Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

This issue of The Farm CEO should have gone out last week, but the connectivity crisis I experienced over the weekend made it impossible. No need for details. What matters is that I’ve now found a solution that (seems to) work(s).

This week, I offer download access to a wonderfully loaded 98 page PDF publication titled “Agricultural Prosperity In Dry Africa” written by a seasoned expert – Prof. Dov Pasternak one of the pioneers of drip irrigation – who, over a 40 year period – played leading roles in (what he’s described as) “the agricultural development of dry Africa on new approaches and strategies that will lead to more successful development.”

Below are excerpts from the book’s introduction and Table Of Contents. Click here to download the full PDF…

Even though I am a scientist, by no means have I written this book in the style of a scientific publication. I present here a summary of my more than 40 years of experience in agricultural research and development in Israel, Egypt, Morocco, Argentina and sub-Saharan Africa. It is written in a style that can be understood by a layman but still appreciated by a scientist. The book deals specifically with agriculture in the Sudano Sahel, a region delineated by 300–800 mm/y rain isohyets stretching from Senegal to Eritrea, but it is relevant to other regions of dry Africa that are in the process of transitioning from traditional to more sophisticated forms of agriculture through a process that we call “development.”

From 1971 until 2001, I was an agricultural researcher at the Institute for Agriculture and Applied Biology (IAAB) of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer Sheva, Israel. My specialty was research on saline water irrigation. Over a period of 30 years, I tested 36 crop species for salt tolerance acquiring a unique knowledge of a great variety of crops (field crops, forage crops, vegetables, fruit trees and ornamentals). This experience helped me immensely when I became the head of Crops and Systems Diversification at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Sahelian Center in Niger.

I headed the IAAB from 1975 until 2001. This relatively small institute with a staff of 100 people has had a very significant impact on the development of the Negev Desert in what is referred to by many as the “Miracle of the Desert.” I believe the primary reason for this success was the absolute academic freedom given to scientists leading to and encouraging innovation.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations ………………………………………………………. 4
Foreword ….………………………………………………………………. 5
Introduction .………………………………………………………………. 8
Chapter 1: What is Hindering Agricultural Development in Africa ? ………10
Chapter 2: Drivers for Development ……………………………………… 13
Chapter 3: Strategies for Agricultural Development ……………………31
Chapter 4: Technologies and Crops for Rainfed Agricultural Development
in Dry Africa …………………………………………………….35
Chapter 5: Irrigation is the Solution …………………………………….…. 61
Chapter 6: Realizing the Potential ………………………………………… 79
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………… 92
Bibliography ……………………………………………………………….. 93
Appendix 1: List of vegetable varieties for the three growing seasons of the
Sudano Sahel …………………………………………………. 97
Appendix 2: List of successful fruit tree varieties at the Sadore Research
Station of ICRISAT ……………………………………………98

Click here to download the PDF