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| Rotary International Presidents, have maintained the challenge for all Rotarians to: "Keep the service emphasis on water, health and hunger and literacy….but to focus particularly on efforts in each of these areas on children and reducing the terrible rate of child mortality in our world." |
Helping the Hungry Feed Themselves
The advantages Learn◊Grow empowers people in developing countries to harness local food plant resources to feed themselves and their families. No costly equipment or structural improvements are required to get people switched onto the advantages of growing local food plants including:
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Greater production. | ||
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Better adaptation to local conditions – soil type, rainfall, temperature. | ||
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Better resistance to pests and diseases - most local plants have adapted perfectly and the ecological balance is sustained by natural predators so pesticides are usually not necessary. | ||
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Simpler growing requirements, no need for extensive areas cleared for monoculture cultivation. | ||
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Better nutritional quality of local food plants. |
Tasmanian agricultural scientist, Bruce French, has spent 30 years on a voluntary mission to document information on the food plants of the world. This achievement is underpinned by Bruce’s work in developing countries, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Bruce has established a plain English database of some 20,000 edible plants. The database contains descriptions, countries and climatic zones of the plants’ origins, photos and drawings of entire plants and edible parts, and cooking methods. The database includes nutritional information on each plant. The information in the food plants database can be reproduced in a number of formats including CD, DVD, books and PowerPoint presentations. |
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They are highly focussed on Western food crops. |
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They have high inputs – not affordable. |
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They are: Wrong Plants – Wrong Foods. |
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Often not sustainable for long term. |
At a national economy level in developing countries, switching over to growing local food crops, instead of growing exotic food crops or importing foodstuffs, can insulate the national economy from the shocks of rising world food prices or oil based products e.g. fertilisers and pesticides. Rising prices for imported foodstuffs (e.g. rice) means less money for essential services like health and education. Indirect costs, like the costs of shipping, can also push up the price of imported foodstuffs.
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Wrong plant Wrong place Wrong methods Wrong food |
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Wrong plant – a plant better adapted to the location would be appropriate. |
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Wrong place – cabbage is a temperate plant not well suited to be grown in the tropics. |
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Wrong methods – Rows are not necessary unless machines are being used and it is more sustainable to grow plants in mixed communities than in a mono-culture. |
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Wrong food – cabbage has very low food value and is not appropriate for malnourished communities. |
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IRON CONTENT The iron content of just some of the leafy green vegetables found in tropical regions of the world. |
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PROTEIN CONTENT Protein deficiency is a major problem in the tropical world, especially amongst women, children and the sick. Cabbage is not only very low in protein and many other important nutrients, it is one of the vegetables lowest in nutrient value. It does have good fibre content and anti-cancer compounds which are very good in a Western diet but this does not help someone likely to die of malnutrition. |
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DENTAL HYGIENE PROJECT - TONGA Because of the Westernisation of the diet in Tonga, dental caries rates have soared and as a result, education programs are being organised and implemented with the help of Rotary Project Volunteers (under RAWCS). This is another Rotary initiative. |
There are a huge number of undervalued and overlooked food plants in the world. The Food Plants International database provides accessible information about these plants to support production of locally relevant and nutritious food, and enable people to appropriately value their local foods. The searchable database has information on scientific name, genus, common names, synonyms, plant description, production and use notes, nutritional value, pictures and references. The data is not complete for all food plants. As you can imagine, documenting this range of information for over 20,000 plants is an enormous task. If you have information you would like to contribute, we would be very happy for you to contact us.
The uses of this data are limited only by your imagination. You can identify local plants, assist with production issues, or promote the most nutritious food to the most vulnerable sectors of the community. |
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The Project
Rotarian Buz Green, of the Rotary Club of Devonport North in Tasmania (D9830), recognised the potential of the food plants database in the war against malnutrition. He organised a relationship between the organisation behind the food plants database, Food Plants International, and Rotary to establish the Learn◊Grow project. Learn◊Grow was formally established as the project vehicle in June 2007.
Since June 2007, Buz Green and Bruce French, with the support of the Learn◊Grow committee, Rotary and other volunteers, have transformed Learn◊Grow from a concept into a dynamic international project that has come to the attention of Rotary and organisations tackling malnutrition around the world.
Traditional and emergency responses to the problem in the human population have failed to come up with permanent solutions to the problem. In developing countries, seven million children die each year from malnutrition. An alternative approach is needed to address malnutrition around the globe. Learn◊Grow is a visionary approach to malnutrition – to grow the best local foods to meet nutritional needs.
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Adoption of local plant production. | |
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Increased levels of critical nutrients in the population. | |
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A direct reduction in nutritional deficiencies and disorders. | |
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A reduction in infant mortality at age 1 and age 5. | |
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All of these benchmarks will be monitored over time. |
Funding and Donations
YOU CAN HELP!
A minimum of $100,000 is needed to take this project forward.
Grant and sponsor funds will be sought to assist the delivery of the Solomon Islands program as well as ongoing projects in the Philippines and PNG. It is planned to partner with an existing aid provider in the delivery of this program.
A major focus will be to attract significant funding externally to Rotary.
Supported by Rotary at all levels will significantly enhance acceptance by external agencies. This project is recognised by RAWCS.
The District 9830 Learn◊Grow base Committee and Food Plants International are committed to providing food plant resource information to any party who is able to deliver humanitarian aid anywhere in the world. This information will be provided at no cost to the recipient community.Join Rotarian Action Group (RAG)
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Establish a Learn◊Grow group in your district. |
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Incorporate into existing projects. |
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Raise funds for Learn◊Grow. |
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Promote Learn◊Grow. |
Click here for FoodPlants International Website |
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| Prepared by: David Meller PP PHF (Rotary Club of Strathmore) District International Service Special Projects e-mail:webmaster9@rotar9790.org.au |
For more information or to donate: Rotary Club of Devonport North PO Box 363 DEVONPORT 7310 Tasmania, Australia e-mail: info@learngrow.org www.learngrow.org |
For technical support: |
