Raspberries and adapting to climate change


For Northern hemisphere readers here's a foretaste of summer with these succulent raspberries - one of my favourite fruits. Enjoy!

This is another day of 'Count Your Blessings' with Christian Aid's Lent calendar 2012 - and the end of a week about change. Providing tools for people to create their own change is key to Christian Aid's work. Working in 47 countries it uses more than 500 partner organisations to empower local people to effect positive change in response to local needs.

For example: Christian Aid has 10 partner organizations in Tajikstan. With the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago and a 5 year civil war this country has faced increasing poverty. This is as a result of a deteriorating infrastructure, decline in state-supported services and high unemployment. Food production is threatened due to climate change with more unpredictable weather and rising temperatures. Of a population of 7 million about 2 million have left to find work in Russia and other places.

One of Christian aid's partners in Tajikstan is YEC (Youth Eco Centre). Among other activities this organisation works with women’s cooperatives to help them increase their productivity, adapt to climate change and ensure they can support themselves. As a result of YEC's support Hodzhibi, a member of her local women's co-operative, has created a  raspberry-growing business by which she can make a good living.

Christian Aid today suggests you give thanks for new employment opportunities that pay a fair wage and give 50p if your financial situation has improved since last year. I don't think my financial situation has got better since last year, but I have enough and to spare, so I should give the 50p anyway.



Image: morgueFile free licence

Comments

  1. Chelliah Laity3 March 2012 at 11:52

    I was recently reading about how the deterioration in food production is a disaster that can be remedied through the use of Science engineering. So many solutions seem to exist to the world's problems but is hindered by a lack of political will.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nancy Wallace4 March 2012 at 16:34

      i understand there are sufficient resources in the world to feed its population, but the way food production resources are managed benefits the rich at the cost of the poor.

      Delete
  2. Suem4 March 2012 at 12:43

    Have to say that I love raspberries too. Food is increasingly being seen to be a moral issue. I was interested to hear that the laws on best before and use by dates are to be changed in order to encourage us to stop throwing away perfectly useable food. Also that you do not have to freeze products on the day of purchase, you can safely freeze them any time up until the use by date!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nancy Wallace4 March 2012 at 16:39

      Suem - I've been trying to avoid throwing away food, but sometimes there seems no choice. I think food is increasingly a moral issue for lots of reasons and raises lots of dilemmas. For example if I try to buy mainly locally produced and in-season food this has the benefit of reducing carbon footprint, supporting local farmers etc. but how does that help the workers in other parts of the world who depend on exporting fresh food to places like the UK?

      Delete

Post a Comment