I inherited an oil painting on canvas that measures 22-by-28 inches and is signed by Ross Stefan. I wonder about its monetary worth and where I might market it.
This oil on canvas presents a wonderfully warm domestic scene with a Native American mother holding her smiling infant safe and snug in a cradleboard.
Ross Stefan was born in Milwaukee, Wis., in 1934 and had his first one-man art show at the tender age of 13. Stefan met Western artist Daniel Cody Muller and was greatly influenced by his work.
Muller's father was part Blackfoot, and he scouted for the U.S. Cavalry with Buffalo Bill Cody. The younger Muller became a member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows and for 18 years periodically toured North America and Europe with the company.
After leaving show business, Muller became one of genre's most accomplished artists. His work customarily depicts images of cowboys on horseback, sometimes playing sports such as "cowboy polo." He also does portraits of Native Americans.
Stefan moved to Arizona in 1953 and studied art at the University of Arizona. In his spare time, he worked as an illustrator for the Tucson Daily Citizen. But in 1955, Stefan quit school to paint full time.
He began traveling the desert, visiting the native pueblos and painting and drawing the American West's people and landscapes. His work is often described as "southwestern impressionism" because of his broad brushstrokes and heightened color palette, but this does not take into account the proportional accuracy and spatial realism of his landscapes, figures and architecture.
Ross Stefan's scenes of pueblo life and the southern Arizona landscape are still prime examples of this genre, and his legacy is secure as a leading Arizona artist of the 20th century.
But what about the marketplace? Prices for Stefan's work have increased dramatically over the last 10 years as interest in Western art has expanded. In 2007, his painting "Finally Caught" sold for $16,800 at auction. Many other Stefan paintings have sold privately at similar prices.
But prices paid for his landscapes far exceed those paid for his portraits and scenes of Native American people. The work in today's question is a decent size. If it were in perfect condition, it likely would sell at auction for $3,000 to $5,000.
It definitely would be better to sell this painting in the Southwest with Scottsdale, Ariz., and Santa Fe, N.M., both being leading candidates. We try to stay out of commercial transactions or personal recommendations, but exploring auction houses in these areas may be fruitful for N.G.
Auction companies in Altadena, Calif., and Reno, Nev., have also done well, and Stefan's work has sold successfully at one of the major international auction housed in New York City as well.
2011年10月19日星期三
2011年10月13日星期四
Wayne exhibit comes to a close
The Joseloff Gallery located in the Harry Jack Gray Center was proud to exhibit the traveling showcase of artist Leslie Wayne in an exhibition titled “Leslie Wayne: Recent Work.”
Wayne’s work was on display from Aug. 30 through Oct 9. The last days of the gallery viewing were between 12-4pm where lovers of art and students of The Hartford Art School were welcome to come.
Along with the gallery viewing hours, included a reception on Thursday, Sept. 8 and a lecture given by Wayne herself in the Koopman Commons at the Hartford Art School.
Wayne’s work that was displayed came alive on the walls featuring manyoil paintings that had very intricate structures and designs that had brilliant colors.
These dimensionaloil paintings were inspired by the work of the 19-century paintings of Romantic Landscapes. The work did not only exhibit nature, but the world as a whole.
For me not being well verse in art, Wayne’s art was so intriguing because it wasn’t just a washed outoil paintings. These oil paintings had different dimensions and layers that the artist did to really convey and show the nature motif in her work.
This particular exhibition of Wayne’s work has been from the past five years (2005-2010) and takes a contemporary approach. The onepainting that really caught my eye among the 20 oil paintings featured was titled “Doxology.”
“Doxology” was a 42” x 25”oil painting on wood, which was in a shape of a “T.” This particular painting showed many different hews of blue that were layered on the base, and a bright orange hew on top.
“Leslie Wayne: Recent Work” made its first appearance in January 2011 at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art [Charleston, SC] then made its way to the Visual Arts Center [Richmond, Virginia] before arriving at The Joseloff Gallery.
Wayne was born in 1953 and began her study of art at the University of California in Santa Babara, California, where she majored inpainting , then received a BFA in Sculpture from Parsons School of Design in New York.
