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tv   Eco Africa  Deutsche Welle  July 2, 2020 11:30pm-12:01am CEST

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are they friends if you 2. are the enemies who never work for the righteous. donald trump and slightly more true to our 2 part documentary analyzes the difficult relationship between russia and the us and between their presidents how does their rivalry and their dangerous mutual admiration affect the rest of the world. starts august 3rd on d w. hello and welcome to a new edition of. in lagos nigeria on today's show we'll be putting the focus on farming including a look at how high tech is changing i would call to all practices i'm joined by my
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colleague in uganda. and a big hello from kampala uganda to all of you as to what did you know that one thought of the global population walks in the agricultural sector here in africa it is over half the population that is why we decided to make a special edition that he's all about. we'll find out how in south africa should farming next for healthy soil. and how food is grown we've hydroponics in nigeria. and finally why farming doesn't have to mean deforestation. we start the show in south africa anyone who's ever been there will have noticed the thousands of kilometers of fencing that caught of course the land usually designed to contain the cutoff fences have a devastating effect on the environment they are not only a deadly trial for the wildlife they also prevent lifestyle from moving around
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pretty which leaves all the grazing and non-degree addiction some hadas on the tree bossing this trend and they are spearheading an ecological revolution. when herders leave their livestock on to the great plains of the car route in central south africa the animals on allowed to linger. to protect the vegetation from overgrazing they have to be kept on the move as a result they can only eat the tips of the plants. head chef addicts nothing cooper has years of experience and of seeing how the landscape has changed since he's been grazing his animals here it has made its. pitches and grass growth was not that much but now since we have had it just the process. we know there's a bit now a change you know grazing that is more quote i think. the herders are
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part of the shepherding but biodiversity project it supports commercial. livestock keeping while boosting land restoration on this 24000 hectare farm. that was once much greener and home to millions of until open buffalo. hooves loosen the topsoil while the droppings fertilized it. in a bid to recreate the great migrations of the past the project employs shepherds to lead livestock over the plains. is the project leader he's confident that herders can help revive the whole region. as we fundamentally believe that this method of farming give space for wildlife to co-exist with production i could call tree so that's really the simple vision is to find a way commision by which we can. foster biodiversity on production farms. the thousands of kilometers of fences needed for
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intensive livestock of the culture one of the main reasons why wildlife has disappeared. fences prevent the animals from roaming free as they search for grazing land and water. they often end up tangled in barbed wire. in order to study the effects of the fenceless farming method on the environment ecologist so monitoring the project. over the past 2 years ahead researcher janine mcmanus and a group of students have recorded the number of plant species in selected study sites in that. in addition the group evaluates the earth but you take an index index is determined by the amount of green seen on the ground by satellites and allows researchers to compare plant growth in different regions over time. you can really start picking up changes in trains with the way the herd is being
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grazing especially over a longer eastern period and parts of the farm and the. green index shows up quite pronounced and we compared it to traditional farms where it isn't quite as pronounced and they seems to be quite a significant. it's just looking at the pixels alone you know taking the green out of pixelization but from that you can really start seeing a difference. there are many positive signs. areas that have been grazed by the herds on now seeing thicker plant growth. slowly while the animals are returning to the fall more than 500 antelope have been counted and even a leopard was recently cited. a major success for dixon in cuba especially since south africa is still recovering from one of the worst droughts in recorded history . pushing this process continue for the rest of us so that there are any damage to the land and to
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so that even the neighbors in other countries can be more inspired about what it is seeing in this. project could inspire neighboring farmers many of them saw their london grade and lost livestock due to the severe drought for the shepherds however this year's lambing season turned out to be very successful adding another $800.00 sheep to the herd slowly but surely the project is turning profitable. and now we go to germany whether ugly culture sector also plays an important role in the economy not surprisingly production there is becoming more and more more dead and high tech no can grow bored and drones about the fields are part of daily life but now a new intervention could be added a robot in the field tell us more. it's a prototype sandra but he could make life far easier for the farmers in the future but i've used to farm using fewer people and vast sea of all resources in b.
