.

In spite of the existing environmental laws, the campesino has had almost unrestricted access to forested land, even in protected areas (Stewart, 1996). There they practice migratory or "slash and burn" agriculture. Usually grains such as rice or tubers such as yucca are planted for about two years, after which the land is abandoned to regrow a forest fallow, or converted into pasture, and the cycle is repeated elsewhere. The campesino combines his unskilled labor with available land, without having to invest money that he doesn’t have, to produce a crop for his family’s consumption.

In areas where there is paid labor available, many campesinos will work for large landowners during part of the year. This depends greatly on transportation and availability of productive land. A man will often abandon planting his own crops to chop woody plants in pastures for $3 per day (Veraguas province) to $6 per day (Coclé) (Personal communication, 1999). He may leave his home for two or three months a year to cut sugar cane for the same daily wage. This indicates that the daily production of the migratory farmer is less than that- certainly an indication of extreme poverty, given the average family size of 5.6 persons (total rural) to 7.2 persons, for indigenous areas (GOP, 1998).

The rural poor spend an average of 71% of its meager income on food, leaving very little for other basic necessities. At the same time, 43% of the rural poor have access to land, indicating that the land, which is available, is underutilized for food or income production.

What are the unmet needs?

According to the government of Panama (1998), poverty is concentrated in rural areas (88% of the national total for extreme poverty), indigenous areas (88% of the total indigenous population is extremely poor) and affects children to a great degree (52% of all children under 5 years and 37% of the total population are poor). The government classifies extreme poverty as per-capita income less than $470 dollars per year, insufficient to reach the minimum daily caloric intake of 2280 calories. The poverty line is set at $726 per-capita per year, sufficient to assure a minimum requirement of calories, plus essential goods and services.

The government characterizes the poor rural population in the following manner (1998):

* Large families- average 5.6 members (national) to 7.2 (indigenous)

* Poorly educated- average 4.5 years of school, 20% illiteracy among the poor, 50% among indigenous women

* Rustic housing- 40% of rural poor (61% of indigenous poor) has dirt floors

* Need for potable water- 27% of rural poor (57% of indigenous) don’t have water systems

* Lack of sanitary facilities- 14% of rural poor and 60% of indigenous poor don’t have latrines or other facilities

* High degree of malnutrition among children- about 1 of 3 poor rural children and 1 of 2 poor rural indigenous children suffer from chronic malnutrition

(2 standard deviations less than average height for age)

* Lack of technical assistance- 5% of all farmers receive technical assistance, this falls to 2.6% among rural poor and 1% for indigenous

* Lack of credit for poor farmers- the non-poor receive 93% of the total value of all agricultural loans

* Deforestation, especially of watersheds, and soil erosion due to lack of soil conservation techniques, are serious problems in rural areas

* Marginalization of women and low productivity of young agricultural workers add to over-all family and community poverty

To sum up-

The large percentage of the Panamanian population, which lives in the countryside, faces a broad range of inter-related problems relating to income, nutrition, housing, water and sanitation and other basic needs.

The available resources- human and "natural" are poorly utilized, and in some cases, being lost. At the same time, the education and technical assistance, which are available, are not nearly sufficient to meet the need for learning the low-input techniques that are required in the situation of lack of credit or other money to invest in small-scale agriculture and community development.

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Women's Secure Access to Land and Productive Assets

