General Technical Documents

Edible Plants of Teso, Uganda

This resource of wild edible plants in Uganda was contributed by Sara Sytsma. She shared: 

 I ask people in the villages to teach me about different plants they eat. I started on a "book" with the information I could collect so far. Some Ugandan agricultural development staff have helped me too.

If you have additions to the book, please let us know by sharing them on the wild foods conversation.

For each plant category, plants are listed in alphabetical order by Ateso name. Other names are also given. Then there is a description of its growth habit, an explanation of its uses, and instructions for preparing for consumption. 

Mobile Aquaponics System

This system was designed by Daniel Brännström. You can view a video of this system here: http://edn.link/aquavideo

The goal of this project is to place the fish farm in a 20 foot cargo container and connecting to the plant beds in a greenhouse or outdoor. In a standard 20 foot (about 6 m long) container, 2 tanks with fish will be placed which have a total volume of 6 m3 of water. It is possible to produce about 400 kg of fish in 8-10 month. Connecting to the container a small greenhouse and/or outdoors, where tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and other locally desirable vegetables will be grown in plant beds filled with gravel. Between 2500-3500 kg vegetables can be grown in the same time.

Maresha minimal tillage plow and seeder

ECHO East Africa staff have worked with Neil Rowe-Miller, Agriculture and Livelihoods Technical Advisor at Tearfund, and the local community around Arusha, Tanzania, to help adapt the Ethiopian Maresha plow for smallholder conservation agriculture applications. The attached drawings are from May, 2022. The design team may make modifications over time and so this version is not necessarily final. 

The drawings include:

• Isometric view
• Frame dimensions and drawings
• For dimensions and drawings
• Seed meter stand dimensions and drawings from two angles
• Container for keeping seed
• Information about brackets, tensioner, rim, and adjuster
• Hopper plank dimensions and drawings

For additional information or questions, please contact Harold Msayna at hmsanya@echocommunity.org

Mkulima Mbunifu

Januari, 2016, Toleo la 40

Mkulima Mbunifu (MkM) ni jarida linalotoa elimu ya kilimo.

Beyond Borders: Satellite Applications for Humanitarian Emergencies - 20/08/2022

Humanitarian actors continually make complex decisions in the preparation for, and response to, humanitarian emergencies. Digital technologies support these decisionmaking processes by providing large volumes of high-quality data that enables insight. The term “digital data for development (D4D)” refers to the use of data generated by mobile, satellite, and digital devices to inform and strengthen nonprofit, humanitarian, and public-sector decision-making.

Satellite applications, as digital technology, provide a unique source of data about people and their surrounding environment and can fill significant data and information gaps in management and decision-making processes. Often this data may not exist in any other form (e.g., in remote or conflict areas). In other cases, satellite applications may offer data that is more frequent, more detailed, and more affordable than groundbased data sources, such as traditional maps, census data, bespoke surveys, ground teams, or even innovative methods like the use of drones.

Coffee Silverskin - 01/07/2022

Coffee silverskin is high in nutrients, but contains recalcitrant and phytotoxic compounds, limiting its use as a mulch or soil amendment. Fortunately, composting can reduce or eliminate these problems.

Composition

Coffee Silverskin (CS) is the membrane surrounding the coffee bean which separates from the bean during roasting (Figure 1). More-exterior layers, from endocarp outward, are removed prior to roasting, during coffee cherry processing. Thus, CS is the predominant waste created during bean roasting.

CS is largely composed of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose, probably in the form of a lignocellulosic matrix (Carnier et al 2019). Composition varies with the type of coffee and growing conditions. Examples of the varying composition are illustrated in Figure 2 and Table 1.

CS is high in nutrients, including N, P, K and a variety of micronutrients (Table 2). However, CS is also known to contain a number of potentially phytotoxic compounds including phenolics, chlorogenic acid, and caffeine (Gonzalez-Moreno et al 2020, Picca et al 2022). Some CS compounds also exhibit anti-fungal properties and CS extract has been proposed as an alternative wood preservative (Barbero-Lopez et al 2020).

CS as Soil Amendment or Mulch

The high nutrient content suggests that CS could be used as a fertilizer or soil amendment. However, it appears that the nitrogen is primarily bound in highly recalcitrant lignocellulosic compounds. The lack of available N means CS should not be considered a fertilizer or soil amendment (Carnier et al 2019).