Wayne currently resides in New York where she is continuously working. Through the years, Wayne’s work has appeared at many different exhibitions not only in the United States, but internationally as well. Wayne’s galleries include The Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City and Solomon Projects in Atlanta, GA.
Having Wayne’s exhibit at The Joseloff Gallery was a great opportunity for students of the Hartford Art School to come and view her work, as well as other students and members of the community that may not be as well verse in art. Seeing great art from an artist like Wayne redefines aesthetic beauty.
Wayne’s work was on display from Aug. 30 through Oct 9. The last days of the gallery viewing were between 12-4pm where lovers of art and students of The Hartford Art School were welcome to come.
Along with the gallery viewing hours, included a reception on Thursday, Sept. 8 and a lecture given by Wayne herself in the Koopman Commons at the Hartford Art School.
Wayne’s work that was displayed came alive on the walls featuring many
These dimensional
For me not being well verse in art, Wayne’s art was so intriguing because it wasn’t just a washed out
This particular exhibition of Wayne’s work has been from the past five years (2005-2010) and takes a contemporary approach. The one
“Doxology” was a 42” x 25”
“Leslie Wayne: Recent Work” made its first appearance in January 2011 at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art [Charleston, SC] then made its way to the Visual Arts Center [Richmond, Virginia] before arriving at The Joseloff Gallery.
Wayne was born in 1953 and began her study of art at the University of California in Santa Babara, California, where she majored in
Wayne currently resides in New York where she is continuously working. Through the years, Wayne’s work has appeared at many different exhibitions not only in the United States, but internationally as well. Wayne’s galleries include The Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City and Solomon Projects in Atlanta, GA.
Having Wayne’s exhibit at The Joseloff Gallery was a great opportunity for students of the Hartford Art School to come and view her work, as well as other students and members of the community that may not be as well verse in art. Seeing great art from an artist like Wayne redefines aesthetic beauty.
2011年10月7日星期五
Gallery Espace exhibits at India Art Collective online fair 2011
Chintan Upadhyay is a multi dimensional artist who has given a new perspective to painting and sculpture through his explorations in new media. As a young painter, Chintan was exposed to the miniature paintings of Rajasthan and Abstract Expressionism of the west. He moved from Jaipur School of Art to continue his studies in Baroda, where, intrigued by the scope for meaningful juxtapositions, he began experimenting with a series of still-life compositions. Gradually he began to depict objects in a phallic manner in order to communicate the commoditization of sexuality. Moving to Mumbai, he experienced a sense of isolation from its residents which he translated into alien like pictures. Thereafter he began experimenting with caricature, satirizing the world around him. Over the last few years Chintan has been depicting images of babies who are usually male with exaggerated features and emotive faces. These futuristic looking babies speak on issues of identity, mutation and culture which are a jumble of ideas and conventions, partly his own and partly borrowed. Female foeticide and infanticide are recurring themes. These babies have reincarnated in the form of Smart Alecs in his series of works called 'Metastasis of Signs'. They have acquired a brand status and are representative of the socio-economic and cultural vandalism in India. Bodies of babies are used to create a situation which affirms and disputes their brand status. They derive their gestures from those of human beings used in different socio-cultural contexts in order to express emotions directly and vehemently, attributing newer meanings to them. Scenes from the Kama Sutra are also inscribed on their bodies. The artist lives and works in Mumbai.
GR Iranna's early education in the Gurukul followed by seven years in the ashram gives his works a strong connection to his cultural roots alongside his approach to exploring the antitheses of inherent dualities of the world. Aspects of Buddhist art influences are evident in his artistic endeavours. Iranna has continuously commented on human civilizational growth and its intrinsic follies consisting of aggression and ideological indoctrinations, violently inflicted upon human beings in the name of territorial growth. His artworks are symbolic of an attempt to break free from an establishment, or a style that is beginning to become claustrophobic. Many of his paintings depict pain as an abstract force that is translated visually in bruised textures and razor sharp cutting edges. His most recent works are visions of resistance where a sense of massive dynamic energy pervades the surfaces, an energy fueled by torment and the struggle against it. These conflicts except for being played out with the theme and on the surface also pervade colours, figures and the technique. Although he began with painting oil on canvases, Iranna later developed his range of medium, embarking on his now primary use of tarpaulin. His tarpaulin paintings for their grand size are often suggestive of narrative murals. They seem to be weathered by paint where the surfaces appear as if they have been hit by a storm of paint rather than civilly painted. GR Iranna lives and works in New Delhi.