Tags: paulownia, disadvantaged groups, women forests, socio-economic development

"The Gleaners" by Lewis Rubenstein (1908-2003) The land is nurturing the mother, who nurtures the child on her back who in time will tend the fields. For more about the Artist click here	Women need forests, Women need water, Access to education and to power, Freedom from bondage, Freedom from hunger. Let us bring them 'the honour'. Land to women is actually revolution. As it saves children from malnutrition And makes families function
Extract from Words of Women at the WRAP workshops in India: Across the developing world, rural women are among the poorest and most disadvantaged groups. They face gender-based discrimination, which is reflected in inequalities in their rights and in their access to resources – especially land, technology and social services, including education and health. Their voices in public life are seldom heard, as women are under-represented in decision-making at all levels. Moreover, their social and economic contributions to their households, and to their communities, are neither understood nor documented. Women’s access to land can be directly related to the important role played by them in rural economy, especially agriculture; it is a basic factor in food security for family and communities. However, women represent the majority of persons without title deeds to the land they use. In a changing socio-economic environment, where women are becoming heads of rural households at an accelerating rate, it is vital that the visibility of rural women farmers be raised; although the economic roles and contributions of women are increasing, their rights to land are not. It must be realized that respect for women’s land rights is something that will benefit the population as a whole. For more information on land use by women and indigenous populations please refer to our web site www.paulownianow.org.

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What Trees have to do with Peace

Tags: Green Belt Movement, Reforestation, women's rightsThirty years ago, in the country of Kenya, 90% of the forest had been chopped down. Without trees to hold the topsoil in place, the land became like a desert. When the women and girls would go in search of firewood in order to prepare the meals, they would have to spend hours and hours looking for what few branches remained. A woman named Wangari watched all of this happening. She decided that there must be a way to take better care of the land and take better care of the women and girls. So she planted a tree. Then she planted another. She wanted to plant thousands of trees, but she realized that it would take a very long time if she were the only one doing it. So she taught the women and they were paid a small amount for each sapling they grew. Soon, she organized women all over the country to plant trees, and a movement took hold. It was called the Green Belt Movement, and with each passing year, more and more trees covered the land.

     But something else was happening as the women planted those trees. Something else besides those trees was taking root. The women began to have confidence in themselves. They began to see that they could make a difference. They began to see that they were capable of many things, and that they were equal to the men. They began to recognize that they were deserving of being treated with respect and dignity. Changes like these were threatening to some. The president of the country didn't like any of this. So police were sent to intimidate and beat Wangari for planting trees, and for planting ideas of equality and democracy in people's heads--- especially in women's. She was accused of "subversion" and arrested many times. Once, while Wangari was trying to plant trees, she was clubbed by guards hired by developers who wanted the lands cleared. She was hospitalized with head injuries. But she survived and it only made her realize that she was on the right path. For almost thirty years, she was threatened physically and she was often ridiculed in the press. She didn't flinch. She only had to look in the eyes of her three children and in the eyes of the thousands of women and girls who were blossoming right along with the trees to find the strength to continue. That is how it came to be that 30 million trees were planted in Africa, one tree at a time. 

     The landscapes--both the external one of the land and the internal one of the people— have been transformed. In 2002, the people of Kenya held a democratic election, and the president who opposed Wangari and her Green Belt Movement is no longer in office. Wangari is now Kenya's Assistant Minister for the Environment. On her sixty-fifth birthday Wangari Maathai planted one more tree in celebration and thanksgiving for being given a very great honor; she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the first African woman to receive this award. After she was notified, she gave a speech entitled, "What Do Trees Have To Do With Peace?" She pointed out how most wars are fought over limited natural resources, such as oil, land, coal or diamonds. She called for an end to corporate greed and for leaders to build more just societies. She added: "Our recent experience in Kenya gives hope to all who have been struggling for a better future. It shows it is possible to bring about positive change and still do it peacefully. All it takes is courage and perseverance and a belief that positive change is possible. That is why the slogan for our campaign was "It is Possible!" On behalf of all African women, I want to express my profound appreciation for this honor, which will serve to encourage women in Kenya, in Africa, and around the world to raise their voices and not to be deterred. When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope. We also secure the future for our children. I call on those around the world to celebrate by planting a tree wherever you are."

     As she received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, she invited us all to get involved: "Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own."

