Brazil: Women's participation strengthens and multiplies Agroforestry

Women become protagonists of agroforestry, improving the living conditions of their families and increasing their participation in the spaces of production, marketing and advocacy. Where the leading role of the female has been exercises, success has been achieved.

It is not just today that the active participation of women in Agroforestry Systems (AFS) supported by Cooperafloresta - Agroforestry Farmers Association of Bar Turvo/SP and Adrianople/PR has contributed to the success of the work. In all cities where it operates, the female lead has been exercised. Agroflorestar Project, sponsored by Petrobras Environmental Program, is supporting the Association in working with women farmers, and quilombolas.

The initiative mobilizes hundreds of women who work from the sustainable management of natural resources in agroforestry, the realization of joint efforts, in accounting and organization of collective marketing of food. The result is due to a continuing process of organizing, training and technical assistance for the development of agroforestry, participatory certification and collective marketing.

Among the benefits generated by the integration of women in agroforestry practice is access to their own income, which has contributed to the advancement of their economic emancipation, which strengthens and empowers them to deal with violence against women, as well as to expand its involvement with the political spaces of social intervention.

This commitment of women from agricultural families in agroforestry articulates the transformation of social class with the change in relations with nature and the construction of new social relations of gender. This is expressed in symbols of Agroforestry Systems (AFS) that we support. At the same time, it contributes much to the transformation of social reality, as women themselves entered in SAFs Cooperafloresta and supported by the project Agroflorestar recalls Nelson Correia Neto, agronomist, technician for Cooperafloresta.

The everyday reality

Leni Rodrigues de Sena Pamplona, 44, a member of the Group Agroforestry Blue Magpie / MST, located on the coast of Paraná, recounts her experience. "There has to be a woman to impose order," she says. She receives all the produce twice a week through the farming families merchandise, brands the products and then sends them to the locations where they are sold.

"At these times, women magnify the work of men who no longer work alone. They count on our support. I see it every day here. The production more than doubles since beforehand, most men, besides having to work on other activities, did not have the support of women. I feel valued, respected and I'm proud of what I do," Leni adds.

The voice of women

The agroforestry farmer Olga Maria de Figueiredo says that what she likes best, and along with her husband produces the food on their plot, is to collaborate so that others who do not know how  agroforestry works follow suit. "Today we sent 15 varieties of food to the Fair. Thus, we showed how women can grow food and contribute to ensuring the survival of the family," says Olga, who is also part of the Group Agroforestry Blue Magpie / MST.

In Barra Turvo it is no different. There, where exist the headquarters of Cooperafloresta, since 2003 the SAF has been changing day by day the life of women. Dolíria Rodrigues, from the Quilombo Terra Seca and Ribeirao Grande, states: "We learned how to grow and prepare much. So many meals that do not fit onto a single table. This knowledge cannot be just for us. We must cherish and show other women how much you can do with Agroforestry," she says, satisfied.

"Today, we want to continue in the field, producing food, preserving life, species and nature, developing experiences: agro-ecology, biodiversity preservation, the use of medicinal plants, seeds of recovery as the heritage of peoples in the service of humanity, healthy eating as sovereign nations, diversification of production, the appreciation of the work of women in agroforestry," adds Dolíria.

About Agroflorestar

The Project adopts the tool Agloflorestar farming and sustainable agricultural production, since it does not allow monocultures, pesticides or transgenics and guarantees the work of sustainable agroforestry farmers. It is the development, implementation and maintenance of productive ecosystems that maintain diversity, strength, and stability of natural ecosystems, promoting energy, housing and food in harmony with the environment.

Josi Basso

Translated by Olga Santos

Pravda.Ru 27/12/12

Portuguese version

Mercedes Biome Concept emits pure oxygen.

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At the 2010 Los Angeles Design Challenge, the designers from the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad, California, surprised everyone with a revolutionary vision. 

Taking their inspiration from nature, they designed a vehicle which is fully integrated into the ecosystem, from the moment of its creation right through to the end of its service life.  
Out on the road the car emits pure oxygen.

Florida scientists prepare to release hundreds of thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes

Hundreds of thousands of mutated mosquitoes could soon be unleashed in Florida, but don’t worry: scientists say they have a plan.
It might sound like something out of a low-budget horror film, but the US Food and Drug Administration really is considering whether or not they should allow scientists to send thousands upon thousands of genetically altered insects into the wild.
If all goes as planned, mosquitos modified by some serious Frankenstein treatment will be introduced into the Florida Keys and ideally mate with skeeters that carry the deadly dengue fever, passing along in the process a fatal birth defect that will hopefully eradicate the offspring before birth. From there, scientists say they expect the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with the dangerous disease will be decimated in only a few generations without causing any major implications for the native ecosystem.

"The science of it, I think, looks fine. It's straight from setting up experiments and collecting data," Michael Doyle of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District tells the Associated Press.
No vaccination against dengue fever is currently available in any part of the world, and although the mortality rate associated with it is low, it’s still a serious concern. In the Florida Keys where the economy relies on tourism, an epidemic of any sort could be catastrophic. Some fear that sending mutated mosquitos into the environment could have grave implications as well, though, and are asking for more thorough testing before the FDA makes a decision. Of course, it doesn’t help the scientists’ case that it will take several rounds of releasing genetically modified mosquitos in order for their plan to work.
"The public resistance and the need to reach some agreement between mosquito control and the public, I see that as a very significant issue, outside of the (operating) costs, since this is not just a one-time thing," Phil Lounibos of the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory tells the AP.
The plan to put lab-altered insects into the ecosystem is expected to not harm any humans since the female mosquitos that bite won’t become infected. Real estate agent Mila de Mier tells the AP that she’s still concerned, though, and clearly isn’t the only one: her petition on Change.org, “Say No to Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Release in the Florida Keys,” has garnered over 117,000 signatures.
“Even though the local community in the Florida Keys has spoken – we even passed an ordinance demanding more testing – Oxitec is trying to use a loophole by applying to the FDA for an ‘animal bug’ patent,” reads the petition. “This could mean these mutant mosquitoes could be released at any point against the wishes of locals and the scientific community. We need to make sure the FDA does not approve Oxitec's patent.”
“Nearly all experiments with genetically-modified crops have eventually resulted in unintended consequences: superweeds more resistant to herbicides, mutated and resistant insects also collateral damage to ecosystems. A recent news story reported that the monarch butterfly population is down by half in areas where Roundup Ready GM crops are doused with ultra-high levels of herbicides that wipe out the monarch's favorite milkweed plant.”
“There are more questions than answers and we need more testing to be done,” it continues.
Health officials believed that dengue fever was eradicated entirely years ago, but a handful of cases have been discovered in the Florida Keys in 2009 and 2010. If humans are infected, they can experience extremely high body temperatures, swollen nodes, full-on rashes, vomiting and, in some cases, death.
http://rt.com/usa/news/florida-mosquitos-disease-fever-472/
7/12/12