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and just 3 of the kids to help. population let's have a look. here in this field a prototype is being tested the hope is that this technology will be able to combat we need an improved harvest. meet a root got that work for organic farmer trying to customs. discover the thrift of life become a visionary in this operation because i'm trying to foresee the problems we'll have in a decade and i'm doing my best to solve them through for. the farmers already having problems finding enough employees to work his fields bonnie ray. could solve this labor shortage by recognizing weeds and destroying them we found reline chemicals but the robot is still at the learning stage or the farmer has brought in i.t. experts to help. us forster if. you can imagine drawing a picture with a green marker and a red marker and then we tell him that's
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a carrot and those are weeds and later we have pictures without anything and we tell the robot to find out where would you use the color red or grey doesn't and this is what you see in the end it examines all the images and says you're away it was. artificial intelligence for farming. nowadays farmers also have to be engineers and software experts able to hook up heavy duty farm machinery to networks those networks collect and analyze data so farmers can optimize the use of seeds and fertilizer it's providing a new line of business for agricultural machinery engineers. infamously and someday we'll have to feed 9 or 10000000000 people that won't be possible with curry eels we have to become more efficient and we have to use our resources more wisely. research and practice are closely interlinked fuel efficiency tests for example are
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being conducted at the farm work i anchor himself learned his trade. up this is our new tire just programmed to fit the tractor follows that route there's no need to steer satellite maps help the machinery stay exactly on course but it also makes it possible to track in flurries every move and spot every mistake digital technology is very useful for looking after livestock to helping to boost profits feeding has long been automated panko says farmer should still visit their animals at least once a day. reopen. we currently have 2000 ok so feeding them by hand is inconceivable it's good to have fully automated feeding. full of the marshes find food. back at the carrot shield the vegetable crop is being separated from the weeds by hand at least it's environmentally friendly the
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vehicle is powered by solar panels but it's difficult to find workers willing to pull up weeds for 8 hours when will this work be automated. here's a move we know that in the long term we won't have these workers anymore so we need the technology to help keep the weeds on our fields in check most of them goes to the home because there's a big demand for big vision was farming can benefit greatly from digitalisation. our dream is to come here with a small trailer open the door and then 100 drones fly out and around the field and do everything automatically automotive. everything depends on the new technological possibilities and how we exploit them. these days farming is becoming increasingly high tech in europe and in africa too here in nigeria for example
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there's a lot of research being done into solutions for feeding the booming population while protecting the environment we visit a company in lagos that is reducing the negative. impact of farming with an innovative hydroponics system it uses less land and little for the cultivation of fresh produce the fur is helping drive an agricultural revolution. these bazil possibly and little sponsor special they being drone with old use a normal song vision over to systemise cold audra politics to feed the plants the gardeners use. made from the block of the coconut tree. you transfer yours are not. your trunks with chemical additives. natural state and a special vegetable form of. nutrients and that the plants need. they got
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no color we group began growing hurts and vegetables in lagos 2 years ago fresh produce is often difficult to find into nigerian megacity and organic products are even harder to get hold of. starts with a need to. i want to empower the farmers and also with the consumer in mind in terms of providing fresh quality approaches to all consumers which is real farm to table which is part of the whole agricultural revolution that's going on in the world by grain locally they could even on the cot the prices of the produce a villa pull in the city bodies still make profits conventionally grown vegetables so to other markets cost around 30 percent more than the organic ones here i buy kill spinny's in the eighty's most of them are imported soup that very expensive
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but the seas look in the groom and danny so the price in us is very reasonable when you think about what you're getting nothing can be fresh for you know straight from from farm to mouth that whole concept nothing if it's not too expensive. it's also environmentally friendly other company only delivers within the city it keeps its carbon footprint low the firm is also helping other farmers to follow its example. we. brush of the comp and this list of it's a part of the continent that literally you know butte fox people are pretty fond of them i don't trust fights. so far they've helped 3 farmers to launch their own businesses. we are also planning to expand and are currently sitting up to new c.t.