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Panama vs Costa Rica: Reforestation – Reforestation The Role You Can Play and How You Can Benefit

Deforestation in Indonesia:Tags: teak, paulownia, FAO, reforestation, Costa Rica, Panama, Myrnamar, ENOCIS, Enoch Oling College, PanAmerican Properties

In an article in Newsday, Edward A. Gargan, says that in Bangsri, Indonesia has the last great teakwood forest. The wood ends up in places like Abdul Jambari's garden furniture workshop. For about $100, Jambari's chair will sit on a patio or deck somewhere in the United States or Europe. But that chair and the 4,000 others that are part of Jambari's latest export shipment, have left behind a swath of utter devastation, one of thousands that afflict this archipelago and spell the end of the majestic forests that once blanketed Indonesia.

Their disappearance also means the extinction of innumerable animal and plant species indigenous to this country. One-tenth of the tropical forests are located in Indonesia. In an unpublished report, the World Bank found that all the lowland forests in one of Indonesia's largest islands, Sumatra, will be extinct this decade, and that unless the government acts immediately to stop rampant illegal logging, "the only extensive forests that will remain in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Selawesi in the second decade of the new millennium will be the low-stature forests of the mountains."

Deforestation in Costa Rica:

In Costa Rica, people have denuded the forests to provide pastureland for cattle ranching. Pristine forests fell to make way for a world-wide demand for beef. Since the end of World War II, approximately 80% of the forests of Costa Rica have disappeared. Many people considered bananas or coffee, or even sugar cane, as the prime exports of Costa Rica. Sadly, the fact became apparent that top soil, the very life source to Costa Rica's agriculture, was becoming the prime export. Down from the denuded hills into the streams and out to the oceans, top soil was disappearing from the land mass, year after year. The deforestation of tropical rain forests is a threat to life worldwide. Deforestation has profound effects on global climate and causes the extinction of thousands of species annually. Stopping deforestation in the tropics has become an international movement and has promoted the search for ways to reverse its effects.

Reforestation in Central America:

The Costa Rican government, in a typically pragmatic approach to the problem, has offered excellent incentives for those interested parties who wish to assist in the reversal of the denuding of the country. The Forestry Law of Costa Rica, Article #70, recognizes Investor Status, for the development of reforestation projects, to any person who invests a minimum amount of US$100,000.00 to apply for "Permanent Resident Investor Status" in Costa Rica.

The individual must be present in Costa Rica for a minimum of one day each year to have their 'Cedula' (ID card) stamped, but the investor has the right to live and work in Costa Rica. The spouse and any children under the age of 18 have the right to live in Costa Rica (as well as children under age 25 if full time students and living with cedula holder). In addition it is granting tax free returns of dividends.

The Republic of Panama offers similar migratory status for investors of reforestation in that country.

It is a real win-win situation. The hills that covered with forests today were bare 10 years ago. Now they are green again growing a profit-crop for everybody.

Why Not Teak

Despite all of the above positive facts Teak reforestation continues to suffer a bad reputation in certain un-informed circles. The bad reputation can be traced to the early and mid 1970's when promoters were projecting unrealistic growth projections coupled with unrealistic prices. In an article of Dr. Raymond Keogh in Teak he says: "Growth rates which exceed an average of twenty cubic meters per hectare per year in twenty years are unlikely to be encountered".

But Teak has been particularly favored as the type of tree to use in plantations for various reasons: it grows fast; it has a worldwide reputation as a species, and few if any natural enemies. Teak does not support combustion (won't burn) and there is rapid growth in demand and price.

Costa Rica has a number of conditions that lend itself to the growing of teak such as the perfect climate with a pronounced dry season and a reliable rainy season which are both required for the growth of ideal teak, an excellent labor force, excellent Forestry Engineers who are all Government qualified, stable Government which ensures the viability of the growth. The perfect plantation sites for teak reforestation are found on those soils worn out by overgrazing cattle. Land and soil which has suffered many years of constant use and possible abuse and can no longer support a walking crop lends itself perfectly to site preparation for long term teak growing.