Table 2. Example Nutrient Content of CS (adapted from Gonzalez-Moreno et al 2020)

The lignocellulosic content of CS should not pose a problem if used as a mulch. However, the phytogenic properties of some CS compounds suggests that heavy use of CS as a mulch should be avoided (Gonzalez-Moreno et al 2020, Picca et al 2022).

Fortunately, composting has been shown to degrade the phytogenic compounds in CS, providing a route for safely returning CS nutrients to the soil. Picca et al (2022) have shown that composting with garden prunings and biochar eliminated phytotoxicity while making nitrogen readily available. Gonzalez-Moreno et al (2020) demonstrated a similar outcome with vermicomposting. However, they noted that CS can be toxic to worms in high concentration.

References

Barbero-López, A., Monzó-Beltrán, J., Virjamo, V., Akkanen, J., & Haapala, A. (2020). Revalorization of coffee silverskin as a potential feedstock for antifungal chemicals in wood preservation. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, 152, 105011.

Carnier, R., Berton, R. S., Coscione, A. R., Pires, A. M. M., & Corbo, J. Z. (2019). Coffee silverskin and expired coffee powder used as organic fertilizers.

González-Moreno, M. A., García Gracianteparaluceta, B., Marcelino Sádaba, S., Zaratiegui Urdin, J., Robles Domínguez, E., Pérez Ezcurdia, M. A., & Seco Meneses, A. (2020). Feasibility of vermicomposting of spent coffee grounds and silverskin from coffee industries: A laboratory study. Agronomy, 10(8), 1125.

Hijosa-Valsero, M., Garita-Cambronero, J., Paniagua-García, A. I., & Díez-Antolínez, R. (2018). Biobutanol production from coffee silverskin. Microbial cell factories, 17(1), 1-9.

Malara, A., Paone, E., Frontera, P., Bonaccorsi, L., Panzera, G., & Mauriello, F. (2018). Sustainable exploitation of coffee silverskin in water remediation. Sustainability, 10(10), 3547.

Narita, Y., & Inouye, K. (2014). Review on utilization and composition of coffee silverskin. Food Research International, 61, 16-22.

Picca, G., Plaza, C., Madejón, E., & Panettieri, M. (2022). Compositing of coffee silverskin with carbon rich materials leads to high quality soil amendments.

Modern Beekeeping Practice and Honey Production - Nigeria's untapped goldmine - 20/01/2022

Submitted by the author for publication on ECHOcommunity  :  © 2022 Yusuf Olufade

No book on beekeeping can cover everything about such a vast subject, and so a decision was taken to steer the reader towards the practical rather than the theoretical side of the subject. It is hoped that, by doing so, this book should help to get you started. You can pick up the more theoretical aspects from specialist books and beekeeping journals and papers – the important thing now is to begin to explore the exciting world of beekeeping which is largely untapped in Nigeria.

This book will also let government at all levels, corporate bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations to know the most sustainable and workable business model for commercial scale modern beekeeping in Nigeria based on my thorough research and analyses.

Guide photo rapide de ECHO sur les dégâts causés par les insectes ravageurs par rapport à d’autres dégâts subis par les cultures - 07/04/2021

Insect feeding damage or other insect activity can look similar to many bacterial, fungal, or viral diseases or to plant nutrient deficiency symptoms. Before taking action against an assumed insect pest, verify that the symptoms you observe are not caused by a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection. Insecticides are not effective against these types of infections, and improper use of insecticides wastes farmers’ valuable resources and can kill beneficial insects. For visual comparisons of common diseases and pest damage, you can use this quick photo guide which has side-by-side photo comparisons of commonly confused plant health issues. 
 

Fiche Technique pour le Système de Riziculture Intensive (SRI) à Tombouctou, Mali - 20/10/2020

Cette fiche technique a été élaborée pendant la saison culturale 2008/2009 par les techniciens d’Africare et du Service d’Agriculture du Cercle (SAC) de Goundam. Les consignes techniques décrites dans cette fiche sont issues i) de l’étude bibliographique des pratiques SRI ailleurs dans le monde, plus précisément à Madagascar, au Nepal et en Inde (voir bibliographie à la fin de ce document), et ii) d’adapter les consignes techniques SRI aux conditions locales de la riziculture avec 60 paysans de Goundam et Dire dans la région de Tombouctou. Cette fiche est en élaboration, car au fur et à mesure que nous gagnons de l’expérience avec le SRI, les consignes techniques vont se développer. Également, il y a toujours un travail d’adaptation aux conditions locales à faire.