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farms in lagos. here in africa effects of a climate crisis have never been more apparent and the farming sector is inevitably hardest hit if you have your 4 years of the farmers plant what are supposed to be high yield crops every year but the land is so props that be barely have anything to harvest. institute in germany if european research learning how to boost biodiversity and revive on. the right is back on withstand the drop and threat. biologist. is showing 3 visitors around the fields of the likeness instituto plant genetics and crop plant research in central germany. so you think the 3 i work at the seed bank of the biodiversity institute in. the largest of its kind in africa they want to find out what their colleagues in germany are doing to improve the quality of crops seeds.
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the market likes the hands on part of the process here she's learning things she hopes to implement back home she's manager of the seed bank and i just. don't know what tomorrow can bring so we always want our. life even though we support a life of food shelter maids it's all what's a base for our leaving so it's a question of living. so having conserving supporting life. shows her guests the treasure trove at the heart of the institute the seed bank with over 150000 some. pulls from plants from around the world gathered over a period of several decades. tribe. has been collaborating with
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her colleagues in addis ababa for 9 years now. the diversity of species is astounding for example that of more than $9000.00 varieties of being in the collection size of the seed bank here in gutters laden is one of the largest in the world source of collecting mission the items in all the right is have lower yield but they can cope better with changing climatic conditions they're more robust in times of drought lack of water often turn soil acidic or leads to a build up of minerals and heavy metals these varieties can withstand all of that better than more fragile modern seeds more than a. lot of us are has got to know the problems farmers face in ethiopia firsthand for sure they tend to plant the same crops year in year out which leads to soil degradation and ever lower yields new varieties are needed. the institute in add is
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also has fields where new strains are tested strains developed that with the help of a german seed company. that more back at the lightness institute in germany this week has grown from seeds collected in the 1950 s. the variety actually originated in ethiopia but has died out there this is the 6th robo it samples have since been sent back to the seed bank and is along with seeds of other crops once and demick to ethiopia really certain strains of wheat and mustard more than 7000 in all now they're back home and available for research and possibly cultivation we want to apply or to use our forces. for development so most of our. research just from different research institutes in the country and students are. for their ph d. in the visitors from ethiopia want to expand the testing of older varieties at
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their own institute to establish which ones could withstand stress factors such as dryness or acidic soil this is an important step to boost sustainable farming in ethiopia important that's what we would point and we stay in europe one next report in poland many farmers proctors industrialized synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are common as intensive life stock following but in recent years the demand has been changing with more and more people buying organically produced food. it is a trend that we are seeing all over the world and in poland a country that is traditionally of grounded in agriculture these growing market is providing opportunities to the increasing number of organic dairy farmers we went to meet some cheese makers. in eastern poland helena scott is leading her ghost head through the meadows.
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a couple of years ago she and her daughter isabella to tell us where started with a handful of animals now they take care of 300 goats. from them know the family produces a variety of different organic cheeses that have become a hit with the locals. she added there was a time when people said oh good lord goat cheese no it really smells bad and can't possibly taste good. it took several years to convince poles to try some other choose besides the cow's milk factory kind gotos was practically nonexistent it's only now that it's become trendy. to chaska is one of the $1000.00 out is an old cheese makers in poland the 25 year old is a psychologist by training but has decided to come on board in the family run
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business today the farm boasts more than 50 head tis a pasture and produces around 10 tons of organic teas each year. and the other farm in the region the ranch of french era has a similar backstory. sylvia schlender of it and her family specialize in organic cows and sheep cheeses. some 15 years ago they left the city to buy a ramshackle farm. over the years they renovated it and turned it into a flourishing cheese business. they have no trouble selling their dairy close to home. but out in europe there are fewer and fewer natural rich herbs and so i think that's one reason why archies the such a hit not only with coles that but also some italian french or spanish people who saw his final in poland organic food still has
