Footsteps 41

LOOKING AFTER OUR LAND

The theme this time is how we care for the natural environment. Much of the issue is concerned with helping people to make the best use of a small area of land.

The world that God created was something of great beauty and wonder, but many parts of the world are now barren, unproductive or of little beauty. Each of us can influence in a small way the area in which we live.

Please find below articles from Footsteps issue 41 in html.

To download a pdf version of Footsteps issue 41 click here (1247K).

Bible study Placing God first For our work in development to be successful, we need to place God first in every-thing we do. However, material things often take first place in our lives in such a way that sometimes these become our god. Instead, make the book o... More >>

Editorial One small planet The theme this time is how we care for the natural environment. Much of the issue is concerned with helping people to make the best use of a small area of land. However, we all need to be very aware of the links between how we live... More >>

Farming in arid conditions Imagine vast areas of land with no trees and plants – just dust and cracked earth. When land which used to produce crops loses most of its fertility and becomes barren, the land becomes desert. For over 900 million people around the world this is a h... More >>

Farming with little land Maybe you have no land or just a small garden. Try planting vegetables which grow on vines or up poles and need little space on the ground. You could grow them up the side of your house or along fences, in unused corners. You can plant one or two vin... More >>

Issues affecting our natural resources With thanks to Gillian Dorfman for this information compiled from Outreach packs 101, 102, 103. Produced by Outreach, 200 East Building 239 Greene St, New York University, NY 10003, USA and Outreach Regional Office, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya... More >>

Letters The aged and AIDS in Africa As everyone knows, parts of Africa have the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the world. Most of those affected are young people aged between 15 and 35 years. Less than 5% of people over 50 years of age are HIV-positi... More >>

Managing a borehole by Abdou Yaba Diop. Drought and lack of water have always been frequent in rural Africa. At the beginning of the 1980s governments and NGOs built various facilities – such as dams, wells and piped water systems – to try to overcome this problem. How... More >>

Mucua juice We prepare and sell a food product called ‘mucua juice’ which is made from the fruit of the baobab tree, commonly known as ‘imbondeiro’ here. (Its scientific name is Adansonia digitata). This fruit is rich in vitamins and minerals. To prepare the jui... More >>

Our friends the worms Worms live in the top layer of the soil. They are small creatures, often unnoticed and yet they are very valuable to farmers. They eat plant and animal leftovers, turning them into useful nutrients for plants. With their burrows they allow more air i... More >>

Reforestation and resources A view from Haiti Haiti is the western part of the Caribbean island shared with the Dominican Republic. Haiti means ‘mountainous’, but today Haiti’s steep slopes are scarred by massive erosion. Years ago Haiti was covered in mature forest with tree... More >>

Resources How to Grow a Balanced Diet: A handbook for community workers by A Burgess, G Maina, P and S Harris This is a practical handbook which bridges the gap between nutritional problems and agricultural solutions. It provides information about nutritional... More >>

The tree gardens of the Chagga The ‘tree gardens’ of the Chagga people of Mount Kilimanjaro provide an inspiring model of how land can be sustainably managed. The Chagga are a mix of ethnic groups who live on the slopes of an impressive mountain, Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. As vari... More >>

The Yatta Guides of Kenya by Dan Schellenberg with Simon Batchelor. The word guide is used for people sent out to find the way for the village; such as the way to information, a grazing area or water in times of drought. It refers to those who are gifted at seeing the way fo... More >>

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