Manjunath Kamath's consistent concern has been to free the visual story from its verbal equivalents. His colour intensive works are an eclectic mix of fantasy and reality wherein curious images take birth and read like a story. The images are drawn from his immediate surroundings and collective memories. Kamath believes that nothing is quite as it seems. By skillfully combining and transforming visual elements, the artist creates puns to generate new narratives. The challenging of logic and the introduction of absurd allegories give an interesting edge to his work. His artistic repertoire ranges from sketches and watercolours from his informal diary to large canvasses painted in oil or acrylic, as well as works in fiberglass, wood and terracotta. The skill and delicacy of his lines is evident across the media that he works with. These linear narratives command attention with wit, playfulness and beauty. The fragments that make up his artworks weave and re-weave interpretations. What we think we might know about the world around us could be something else. The artist lives and works in New Delhi.
Poetic and lyrical depiction of everyday ordinary is the characteristic of Nilima Sheikh's art practice which encompasses small miniatures on paper, large scale works, conventionally hung paintings, scrolls painted on both sides, and backdrops for theatre sets. She constantly evolves formats to accommodate the mood and method of describing a subject which is also reflected in her style of drawing fine, contoured lines. Having spent almost all of her student and professional life in Baroda, she acknowledges her debt to KG Subramanyam, and Santiniketan School which reinvented tradition and bridged the gap between craft traditions and studio practice. She also derives from the Far Eastern styles, and pre-Renaissance Italian art. She usually blends her colors from pigment with casein or tempera technique to produce intense and sensuous imagery.
Thematically, Nilima has searched the variables of feminine experience through folklore, oral poetry and contemporary historical interpretations. For instance, 'When Champa Grew Up' narrates the tragic life story of a woman murdered for dowry by her husband's family. 'Images from Umrao' include large screen panels to show changing of seasons as visuals to the ageing of courtesan Umrao Jaan. For the last decade, since 2000, Nilima has engaged with the historical fates of Kashmir and Gujarat She has explored the theme of community suffering in the face of sectarian violence and state brutality, delved deeper into violence, terror, trauma, grief of ordinary people investigating their relationship to the place they live in, offering accounts of their return to those spaces of violence which once constituted the very domain of everyday life. 'Each Night Put Kashmir in Your Dreams', 'The Country Without A Post Office: Reading Shahid Ali,' and 'Drawing Trails' are examples of such representations. The artist lives and works in Baroda and Delhi.
GR Iranna's early education in the Gurukul followed by seven years in the ashram gives his works a strong connection to his cultural roots alongside his approach to exploring the antitheses of inherent dualities of the world. Aspects of Buddhist art influences are evident in his artistic endeavours. Iranna has continuously commented on human civilizational growth and its intrinsic follies consisting of aggression and ideological indoctrinations, violently inflicted upon human beings in the name of territorial growth. His artworks are symbolic of an attempt to break free from an establishment, or a style that is beginning to become claustrophobic. Many of his paintings depict pain as an abstract force that is translated visually in bruised textures and razor sharp cutting edges. His most recent works are visions of resistance where a sense of massive dynamic energy pervades the surfaces, an energy fueled by torment and the struggle against it. These conflicts except for being played out with the theme and on the surface also pervade colours, figures and the technique. Although he began with painting oil on canvases, Iranna later developed his range of medium, embarking on his now primary use of tarpaulin. His tarpaulin paintings for their grand size are often suggestive of narrative murals. They seem to be weathered by paint where the surfaces appear as if they have been hit by a storm of paint rather than civilly painted. GR Iranna lives and works in New Delhi.
Manjunath Kamath's consistent concern has been to free the visual story from its verbal equivalents. His colour intensive works are an eclectic mix of fantasy and reality wherein curious images take birth and read like a story. The images are drawn from his immediate surroundings and collective memories. Kamath believes that nothing is quite as it seems. By skillfully combining and transforming visual elements, the artist creates puns to generate new narratives. The challenging of logic and the introduction of absurd allegories give an interesting edge to his work. His artistic repertoire ranges from sketches and watercolours from his informal diary to large canvasses painted in oil or acrylic, as well as works in fiberglass, wood and terracotta. The skill and delicacy of his lines is evident across the media that he works with. These linear narratives command attention with wit, playfulness and beauty. The fragments that make up his artworks weave and re-weave interpretations. What we think we might know about the world around us could be something else. The artist lives and works in New Delhi.