No longer can a person consider the merits of 100 year old teak versus plantation teak. Doing so would be a case of comparing the unobtainable to the available.

Intensification of teak plantations

The rotation of new high-intensity teak plantations is generally between 20 and 25 years (Torres, 1999; Ugalde Arias and Pérez Cordero, 1999), which is three to four times shorter than for older low-intensity plantations. The expected mean annual increment (MAI) is more than 10 m3 per hectare per year (as compared with 3 to 8 m3 per hectare per year in low-intensity plantations on good sites) (Subramanian et al., 1999; Maitre, 1983). With intensive management, there is growing concern about the adverse effects of short-rotation monoculture, particularly on the environmental and productive sustainability of successive rotations with high nutrient uptake. The decline in productivity during the second rotation was already an important concern many decades ago (Blanford, 1933; Davis, 1940). The evidence suggests that this is most often a result of the failure to implement various prescriptions (Evans, 1999).

Nevertheless, the current intensification calls for more studies on soil properties, nutrient cycles and possible impacts on productivity. Other concerns related to intensive management include the narrowing of the genetic base in production stands and its consequences for long-term productivity, and environmental impacts of application of fertilizers and pesticides. Growth rates and yield under different conditions and treatments are of particular interest, particularly in the context of increasing investment in teak and unrealistic claims of productivity (Gangopa-dhyay, 1997).

Many of the new high-intensity plantations are in areas that would have been considered marginal for teak growing two decades ago. Some plantation sites in Latin America are in areas with extremely high rainfall (over 4 000 mm per year) and no or very slight dry seasons. These conditions are not found in the natural range of distribution of the species but seem favorable to its growth. However, as most research has been done in other areas, new problems could be encountered.

Particular attention to pest and disease monitoring is especially called for in plantations newly established in ecological conditions that are marginal for the species. In Côte d'Ivoire, for example, root rot disease caused important damage in a young plantation at the limit between the evergreen and the mixed deciduous forest zones. This type of problem could be related to environmental factors but could also result from inadequate silvicultural practices (lack of thinning). Pest and disease problems may be aggravated by the low level of genetic diversity of the selected planting material used in high-yielding plantations. Integrated pest management (IPM) research is thus indispensable to expanding the frontier of teak planting, as well as additional research on provenance or genetic material and site matching.

Marketing in a global economy

A related issue is marketing of teak wood, especially in the context of the emergence of new production centers and, more important, the growth of farm planting. No systematic studies are available on the future demand for teak, specifically taking into account the potential changes in consumption pattern, including the potential for substitution. There is also an urgent need to develop information systems that focus on assessing and analyzing supply, demand, prices, etc. and that make the information accessible to those involved in cultivation, processing and marketing of teak wood. (C.T.S. Nair and O. Souvannavong C.T.S. Nair is Senior Forestry Officer in the Forestry Planning and Statistics Branch, FAO Forestry Department. Oudara Souvannavong is Senior Forestry Officer in the Forest Conservation, Research and Education Service, FAO Forestry Department.)

A Viable Alternative: Paulownia Elongata

With an extraordinary growth rate and huge air filtering leaves that convert carbon into oxygen at a higher rate than almost any other tree, Royal Empress Trees are rapidly becoming an important part of the solution to reducing our impact on the Earth.

Paulownia trees are your best choice for a fast growing, beautiful tree that is unsurpassed in its ability to help our environment simply by growing.

Lumber from Paulownia trees has been greatly revered in Japan and China for centuries. With the decline of our native forests to the lumber industry, Paulownia trees have come into the spotlight worldwide for their ability to produce high quality timber at a much faster rate than any other hardwood tree.

Environmental Qualities for Micro Industry:

Growth Rate

· Grows 10-15 feet a year

· Can grow to a harvestable sized timber tree in 7-10 years.

