Uwe wrote:
>this was a very interesting post for me; especially the part of
>the boys' town and the enhanced cassava. We are planning
>a small community for approximately 50 children of different
>ages, and the available area is about 2 ha (little more than
>4 acres) in Chihuahua, Mexico, and I want to
>ask you where I could get more info regarding these topics,
>where to get the inoculum, if we could produce it here, etc..

I coordinated the Fiji project from Tokyo when I was at the United Nations
University ('95-97) with George Chan in Fiji. I dont think this is a model
for your Chihuahua children. The integrated bio-system at Montfort Boys'
Town requires an input of brewery spent grain.

A common problem with people who are trying to design integrated biosystems
is that they want to copy other people's model on another location. You
cant. Though the operating sub-systems used may be the same in different
integrated biosystems, it is important to identify your local resources
first. If you dont have this clearly outlined, you will have problems. Your
system must grow from step by step, according to what is abundant or
available.

The Montfort Boys' Town (MBT) had an existing aquaculture practice with 19
fish ponds before the UNU was there. MBT was already food-sufficient in
fish for their 150 boys (15-19 years old). MBT was alreadying practising
livestock-fish integration and producing 4000 kg fish per ha per year. So
we were so fascinated and happy to have identified such a unique place in
the South Pacific. This was the work done with the the help of the Fijian
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forest and I think their work should
be recognised.

The UNU needed a site to demonstrate the use of brewery spent grain to
produce mushrooms and we were just luck to have found this site. The other
sub-systems (livestock, biogas, algae) that we used were nothing new. What
was new was that the overall integrated bio-system design using spent
grain.

In the same way, I recommend that people who are interesting in designing
integrated bio-systems should look seriously at your local resources. The
system at UTA as described in Lylian Rodriguez's paper is basically founded
on the use of cassava and duckweed. Again, I echo the message of Thomas
Preston on the importance of the use of local resources in livestock feeds.
If you cant get this into a viable operation, the whole system will
collapse. Therefore it is important to have an operating base before you
think of designing a system.

With small children, you must look for something they would enjoy doing.
You must have a starting point. e.g. since you have 2 ha of land, you can
involve the children in some gardening activities. e.g. grow sweet potatoes
as feed (leaves and roots) for rabbits, or goats.  Then you can add the use
of earthworms to recycle all organic wastes for their nutrients to the
soil.

Other sub-systems can be added later but these are not activities to be
managed by young children eventhough they may participate in such chores.

After the ICIBS, I am also looking for job opportunities abroad. I would
very much like to involve myself in some community and development work and
therefore I welcome invitations. I have some funds of my own but need to
cover local costs.

regards
jacky