Poetic and lyrical depiction of everyday ordinary is the characteristic of Nilima Sheikh's art practice which encompasses small miniatures on paper, large scale works, conventionally hung paintings, scrolls painted on both sides, and backdrops for theatre sets. She constantly evolves formats to accommodate the mood and method of describing a subject which is also reflected in her style of drawing fine, contoured lines. Having spent almost all of her student and professional life in Baroda, she acknowledges her debt to KG Subramanyam, and Santiniketan School which reinvented tradition and bridged the gap between craft traditions and studio practice. She also derives from the Far Eastern styles, and pre-Renaissance Italian art. She usually blends her colors from pigment with casein or tempera technique to produce intense and sensuous imagery.
Thematically, Nilima has searched the variables of feminine experience through folklore, oral poetry and contemporary historical interpretations. For instance, 'When Champa Grew Up' narrates the tragic life story of a woman murdered for dowry by her husband's family. 'Images from Umrao' include large screen panels to show changing of seasons as visuals to the ageing of courtesan Umrao Jaan. For the last decade, since 2000, Nilima has engaged with the historical fates of Kashmir and Gujarat She has explored the theme of community suffering in the face of sectarian violence and state brutality, delved deeper into violence, terror, trauma, grief of ordinary people investigating their relationship to the place they live in, offering accounts of their return to those spaces of violence which once constituted the very domain of everyday life. 'Each Night Put Kashmir in Your Dreams', 'The Country Without A Post Office: Reading Shahid Ali,' and 'Drawing Trails' are examples of such representations. The artist lives and works in Baroda and Delhi.
2011年9月20日星期二
Country air and fine art in Barrington
There is no painting oil painter from Lake Zurich. He plants himself in the thick of the action — his favorite is a busy city street — with an easel and paints real life.
“We’re not working from a reference,” Radtke says of himself and artists who share hispainting painting
The public will have an opportunity to browse Radtke’s paintings along with the artwork for at least 170 other artists at the 37th annual Art in the Barn event, a juried art show which will take place Sept. 24 and 25 on the grounds of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital at 450 W. Highway 22, in Barrington.
“It’s a terrific venue,” Radtke said. “It’s in a barn.”
Sharon Vogel, one of the co-chairs of Art in the Barn, explained that the event takes place in large old barns on the property of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital which was once made up of farmland.
“It really helps the hospital,” Vogel said of the event. “We’re probably one of their biggest fundraisers, but it’s a community event and that’s what we like about it. I mean we have people from all the surrounding communities.”
Most of the artists are from Illinois and surrounding states and they have a variety of different talents, Vogel said. There will beoil and acrylic painters, sketch artists, sculptors, jewelry makers, wood crafters and print makers.
The event might appeal to people who want to decorate their houses, Radke noted.
“You can buy anything at Walmart or any of the big box stores,” Radtke said, “but it’s not as individualized as having your ownoil painting
Activities include pony rides for kids, and stations for children to make their own paintings and paint pumpkins. There will also be a variety of live music and entertainment, including couples that both play mandolins. On site there will be bratwursts, caramel corn and funnel cakes, she added.
“It’s just a warm, wonderful country atmosphere,” Vogel said.
Art in the Barn is sponsored by the Auxiliary of Good Shepherd Hospital, a group of volunteers that raises money for the hospital that serves the community, Sherry Tomasko, event co-chair, said in an e-mail.
In the past, the Auxiliary has raised funds that have helped Good Shepherd build a new Cardiac Care wing and a new emergency department, according to e-mail information from Faith Semla, an Auxiliary member who handles Art in the Barn publicity for the event.
In 1975, when a group of 10 women, artists and craftsmen put together the first Art in the Barn event, there were 30 artists and 1,500 visitors. That has grown to more than 170 artists and over 6,000 visitors, according to Auxiliary information.
