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Hi Pam, I enjoyed the chat that we had on the way ahead for Dadamac.net. I think it is a good starting point to take the discussions further about the evolution of the site. Now to get on with my post for the Open Letter section, I have been looking at some interesting articles on the farm sector. The more I read about it, the sadder I feel about the farm community across the world--more so in developing countries. As the global population surges by a few billions over the next few decades, farmers are going to face more pressure...

Hi Vijay I enjoyed our online chat the other day. You suggested we should share it - but I protested that I had made too many typos. Now you have edited them out and sent it to me - so here it is for anyone to see. Andy suggested including it in our Open Letters. Later, if we get more conversations we can bring them together somewhere. I like the title you chose: The Strength of Dadamac.net

Most meals in rural Nigeria are cooked over open wood fires. This is simple and familiar. Traditionally fuel has been cheap and fairly easy to find. However demand for firewood has increased in line with population growth. As trees are cut down the environment suffers from deforestation, soil loss and eventual desertification. There is also increasing awareness of the damage to health caused by wood smoke, especially when cooking takes place indoors. Efficient wood fuel stoves cook food more quickly and use less fuel. So if the stoves can be provided cheaply to local families everyone wins, right? Not quite!...

The need to find alternative livelihoods for local Nigerian women has become a recurring theme in recent online/Nigeria meetings. In particular, concerns have been expressed about the issue of those who collect firewood to sell. This practice is unsustainable and is contributing to de-forestation. The women themselves recognise this but cannot afford to stop until they have an alternative source of income. Initially the team believed that the purchase of efficient wood stoves would be benificial. But they are very expensive and it was felt that this would not be feasible until a new stream of income is in place...

Hi Pam, I just now read a Guardian story quoting a British scientist that Africa is already warming faster than the global average and that people living there can expect more intense droughts, floods and storm surges. According to Prof. Sir Gordon Conway, the outgoing chief scientist at the British government's Department for International Development, and former head of the philanthropic Rockefeller Foundation, hunger on the continent could increase dramatically in the short term as droughts and desertification increase, and climate change affects water supplies. All that is fine. But my question is: Even assuming that the best minds are...