Regeneration

· Tree should be cut back to the ground in early spring of year two for even faster growth.

· Paulownia trees can regenerate up to 7 times from 1 stump.

Animal Fodder

· The leaves of the Paulownia are high in protein (21%) and nutrients, providing a good fodder for livestock.

Intercropping

· Paulownia trees are excellent for intercropping (growing different crops together in same field). They are used widely in China by farmers who plant them in the fields and grow grain crops beneath them. The trees roots go very deep and do not compete with the crops for water and nutrients.

· Grain crops planted beneath Paulownia trees have a higher yield because the trees improve the climate and reduce the damaging effects of strong winds.

· When the leaves drop they decompose quickly and release valuable nutrients back into the soil.

· After 8-10 years the trees can be cut for timber and become an added income for the farmers. They will regenerate again from the cut stumps, saving the cost of replanting the fields.

· In China, paulownia trees are being used successfully in agroforestry projects and for intercropping with agricultural crops on close to 5 million acres of farmland.

Environmental Qualities and Statistics of Paulownia Trees:

Paulownia is truly a remarkable solution to some of the world's most pressing social, environmental and economic problems holding a record of 31 feet in 7 months.

Paulownia grows successfully in many regions of the world and has found many friends over the last ten years since it became accessible. It is widely used to beautify cities and proven to reduce air pollution especially CO2. It is highly sought after as it is considered to bring good luck where ever it is planted.

· Each tree removes 48 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year. (115,200 lbs. per acre per year)

· Each tree releases about 13 lbs. of oxygen per day. (31,200 lbs. per acre per day)

· Each acre of trees will scrub 13 tons of harmful CO2, gases and dust from the air per year.

· Each tree can absorb 24 gallons of wastewater per day. (57,600 gallons per acre per day)

· Gentle on the earth, few surface roots, long taproot that helps to lower water table and prevent salinity. A very clean tree, no berries, no sap drop, drops its leaves in autumn and they disintegrate within a few days.

· Non evasive water sensitive root systems.

· Public Health Benefit - CSIRO studies confirm eucalyptus react with pollution causing problems for asthma sufferers. Paulownia absorbs more pollution and has a very low pollen count.

· The paulownia has a beautiful flower in the fall generally a lavender color it is eatable and has medicinal qualities known for it association with the lungs. Mix with protein foods for a cure for bronchitis and many other lung associated problems.

Conclusion: Although Teak attractive production numbers per hectare and reasonable financial return for managed forests paulownia is a better financial investment and proves to be beneficial instead of detrimental to the environment.

The rotation of new high-intensity teak plantations is generally between 20 and 25 years (Torres, 1999; Ugalde Arias and Pérez Cordero, 1999), which is three to four times shorter than for older low-intensity plantations. The expected mean annual increment (MAI) is more than 10 m3 per hectare per year (as compared with 3 to 8 m3 per hectare per year in low-intensity plantations on good sites) (Subramanian et al., 1999; Maitre, 1983). With intensive management, there is growing concern about the adverse effects of short-rotation monoculture, particularly on the environmental and productive sustainability of successive rotations with high nutrient uptake. The decline in productivity during the second rotation was already an important concern many decades ago (Blanford, 1933; Davis, 1940).

Paulownia elongata every ten years can produce approximately 680 cubic meters of lumber every ten years while teak takes 20-25 years to produce approximately 380 cubic meters of lumber in twice the time. The current and present world market price for paulownia is higher than that of teak.

After selective harvesting of teak there will be a new expense for replanting, not so for paulownia elongata not to speak of the related environmental benefits.

If you would like further information on paulownia elongata in Panama, it’s environmental and investment benefits, reforestation and investment incentives offered by the Government of Panama you might want to contact PanAmerican Properties, Inc or look at their paulownia web site www.paulownianow.org and how they are working with the Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS) Panama and the underserved populations of the country to offer new socio and economic opportunities for the neediest sectors of Panamanian society.

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