The Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Forum in Milan is the international platform of dialogue and networking aiming at identifying the pathway towards concrete solutions to the environmental, health and socio- economic challenges affecting the current food system.
“I decided to do that particular topic because mangos are very important for farmers in Kenya’s dry-land areas. These farmers use so much effort and they use so much time to produce. Yet, only a fraction of these mangos get to the market,” Lyaga said in his thank you speech.
8th International Forum on Food and Nutrition – Musdalafa Lyaga acceptance speech.
Lyaga is working for the Radio programme of “The Organic Farmer”, but also is strongly involved in making films. The film about the BvAT farmer advisor Regina for Biovision Foundation was also made by Lyaga.
Over 500 entries had been made for the competition from both media houses and freelance journalists. “I decided to film this particular story of mango fruit losses in the fields because Mangos are among the main source of livelihoods for farmers living in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions,” Lyaga said when asked by Biovision Foundation.
“This short film is of great importance because the mangos rotting in the farms are just an example of the massive wastage of food which is a huge challenge facing smallholder farmers and has a negative impact on overall food security and livelihoods of the community at large. When I saw the Food Sustainability Media award challenge I decided to highlight the extent of the rot in the fields and what farmers can do possibly to reduce mango food losses,” Lyaga added. “From my experience working with farmers, I’ve seen first-hand the importance of information dissemination to farmers; farmers are keen to learn new technologies and how to cope with various risks that have a direct impact on food production and sustainability such as climate change.”
The vision of BCFN is close to the goals of Biovision: “We live in a Planet characterised by food challenges and imbalances. We are committed to contribute to the shift towards more sustainable food systems by means of research, advocacy and dissemination in order to achieve the goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) of the United Nations.
Unpeeling the rot in mango value chain.
