The launch of a regional technical assistance project for quinoa production assessed recently that productions of this plant would open up other prospects for grain production in the Algeria. Based from the regional meeting in Algeria a project will be launched involving the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) member countries from Africa and the Middle East to promote quinoa cultivation in Algeria and other countries. Similar to the findings in the United Arab Emirates, interest in quinoa lies in its resilience to extreme weather conditions like drought, poor soils and salinity. Furthermore its effectiveness in the fight against desertification combined with its ability to grow in soils with high salinity means that it could be grown with reasonable yields in Algeria where such soils cover large western and southern parts of the country. Read more here. | The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) member countries from Africa and the Middle East are banding together to promote quinoa cultivation. Introductory experimental trials will begin in Algeria and potentially in other countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen. A major question that arises is: Where will these countries source their seeds used for experimentation? Bolivia, a country that is outspoken about indigenous rights holds the largest native quinoa germplasm collection and agreements made by the Bolivian government to protect quinoa as a national resource make it challenging for other nations to exchange germplasm for research and for crop development. One reason why Bolivia is withholding free reign on the germplasm is because the increasing demand for quinoa has encouraged expanded research for both high volume commercial production as well as low volume, subsistence farming. Since Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador are currently the major producers, expanding research beyond their borders would affect production. There is also the question of indigenous intellectual property. As Gail Nickel-Kailing wrote in the article Quinoa: The Passion and The Politics, "when there is the potential for vast sums of money to come from the breeding, growing, processing, and distribution of quinoa, the issues of politics, legality, and morality rapidly come to the forefront." |
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