Through the fundraiser, the Auxiliary usually makes about $100,000 for Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Vogel said. Over the years, the event has raised more than $2.75 million for the hospital.
While event admission is just $5, vendors pay a fee to exhibit and sell items. There is also a fee for children’s rides. Artists donate 20 percent of their profits to the Auxiliary.
This is Radtke’s third time exhibiting at Art in the Barn. He said he wanted to take part because he has accumulated many paintings over the years. While he has sold many this year, he wants to sell more.
“My goal this year was to go there with small paintings, many unframed, at affordable prices,” he said. He said he planned to sell many of his paintings for less than $100.
“We’re not working from a reference,” Radtke says of himself and artists who share his
The public will have an opportunity to browse Radtke’s paintings along with the artwork for at least 170 other artists at the 37th annual Art in the Barn event, a juried art show which will take place Sept. 24 and 25 on the grounds of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital at 450 W. Highway 22, in Barrington.
“It’s a terrific venue,” Radtke said. “It’s in a barn.”
Sharon Vogel, one of the co-chairs of Art in the Barn, explained that the event takes place in large old barns on the property of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital which was once made up of farmland.
“It really helps the hospital,” Vogel said of the event. “We’re probably one of their biggest fundraisers, but it’s a community event and that’s what we like about it. I mean we have people from all the surrounding communities.”
Most of the artists are from Illinois and surrounding states and they have a variety of different talents, Vogel said. There will be
The event might appeal to people who want to decorate their houses, Radke noted.
“You can buy anything at Walmart or any of the big box stores,” Radtke said, “but it’s not as individualized as having your own
Activities include pony rides for kids, and stations for children to make their own paintings and paint pumpkins. There will also be a variety of live music and entertainment, including couples that both play mandolins. On site there will be bratwursts, caramel corn and funnel cakes, she added.
“It’s just a warm, wonderful country atmosphere,” Vogel said.
Art in the Barn is sponsored by the Auxiliary of Good Shepherd Hospital, a group of volunteers that raises money for the hospital that serves the community, Sherry Tomasko, event co-chair, said in an e-mail.
In the past, the Auxiliary has raised funds that have helped Good Shepherd build a new Cardiac Care wing and a new emergency department, according to e-mail information from Faith Semla, an Auxiliary member who handles Art in the Barn publicity for the event.
In 1975, when a group of 10 women, artists and craftsmen put together the first Art in the Barn event, there were 30 artists and 1,500 visitors. That has grown to more than 170 artists and over 6,000 visitors, according to Auxiliary information.
Through the fundraiser, the Auxiliary usually makes about $100,000 for Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Vogel said. Over the years, the event has raised more than $2.75 million for the hospital.
While event admission is just $5, vendors pay a fee to exhibit and sell items. There is also a fee for children’s rides. Artists donate 20 percent of their profits to the Auxiliary.
This is Radtke’s third time exhibiting at Art in the Barn. He said he wanted to take part because he has accumulated many paintings over the years. While he has sold many this year, he wants to sell more.
“My goal this year was to go there with small paintings, many unframed, at affordable prices,” he said. He said he planned to sell many of his paintings for less than $100.
2011年4月20日星期三
Agriculture: The Unlikely Earth Day Hero
For over 40 years, Earth Day has served as a call to action, mobilizing individuals and organizations around the world to address these challenges. This year Nourishing the Planet highlights agriculture -- often blamed as a driver of environmental problems -- as an emerging solution.
Agriculture is a source of food and income for the world's poor and a primary engine for economic growth. It also offers untapped potential for mitigating climate change and protecting biodiversity, and for lifting millions of people out of poverty.
This Earth Day, Nourishing the Planet offers 15 solutions to guide farmers, scientists, politicians, agribusinesses and aid agencies as they commit to promoting a healthier environment and a more food-secure future.
1. Guaranteeing the Right to Food. Guaranteeing the human right to adequate food -- now and for future generations -- requires that policymakers incorporate this right into food security laws and programs at the regional, national, and international level. Governments have a role in providing the public goods to support sustainable agriculture, including extension services, farmer-to-farmer transmission of knowledge, storage facilities, and infrastructure that links farmers to consumers.
