⁣9th ICAT - Keynote: Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo

The theme for the forum is “Leveraging Technology to Prevent Post Harvest Loss”.

Sufficient Food Supply is imperative for an economy to thrive especially in these times of uncertainty. Research has shown that global food production has reached a record high in recent years; however, one third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, this is equivalent to 1.3 billion tons.

Some of these losses occur on the farm, during harvest, gathering, and others occur while commodities are in transit, during offloading (due to poor handling), and in varying degrees in the entire value chain and this has led to food insecurity for millions of families in Nigeria and across the World.

In some developing countries, small holder farmers regularly lose 40 percent of their harvest due to inadequate storage facilities or equipment.

Achieving zero loss in Agriculture is unfeasible; however, we can reduce this loss to a large extent by continually creating awareness and building waste management capacities.

With his pilgrim's staff and Panama hat, Father Godfrey Nzamujo nips up and down the paths of Songhai, the organic farm he created nearly 30 years ago as a tool against poverty and rural migration in Africa. Duration: 02:21

'Why is Africa, such a rich country in opportunities, so poor?'

‘Africans must come home.’ Because of this quote by ex-president Nyerere (Tanzania), the life of Godfrey Nzamujo (Nigeria) was completely transformed. As a young student, he had come to California, living an easy life with the money of his community and the church. After seeing starving African children on TV, he decided to go home, where he transformed a piece of wasteland into ‘Songhai’ a successful project in Benin that moved Ban Ki-moon to tears!
I met this Dominican friar in Amsterdam together with Dutch entrepreneurs. Africans are called to go home, because ‘the future of Africa lies in its lands, its climate and its agricultural work, which is so poorly appreciated in the continent today.’

‘Afrikanen moeten naar huis terugkeren’. Door deze uitspraak van ex-president Nyerere (Tanzania) veranderde het leven van Godfrey NZAMUJO volledig. Aanvankelijk leidde hij een comfortabel leventje in Californië met het geld dat zijn gemeenschap en de kerk hem voor zijn studies ter beschikking hadden gesteld. Na beelden van ondervoede Afrikaanse kinderen, ging hij naar Afrika terug. Hij transformeerde een stuk braakliggende grond tot de bloeiende onderneming ‘Songhai’ in Benin, een ongelooflijk succesverhaal dat Ban Ki-Moon (secretaris VN) volledig enthousiast maakte voor Afrika.
Ik ontmoette deze dominicaanse friar in Amsterdam samen met Nederlandse agrarische ondernemers. Nzamujo roept Afrikanen op, zoals eens Nyerere deed, om zich in Afrika in te zetten want ‘the future of Africa lies in its lands, its climate and its agricultural work, which is so poorly appreciated in the continent today.’
Volledig interview in ‘The Dominican Way’ (Bloomsbury, Londen) en ‘Ongewone Wegen’ (Pelckmans, Kapellen)

Reverend Father Godfrey Nzamujo founded the Songhai Center in 1985 in Porto Novo, with the aim of training young 'barefoot' engineers who once established, would educate their communities on sustainable systems of agriculture. "The inability to produce goods and services to meet our basic needs causes us to export wealth and import poverty" he says, as he shares deep insight into Songhai's integrated agro-production system.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Godfrey Nzamujo from the Songhai Centre in Benin describes the organization’s role in promoting agroecological approaches to farming. The interview was recorded in occasion of the International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition, held at FAO HQ in Rome on 18-19 September 2014.

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⁣Permaculture expert, John Nzira shares with us how to determine what to plant.

Permaculture expert, John Nzira shares with us how to prepare the soil/land for your household/community food garden.

http://www.fao.org/publication....s/card/en/c/d1f541b5

The ten-year efforts of the Kaydara Agroecology School Farm, in Senegal, led to concrete benefits for the community and for the environment. Gora Ndiaye, founder of the "African Gardens" association, summarizes the some important features of the project.

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⁣A young man's epic journey across Africa in search of a colonial killer.