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50 images Created 7 Feb 2018

WORLD FOOD: Heirlooms

Extinction threatens many species of wildlife on Earth, But our world is also facing another, different extinction: that of our heritage of domesticated livestock and crops. Without them and their rich biodiversity built up over 10,000 years of domestic breeding, we face great danger in feeding the world’s growing population -- with potentially catastrophic results.

Generations of painstaking breeding has produced supreme adaptations which allowed mankind to prosper in wildly differing environments and improbable places. Intensive agriculture (and its modern incarnation, industrial agriculture) striving for high yields inevitably casts aside diversity in favor of maximum uniformity and production. The danger comes when new diseases or climactic disasters threaten our food supply. Then the forgotten diversity becomes mankind’s last lifeline. And the possible loss would be more than just economic, but the loss one of mankind’s greatest legacies.
Around the world, scientists and farmers alike are racing to save our domesticated heritage for future generations depending on them to feed our ballooning world population. This is a story of that shared heritage in peril, of the people working to save it, and of the richness and beauty that has been entrusted to us.
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  • Seed Savers Exchange is one of the oldest and largest heirloom seed conservation organizations in the world. <br />
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. The non-profit organization of gardeners is dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. Gret vegetables.
    MM7753_20100903_32356.jpg
  • Testing for Ug99 wheat stem rust in the field station at Asella, Ethiopia.<br />
<br />
Kulumsa Research Centre, P. O. Box 489, Asella, Ethiopia  Wheat being tested for Ug99 wheat stem rust and other rust diseases at the Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center in Asela, Ethiopia. <br />
<br />
Ug99 is devastating to wheat, leaving the heads with nothing but small, shriveled grain in the otherwise normal looking heads. It was discovered first in Uganda in 1999 and has since been moving east, having recently been found in Yemen.<br />
<br />
The rust is seen as red patches along the stem of the wheat, hence the name.  <br />
<br />
KULUMSA AGRICUTURAL RESEARCH CENTER (KARC) is about 167 km southeast of Addis Ababa. It is located in the Oromiya Regional State in the northeast periphery of the town of Asela, Arsi Zone.
    MM7753_20101029_41771.jpg
  • Tayitis Mohammed mixes injera out of teff flower and water in her house in Fontanina near Kombulcha in the Wollo region of the Ethiopian highlands. Injera is the staple bread of Ethiopia, which makes teff a valuable grain. Smoke from the kitchen fire made the rays of the setting sun show up brightly in the dark cookng area to the side of the main room of the stick and clay built house. The walls of the house are caulked with teff straw as well.<br />
<br />
The injera batter, a bit runny like pancake batter, is then transfer to the bucket last used to "ferment" the injera for a couple of days, picking up the residual yeasts in the bucket and providing leavening to the bread.
    MM7753_20101102_46771.jpg
  • The market in Bati is incredibly large, diverse and crowded, being the place where people from the lowlands and highlands of northern Ethiopia meet to exchange their crops, livestock and wares. Something like 20,000 people show up at the Monday market every week. <br />
<br />
Grain is an extremely important commodity, including the all important teff for making injera. Farmers and sellers lay their grain out in bags and piles on plastic sheeting on the ground, and measure it out with tin cans. <br />
<br />
The cattle and camel market is equally large, with pastoral herders from the lowlands, many of them Afar people, coming to sell their livestock to the highland people. The market takes place in one big corral, with buyers and sellers squeezed in amongst the animals.
    MM7753_20101101_44576.jpg
  • Sheko cattle being kept, protected and studied at the ILRI farm in the Ghibe Valley of southern Ethiopia. The Sheko are endangered with only about 2,500 known to be alive. Their are valuable for their adaptation to climates where they are resistant to diseases carried by the tsetse fly. ILRI is studing and breeding the herd.