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a small market share compared to other european nations. yet the demand is growing rapidly. more and more people are willing to pay a premium for high quality and sustainably produced food that means there are lots of opportunities for the country's organic cheese farmers to grow their herds even bigger. all to often and all over the world farming goes huntin hard with different station in many african countries slashing and bonding is the way to prepare land for planting crops regardless of whether that land is depleted or the time but many overlook the fact that this method destroys the so way down below the surface one young man in senegal has come up with an alternative one that is good for the soil and the air and can even produce better harvests. these are shoes are still hot
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recently trees are cut down here and want to make room for new fields in. the tropical forest and on the village of subtle insult on senegal is endangered. palmer is an action part of the forest it provides the villagers with fruit with wood to build on each other with palm leaves for their roofs of the huts. but again and again the forest isn't a late clement's somebody is a farmer from start to who wants to protect the trees he sees the slash and burn maple it is actually harmful for agriculture although the new fields may be fertile bonding also causes soil erosion which is bad for the palmira palm trees. i don't care for paul. this is an example of a devastating bush fire last year someone certify here and dangerous left you can
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see the back of this tree bark down to the bees and that means the whole tree is now much more vulnerable and presently the new way. crisis meeting village elder christophe quali explains how serious the situation ease slashing and burning does not only destroy forest uncontrolled fires threatened the village itself. and i'm very. busy resuming a founded a quality that we look into the organisation of a patrol i don't tend to villagers from our own suit to participating in order to get these bush fires under control. i did what would be called to put a bill but the final lemon someone doesn't paint but trolls will help he discovered a method on the internet it will make depleted soils for tell again these metal is called google quota or he'll culture fast over unusable logs and dead branches is
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laid down leaves grass and weeds is put on top then it only needs watering in time it becomes a fight a bed for planting clement's some food tried it on his own fields and was successful. or needed bread but we only want to eat once a week so not only what if you put your hands on top of it it's as if you're a deep in the woods a really nice damp for a soil and that's just what the plants need to do for a live report is more when you put. this certain religions plant mostly veggie tables on their fields claman somewhat teaches them the forest friendly method. which also gives them valuable compost it's. fine muscle said not decided to use the compost on her fields. miracle my longer.
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i make comcast it gives me a profit instead of having to buy for to live with this profit i take care of my house and i take care of my children my 2 nephews i can go. to the market to buy the hands that he raised to secure my future and save for. the master. it's a win win using compost to revitalize the depleted fields and make them fatten again protects the pony up palm trees. and the whole tropical forest. i'm afraid we've run out of time for today we hope the show has given you some useful information on how farming can help positive but also devastating effect on the environment from the ecological farming to new technologies that's it for this week. goodbye from lagos nigeria and goodbye from me to
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here in kampala uganda will be back next week with the new edition of africa in the meantime if you want to get in touch visit our website or you can drop us a line take care and stay safe see you next time good bye. i am. the food.
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food food. food. into the conflict so for instance a bus trip india's government is in the firing line it's home an abortion accused of probably coming a coronavirus some law about the use of fossil bizarre in its own troops and chinese forces in the follow my guest this week from new delhi just shoot out you should maybe a member of the alpha house of parliament or the national spokesperson for the.
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conflict the food image feed ducks running illegal expulsion. and they're not a shot of what keeps hearing about the dollar she wants for a refugee in a dome and i say shame race near the time. they can die there and we have no one minds tell us it's very troubling. she set out to investigate. focus on europe. 90 minutes on d w. indeed of climate change. the city.
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people. what ideas do they have the future. dot com for can make a city against the mountain get. this some notes story a stubborn rice farmer from thailand. his problem tests. his credo no chemicals. his wife thought he was crazy. and i bought ducks. and his plan was. to step in. step no. orders. good tests
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don't stand a chance. by systemizing the farmers free. the finest egg production to top it off. training successful. tucker chatted. starts john 27. this is news and these are top stories. pro-democracy activist nathan law has said the fate of hong kong shows the true power of china's authoritarianism he's called on the world powers to stand up to beijing law fled hong kong after beijing imposed a new sweeping controversial security law on the territory.

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