Another great map!

The World Resources Institute report, World Resources 2005 -- The Wealth of the Poor: Managing ecosystems to fight poverty, details the steps necessary to empower the poor to use ecosystems both wisely and for wealth. The book presents lots of current information on environmental, social, and economic trends in more than 150 countries. The full World Resources database is accessible and searchable online at EarthTrends.

Here is one of the maps from the book. It shows how climate change will affect growing seasons in Africa in 2000-2050. The brown areas show which areas will be under greater stress through reduced agricultural production.



As I am deeply interested Tanzania, I peer closely at the map to see how it will be affected. I see that most of Tanzania is brown, meaning shorter growing seasons and lower food production. This means more malnourished children who will die young of preventable diseases.

The following map shows that in 1996 ALL districts of Tanzania had more than 14% of children underweight. In some districts, this was up to 48%. These figures can only get worse when climate change reduces the length of growing seasons.



I feel some relief to see that the northern edge of Tanzania, where the School of St Jude is in Arusha, will have longer growing seasons. Still, the country as a whole is facing the prospect of greater stress on food production.

When we care about an issue, we seek information so we are informed. We want to know what happens at the local level and also at the larger, national level. We want to know what is happening right now, and what the longer term holds. With good information, we have a clearer view and can make informed choices.

I believe that education is an investment in the future. For a relatively small donation to the School of St Jude, you can equip a bright child from the poorest family to be a teacher, doctor, nurse, engineer, a leader of the future. Desperately poor countries like Tanzania CANNOT advance without these professional skills. What a huge gift you will give – to the individual child, their family, their community and their country.



Click here to subscribe to this blog.

What's for dinner?

Chickens and goats seem to feature quite often in news about the School of St Jude.

Rotary visitors enjoy grilled goat

I thought I would see if I could find out a bit more about the culinary heritage of Tanzania.

As you would expect the cuisine varies with the geography. In the inland savannah, the traditional cuisine of cattle-keeping people is distinctive in that meat products are generally absent. Cattle, sheep and goats were regarded as a form of currency and a store of wealth, and are not generally consumed as food. In some areas, traditional people consume the milk and blood of cattle, but rarely the meat.

Elsewhere, other people are farmers who grow a variety of grains and vegetables. Corn is the basis of ugali, a starch dish eaten with meats or stews.

Around 1000 years ago, the Arabs settled in the coastal areas of East Africa, and Arabic influences are reflected in the Swahili cuisine of the coast – steamed cooked rice with spices in Persian style, use of saffron, cloves, cinnamon and several other spices, and pomegranate juice.
Several centuries later, the British and the Indians came, and both brought with them their foods, like Indian spiced vegetable curries, lentil soups, chapattis and a variety of pickles. Just before the British and the Indians, the Portuguese had introduced techniques of roasting and marinating, and the use of spices, turning the bland diet into aromatic stewed dishes.

Portuguese also brought from their Asian colonies fruits like the orange, lemon and lime. From their colonies in the New World, Portuguese brought exotic items like chiles, peppers, maize, tomatoes, pineapple, bananas, and the domestic pig – now, all these are part of East African food.

Here is something you might like to try yourself.

Spinach with peanut sauce
1 medium onion, diced
180 ml water
2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 lbs spinach, roughly chopped
1 pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder (or more if you prefer a more spicy dish)
2 teaspoons honey

1. brown off the onions in oil in a sauce pan on medium heat.
2. add the water and peanut butter on a low heat, stir until dissolved and simmer for a few minutes.
3. add salt, honey, chilli pepper and tomatoes, stir together.
4. add the spinach on top and put a lid on, leave for approx 5 minute.
5. stir everything together, cook a further 5 minute.
6. serve with rice.

I think I'll try it tonight!!