2. Harnessing the Nutritional and Economic Potential of Vegetables. Micro-nutrient deficiencies, including lack of vitamin A, iodine, and iron, affect 1 billion people worldwide. Promoting indigenous vegetables that are rich in micro-nutrients could help reduce malnutrition. Locally adapted vegetable varieties are hardier and more dependable than staple crops, making them ideal for smallholder farmers. Research organizations like AVRDC/The World Vegetable Center are developing improved vegetable varieties, such as amaranth and African eggplant, and cultivating an appreciation for traditional foods among consumers.
3. Reducing Food Waste. Experts continue to emphasize increasing global food production, yet our money could be better spent on reducing food waste and post-harvest losses. Already, a number of low-input and regionally appropriate storage and preservation techniques are working to combat food waste around the world. In Pakistan, farmers cut their harvest losses by 70 percent by switching from jute bags and containers constructed with mud to more durable metal containers. And in West Africa, farmers have saved around 100,000 mangos by using solar dryers to dry the fruit after harvest.
4. Feeding Cities. The U.N. estimates that 70 percent of the world's people will live in cities by 2050, putting stress on available food. Urban agriculture projects are helping to improve food security, raise incomes, empower women, and improve urban environments. In sub-Saharan Africa, the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) has helped city farmers build food gardens, using old tires to create crop beds. And community supported agriculture (CSA) programs in Cape Town, South Africa, are helping to raise incomes and provide produce for school meals.
5. Getting More Crop per Drop. Many small farmers lack access to a reliable source of water, and water supplies are drying up as extraction exceeds sustainable levels. Only 4 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's cultivated land is equipped for irrigation, and a majority of households depend on rainfall to water their crops -- which climate scientists predict will decline in coming decades. Efficient water management in agriculture can boost crop productivity for these farmers. By practicing conservation tillage, weeding regularly, and constructing vegetative barriers and earthen dams, farmers can harness rainfall more effectively.
6. Using Farmers' Knowledge in Research and Development. Agricultural research and development processes typically exclude smallholder farmers and their wealth of knowledge, leading to less-efficient agricultural technologies that go unused. Research efforts that involve smallholder farmers alongside agricultural scientists can help meet specific local needs, strengthen farmers' leadership abilities, and improve how research and education systems operate. In southern Ethiopia's Amaro district, a community-led body carried out an evaluation of key problems and promising solutions using democratic decision-making to determine what type of research should be funded.
7. Improving Soil Fertility. Africa's declining soil fertility may lead to an imminent famine; already, it is causing harvest productivity to decline 15-25 percent, and farmers expect harvests to drop by half in the next five years. Green manure/cover crops, including living trees, bushes, and vines, help restore soil quality and are an inexpensive and feasible solution to this problem. In the drought-prone Sahel region, the Dogon people of Mali are using an innovative, three-tiered system and are now harvesting three times the yield achieved in other parts of the Sahel.
8. Safeguarding Local Food Biodiversity. Over the past few decades, traditional African agriculture based on local diversity has given way to monoculture crops destined for export. Less-healthy imports are replacing traditional, nutritionally rich foods, devastating local economies and diets. Awareness-raising initiatives and efforts to improve the quality of production and marketing are adding value to and encouraging diversification and consumption of local products. In Ethiopia's Wukro and Wenchi villages, honey producers are training with Italian and Ethiopian beekeepers to process and sell their honey more efficiently, promote appreciation for local food, and compete with imported products.
9. Coping with Climate Change and Building Resilience. Global climate change, including higher temperatures and increased periods of drought, will negatively impact agriculture by reducing soil fertility and decreasing crop yields. Although agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for about one-third of global emissions, agricultural practices, such as agro-forestry and the re-generation of natural resources, can help mitigate climate change. In Niger, farmers have planted nearly 5-million hectares of trees that conserve water, prevent soil erosion, and sequester carbon, making their farms more productive and drought-resistant without damaging the environment.
Agriculture is a source of food and income for the world's poor and a primary engine for economic growth. It also offers untapped potential for mitigating climate change and protecting biodiversity, and for lifting millions of people out of poverty.
This Earth Day, Nourishing the Planet offers 15 solutions to guide farmers, scientists, politicians, agribusinesses and aid agencies as they commit to promoting a healthier environment and a more food-secure future.
