Comments for Alaffia Sustainable Skin Care

Comment on Olympia Bike Drive a Huge Success - Thank You!! by Glenda Deatherage

Glenda Deatherage — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:11:34 +0000

Great idea!
When is the next bike collection?

Comment on Shea Butter Benefit by Coretta

Coretta — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:42:17 +0000

Hello,

I am interested in buying a high vacuum reactor and learning about the process if refining shea butter (wash then vacuum). Do you know how this is done, what tools I would have to buy, and the cost? I am a graduating student, hoping to start a business in my homeland of Ghana.

Thank You,

Coretta

Comment on Bikes for Education-NWCN by Joleen

Joleen — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:41:57 +0000

I would like to donate some bikes and don’t know how to get a hold of anyone for this cause. Please email me and let me know how i can donate.

Comment on Sierre Leone: Refugees Suffer in America by Krysta Tulenko

Krysta Tulenko — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:02:25 +0000

I am wondering if there has been any changes for the refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia that are currently here in the U.S. If not you can contact the Care2 petition website, they are very good at setting up petitions, getting signatures from people all over the world, and for submitting these petitions to the correcr people.

Comment on New Face Care from Alaffia by dana moore

dana moore — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:59:04 +0000

Are the Alaffia products sold anywhere in eastern Canada? I have purchased some of the line in Florida while on vacation and just LOVED it, the best product I have ever found. Now I seem to be unable to locate it at home.
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks kindly.
Dana

Hello Dana, we currently don’t have retail locations in Canada. But you can find our products online at www.alaffia.com
Thanks,
Nicole

Comment on In Africa, Prosperity From Seeds Falls Short by Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:20:59 +0000

Let me precede this opinion piece by stating up-front that I in no way object to any means of improving agricultural outcomes for the world’s subsistence and small farmers. Instead, I propose we approach any goals of “improving agricultural outcomes” more holistically, keeping in mind that yields are but one measure of agricultural outcomes. The fact that Guinea’s farmers are not adopting these seed varieties far and wide likely indicates that the seed pushers need to broaden their perspectives.

“…Nericas are unpatented and can be grown by anyone.” - That is a very misleading statement given a very important missing piece of info, which is alluded to elsewhere in this article. Nericas can be grown by anyone, anyone with the money to buy new seeds for each planting season.

Admittedly, one of the points of the article seems to be that new agrotechnologies, like improved seed, without improvements in credit access, infrastructure, etc, are not enough. But it seems that what we are supposed to accept upfront is that the expected benefits inherent in monetizing an element of life (seed) necessarily outweigh or even justify the costs. It appears that Guinean farmers may not agree.

The author of this article attributes “seed degradation” to seed mixing - i.e. mixing improved seed with traditional varieties, but I suspect that there is another important explanation. Farmers are accustomed to selecting and saving seed for future plantings. Hybrid seed degrades with subsequent plantings, necessitating the purchase of new seed each or at least every other planting season. Not surprizingly, Guinean farmers probably prefer the old and free method - saving their own seed. When they do so, the improved yields of the Nericas disappear.

Is monetizing seed in communities where seed saving has been the backbone of agricultural survival and persistence the best way to go? Now that they’re observing that these seeds are not being adopted, planted, and spread, why not stop and at least consider such a question - a question that has been raised again and again in those parts of the world where HYVs (high yielding varieties) have taken over. And of course, as pointed out indirectly but repeatedly in the article, growing these seeds doesn’t require only seed purchases, but chemical inputs and irrigation. This puts farmers at a huge disadvantage as they become increasingly ensnared in and dependent upon agribusiness.
-Blog Administrator and ED (GACE)

Comment on Gambia: School Tree Nursery Competition Gears Up by Gambia » Blog Archives » Gambian Literature

Gambia » Blog Archives » Gambian Literature — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:03:13 +0000

[…] Gambia: School Tree Nursery Competition Gears Up… across the country are getting their hands dirty in qhelping to save the environment. From Kombo to the URD, school children are busy growing trees in their school nurseries preparing for the Gambia All Schools Tree Nursery Competition. […]

Comment on The NY Times Strikes Cape Verde and Cape Verdeans by Robert Park

Robert Park — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:09:46 +0000

Being a Park myself it was nice, in particular, to see Rosa Park’s name mentioned. I am not coloured but I probably would have done exactly as she did had I been in her position. I was at the Cape Verde Islands with the Royal Navy, if I recollect correctly it would be around 1950. The ship anchored in a remote bay where a small group of family huts were situated. That’s about as best as I could describe them. Living conditions were basic. There was nothing that one could discover that we from the mainland of Europe could describe as entertainment. There was one fly-ridden shop that sold about all the basics that one required. The locality was, as best as I can recall, semi-desert, barren, with part black rock surfaces on which we sat to imbibe our drinks. The insects, mainly the common fly were highly active and it was exceedingly difficult to keep them out of one’s drink, even with one’s hand covering the top of the glass. The locals seemed healthy and happy and were indeed friendly. As my friend and I walked between the family abodes (there were no roads as is generally understood today) my friend wanted to take a photograph of one of the locals sitting as he was on an old kitchen chair at the door to his accommodation; I don’t seem to recall that his abode had many (if any) windows. When my friend got his camera ready the man disappeared into the house and we thought we had lost this opportunity and possibly upset the man. Within a few minutes the man reappeared with about six very young happy looking children all eager to have their photograph taken. What an interesting occasion. Later, as we strolled around the surrounding semi-desert landscape we came across this line of tall young looking women carrying rather large vessels on their heads as they walked one in front of the other. We were later to learn that those women were water-carriers for the small hamlet-like village. The sun was hot and the landscape brickie-dry but the sea fishing was great. The experience was exactly as we were then taught to believe about remote locations in the tropics. That memory is a fond one and still remains clear to my mind (well almost). I have often thought about those islands and it has only been recently that I have again heard about them as they are developing into a tourist place or a home in the sun for northern Europeans. I guess that world I once knew has changed beyond recognition; how sad!

Comment on Shea Butter Benefit by Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:09:00 +0000

Shea butter is derived from shea nuts, which are indigenous to Africa. So, yes, all shea butter, to my knowledge, originates in Africa [at this time]. Alaffia’s shea butter is produced by women in Togo, West Africa. Our entire business, blog, and websites are dedicated to informing the public about fair trade, in general, and fair trade shea butter in particular. So, in answer to your question “are the Africans getting a good percentage of the money,” I encourage you to research our websites and learn more about what fair trade is and why fair trade is our fundamental guiding principle.

Comment on Uranium reserves found in Guinea by Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:02:11 +0000

Information regarding African mineral and natural resource mining and development projects are posted to this blog in the spirit of watchdogging the global looting of Africa.