    MM7753_20101026_38949.jpg
  • Cattle judging at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show in Builth Wells, Wales, UK. <br />
<br />
Judges can be seen carefully inspecting the cattle, looking for the details of breeding that can make the animals better suited for their economic tasks. Generations of farmers (and judges) have been looking carefully for these traits for hundreds of years in order to make the animals more productive.<br />
<br />
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Show is one of the largest shows in in the UK, and showcasing the great agricultural tradition of Wales.
    MM7753_2010-07-20_8183.jpg
  • Women carry sorghum home from the fields along the road south of Kombulcha, Ethiopia. <br />
<br />
Sorghum is a staple of the food supply here. The grain will be part of dinner tonight and the stalks will be fed to the cattle and other livestock. The long stalks are favored because of the volume of forage the provide.
    MM7753_20101101_45097.jpg
  • Famine Memorial, set on Custom House Quay in the Docklands of Dublin, Ireland, memorializes the great loss of life during the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840's. This was the first recognized case of mass starvation because of loss of biodiversity. The memorial, which was established in 1997, consists of several statues of people and a dog from the Potato Famine, designed by Dublin’s local artist, Rowan Gillespie.
    MM7753_2010-07-31_30482.jpg
  • Harvesting and stack oats on the farm of Melaku Yifku in the Seriti Village of the Chacha district north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.<br />
<br />
Workers are cutting the oats by hand with sickles, and pile them behind them as they move up the field, singing as they go. Then the bundles are hauled to the stacks where a man on top arranges them so that the grain heads are to the inside of the stack so they will dry and be protected from rain before being threshed. The man on the top of the stack is Nigussu Kissaye.<br />
<br />
Horses are grazing on the new cropped oat ground, foraging for leftover grain and straw.<br />
<br />
In the distant valley are other villages in their typical hilltop positions.
    MM7753_20101103_47348.jpg
  • Harvesting and stack oats on the farm of Melaku Yifku in the Seriti Village of the Chacha district north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.<br />
<br />
Workers are cutting the oats by hand with sickles, and pile them behind them as they move up the field, singing as they go. Then the bundles are hauled to the stacks where a man on top arranges them so that the grain heads are to the inside of the stack so they will dry and be protected from rain before being threshed. The man on the top of the stack is Nigussu Kissaye.<br />
<br />
Horses are grazing on the new cropped oat ground, foraging for leftover grain and straw.<br />
<br />
In the distant valley are other villages in their typical hilltop positions.
    Harvest Pan II.jpg
  • Local wheat varieties in test plants at the Ejere Farming Community Seed Bank in Ejere, Ethiopia. It was built by Ethio Organic Seed Action to help farmers regain traditional local varieties of grain that are better adapted to their location. Seed bank members donate seeds and in turn get seeds from the seed bank. Regassa Feyissa with EOSA is one of the founders and promoters of the seed bank and helps the local farmers. <br />
<br />
The big variety of wheat varieties are important to maintaining biodiversity in the crop and because of how different varieties respond to varying climate and weather patterns from year to year. <br />
<br />
Farmers seen in the seed bank with Regassa include Taddesse Retta, chair of the Farmer Conservator Association and Eshetu Badada, the treasurer.
    MM7753_20101030_42091.jpg
  • Harvesting potatoes in the Andes commuity of Pampallacta at the Potato Park near Pisac, Peru. Hundreds of varieties of potatoes are grown in high mountain fields on a seven year rotation.  These fields belong to Mariano Sutta Apucusi, who is a technician at the park and a varayoc, a traditional spiritual "mayor" of the community.  Someone who has a lot of knowledge about the rituals and maintains these rituals in their home. In their family field in Pampallacta at 14,000 feet altitude.  It is an hour trip each way to the fields.  The horses are loaded with bags of potatoes that take two strong men to load.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
The Parque de la Papa, or potato park, near Pisac, Peru is using potatoes as a focal point to aid biodiversity and local economics, as well as bringing the community together through traditional values.