1. Guaranteeing the Right to Food. Guaranteeing the human right to adequate food -- now and for future generations -- requires that policymakers incorporate this right into food security laws and programs at the regional, national, and international level. Governments have a role in providing the public goods to support sustainable agriculture, including extension services, farmer-to-farmer transmission of knowledge, storage facilities, and infrastructure that links farmers to consumers.
2. Harnessing the Nutritional and Economic Potential of Vegetables. Micro-nutrient deficiencies, including lack of vitamin A, iodine, and iron, affect 1 billion people worldwide. Promoting indigenous vegetables that are rich in micro-nutrients could help reduce malnutrition. Locally adapted vegetable varieties are hardier and more dependable than staple crops, making them ideal for smallholder farmers. Research organizations like AVRDC/The World Vegetable Center are developing improved vegetable varieties, such as amaranth and African eggplant, and cultivating an appreciation for traditional foods among consumers.
3. Reducing Food Waste. Experts continue to emphasize increasing global food production, yet our money could be better spent on reducing food waste and post-harvest losses. Already, a number of low-input and regionally appropriate storage and preservation techniques are working to combat food waste around the world. In Pakistan, farmers cut their harvest losses by 70 percent by switching from jute bags and containers constructed with mud to more durable metal containers. And in West Africa, farmers have saved around 100,000 mangos by using solar dryers to dry the fruit after harvest.
4. Feeding Cities. The U.N. estimates that 70 percent of the world's people will live in cities by 2050, putting stress on available food. Urban agriculture projects are helping to improve food security, raise incomes, empower women, and improve urban environments. In sub-Saharan Africa, the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) has helped city farmers build food gardens, using old tires to create crop beds. And community supported agriculture (CSA) programs in Cape Town, South Africa, are helping to raise incomes and provide produce for school meals.
5. Getting More Crop per Drop. Many small farmers lack access to a reliable source of water, and water supplies are drying up as extraction exceeds sustainable levels. Only 4 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's cultivated land is equipped for irrigation, and a majority of households depend on rainfall to water their crops -- which climate scientists predict will decline in coming decades. Efficient water management in agriculture can boost crop productivity for these farmers. By practicing conservation tillage, weeding regularly, and constructing vegetative barriers and earthen dams, farmers can harness rainfall more effectively.
6. Using Farmers' Knowledge in Research and Development. Agricultural research and development processes typically exclude smallholder farmers and their wealth of knowledge, leading to less-efficient agricultural technologies that go unused. Research efforts that involve smallholder farmers alongside agricultural scientists can help meet specific local needs, strengthen farmers' leadership abilities, and improve how research and education systems operate. In southern Ethiopia's Amaro district, a community-led body carried out an evaluation of key problems and promising solutions using democratic decision-making to determine what type of research should be funded.
7. Improving Soil Fertility. Africa's declining soil fertility may lead to an imminent famine; already, it is causing harvest productivity to decline 15-25 percent, and farmers expect harvests to drop by half in the next five years. Green manure/cover crops, including living trees, bushes, and vines, help restore soil quality and are an inexpensive and feasible solution to this problem. In the drought-prone Sahel region, the Dogon people of Mali are using an innovative, three-tiered system and are now harvesting three times the yield achieved in other parts of the Sahel.
8. Safeguarding Local Food Biodiversity. Over the past few decades, traditional African agriculture based on local diversity has given way to monoculture crops destined for export. Less-healthy imports are replacing traditional, nutritionally rich foods, devastating local economies and diets. Awareness-raising initiatives and efforts to improve the quality of production and marketing are adding value to and encouraging diversification and consumption of local products. In Ethiopia's Wukro and Wenchi villages, honey producers are training with Italian and Ethiopian beekeepers to process and sell their honey more efficiently, promote appreciation for local food, and compete with imported products.
9. Coping with Climate Change and Building Resilience. Global climate change, including higher temperatures and increased periods of drought, will negatively impact agriculture by reducing soil fertility and decreasing crop yields. Although agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for about one-third of global emissions, agricultural practices, such as agro-forestry and the re-generation of natural resources, can help mitigate climate change. In Niger, farmers have planted nearly 5-million hectares of trees that conserve water, prevent soil erosion, and sequester carbon, making their farms more productive and drought-resistant without damaging the environment.
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