- Details
Re-published with permission from Grain Legumes | by Prof. Ruth Oniang’o | 02 February 2016
There’s a saying in Kenya: If you haven’t eaten “ugali” (a common maize-based stiff porridge dish), then you haven’t eaten.
Substitute ugali for rice, cassava, matoke (starchy bananas), sweet or Irish potato or any other starch staple and it reflects the status that many cultures place on carbohydrates. Indeed, according to UNFAO, cereals and starchy roots form the center piece of diets around the globe.
- Details
Madrid, 8 de marzo de 2016
El Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (MAGRAMA) ha acogido la presentación del “Año Internacional de las Legumbres 2016” organizada por la Asociación de Legumbristas de España (ALE) y de la que se han sacado dos conclusiones claras: que las legumbres son básicas para conseguir una dieta saludable y que es necesario aumentar su consumo en España ya que estamos cada año más lejos de las recomendaciones de ingesta semanal de este alimento básico para la salud.
El secretario general de Agricultura y Alimentación, Carlos Cabanas, fue el encargado de presentar el acto, agradeciendo a la Asociación de Legumbristas de España la iniciativa de presentar el “Año Internacional de las Legumbres 2016” en el propio MAGRAMA, que lleva mucho tiempo trabajando para concienciar a la sociedad sobre los beneficios de las legumbres, tanto desde la perspectiva alimentaria como de agricultura sostenible. El señor Cabanas apostó claramente por el incremento de la producción y consumo de estos alimentos por su importancia agronómica, medioambiental y nutricional.
- Details
What does one bag of beans mean in the global effort to end hunger? It turns out, a lot. 2016 is the International Year of Pulses. It is also the first full year in which we are officially working toward the Sustainable Development Goals, which set an ambitious but attainable target to end hunger by 2030. An important part of this is improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers – especially women. We have found a way of doing this that also strengthens resilience and improves nutrition: buying more beans and peas.
As the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, the World Food Programme (WFP) reaches an average of 80 million people each year with life-saving food assistance. We also work to eradicate the root causes of hunger; one way we do this is by sourcing our food in ways that build stronger and more inclusive food systems.
- Details
Last week, the Pan African Grain Legume and World Cowpea Conference, the first conference dedicated to boosting pulse productivity, nutrition and processing in Africa occurred.
The conference could be a potential milestone in the fight against global hunger as over four hundred academics, NGOs and scientists came together to discuss how pulses could help poor, small holder African farmers to fight climate change, boost productivity and feed their families.
Also last week, a new survey called the ‘Global Pulse Productivity & Sustainability Survey’, highlighted the lack of investment in pulses compared to other crops such as cereals.
To read more about how both the conference and the survey may mark a milestone in the battle to deal with global hunger, try this article in the Huffington Post.