Tag: income generation
Plant fodder shrubs, earn more money – saving time and energy
Planting Fodder Shrubs Nurseries should be established 2-3 months before the long rains (December & January) and the short rains (August & September). Make a nursery of 1m (3 ft) wide by any appropriate length for calliandra, trichandra and, tree lucerne. Ensure the nursery bed is free of weeds and use well- decomposed manure. Add some fresh ash to keep off the pests. Water your seedlings every day in the late evening. Keep livestock away from the nursery to avoid destruction of the seedlings.
Agroforestry can improve food security, farm diversification and income generation in Zambia
Fifteen years of research and development work by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and its partners in Zambia have refined agroforestry technologies that can have a huge impact on food security and income generation at low cost and while protecting the environment. Current policies are failing to take advantage of these new technologies. Minor policy changes could bring about much greater adoption of these proven technologies with major benefits to farmers and the Zambian economy.
Nutritional variation in baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) fruit pulp and seeds based on Africa geographical regions
Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) is an indigenous fruit tree associated with the Savannah drylands of sub-Saharan Africa. Local communities mainly utilize the leaves, pulp, and seeds of baobab as a source of food and for income generation. The present study was conducted to determine the nutritive attributes of baobab fruit pulp and seeds across provenances in east, west, and southern Africa and to determine whether the nutrient content varied with the provenance of origin. Pulp and seed proximate composition and mineral element concentration were determined using the AOAC 1984 methods and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), respectively. The results showed that there exist significant variation (p < .05) in pulp moisture, protein, fiber, ash, and elemental content among provenances. The highest mean pulp crude fiber (8.68 g 100 g1 dw) was recorded in Kenya. At country level, Malawi had the highest mean pulp potassium (22.2 mg g1), calcium (4,300 mg kg1), magnesium (2,300 mg kg1), sodium (1,000 mg kg1), and phosphorus (1,100 mg kg1) levels. Kenya had the highest mean pulp iron (57.4 g g1) and manganese (27.2 g g1) content, while Mali had the lowest iron (13.1 g g1) and manganese (8.6 g g1). At country level, the mean seed calcium content was highest (3,200 mg kg1) in Malawi and lowest (2,000 mg kg1) in Kenya. The highest mean iron content of 63.7 g g1 was recorded in seeds from Kenya, while the lowest (25.8 g g1) was in Mali. Baobab seed mineral and proximate content varied significantly (p < .001) among the selected countries. Overall, baobab fruit pulp and seeds contain significant amounts of nutritionally essential minerals and proximate components but the amounts varied significantly among the selected countries. This variation offers opportunities for selecting provenances to concentrate on during germplasm collection for conservation and domestication of baobab.