    Andes Potato Pan II.jpg
  • Papa wata ceremony, performed after potatoes are brought in from the field, to call the spirit of the potato because the spirt of the potato sometimes stays in the field.  Mariano Sutta Apucusi and his wife Antonia are seen holding the potatoes over incense.  Part of the ceremony is the kintu ceremony, where three coca leaves are held up to call the spirits of the mountains, or apus. <br />
<br />
When he is holding up the coca leaves it is the Kintu ceremony, part of many ceremonies, an offering to Mother Earth and to thank the apus, the sacred mountains. <br />
<br />
<br />
The Parque de la Papa, or potato park, near Pisac, Peru is using potatoes as a focal point to aid biodiversity and local economics, as well as bringing the community together through traditional values.
    MM7753 2010-05-27 3318.jpg
  • Antonia, wife of Mariano Sutta Apucusi. At their home in Pampallacta.  Oca is a tuber relative of the potato, grown in the high Andes.  Oca is part of the vast biodiversity of some 1,300 varieties of potatoes and tubers grown here. Seen here at the home of Mariano and Antonia Sutta Apucusi at ther home in Pampallacta, at the Parque de la Papa near Pisac, Peru.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.
    MM7753 2010-05-27 3487.jpg
  • Oca is a tuber relative of the potato, grown in the high Andes.  Oca is part of the vast biodiversity of some 1,300 varieties of potatoes and tubers grown here. Seen here at the home of Mariano and Antonia Sutta Apucusi at ther home in Pampallacta, at the Parque de la Papa near Pisac, Peru.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.
    MM7753 2010-05-28 3909.jpg
  • Harvesting potatoes in the Andes commuity of Pampallacta at the Potato Park near Pisac, Peru. Hundreds of varieties of potatoes are grown in high mountain fields on a seven year rotation.  These fields belong to Mariano Sutta Apucusi, who is a technician at the park and a varayoc, a traditional spiritual "mayor" of the community.  Someone who has a lot of knowledge about the rituals and maintains these rituals in their home. In their family field in Pampallacta at 14,000 feet altitude.  It is an hour trip each way to the fields.  The horses are loaded with bags of potatoes that take two strong men to load.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
The Parque de la Papa, or potato park, near Pisac, Peru is using potatoes as a focal point to aid biodiversity and local economics, as well as bringing the community together through traditional values.
    MM7753 2010-05-29 4252.jpg
  • Harvesting potatoes in the Andes commuity of Pampallacta at the Potato Park near Pisac, Peru. Hundreds of varieties of potatoes are grown in high mountain fields on a seven year rotation.  These fields belong to Mariano Sutta Apucusi, who is a technician at the park and a varayoc, a traditional spiritual "mayor" of the community.  Someone who has a lot of knowledge about the rituals and maintains these rituals in their home. In their family field in Pampallacta at 14,000 feet altitude.  It is an hour trip each way to the fields.  The horses are loaded with bags of potatoes that take two strong men to load.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
The Parque de la Papa, or potato park, near Pisac, Peru is using potatoes as a focal point to aid biodiversity and local economics, as well as bringing the community together through traditional values.
    MM7753 2010-05-29 4939.jpg
  • Harvesting potatoes in the Andes commuity of Pampallacta at the Potato Park near Pisac, Peru. Hundreds of varieties of potatoes are grown in high mountain fields on a seven year rotation.  These fields belong to Mariano Sutta Apucusi, who is a technician at the park and a varayoc, a traditional spiritual "mayor" of the community.  Someone who has a lot of knowledge about the rituals and maintains these rituals in their home. In their family field in Pampallacta at 14,000 feet altitude.  It is an hour trip each way to the fields.  The horses are loaded with bags of potatoes that take two strong men to load.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
The Parque de la Papa, or potato park, near Pisac, Peru is using potatoes as a focal point to aid biodiversity and local economics, as well as bringing the community together through traditional values.
    MM7753 2010-05-29 5036.jpg
  • Harvesting potatoes in the Andes commuity of Pampallacta at the Potato Park near Pisac, Peru. Hundreds of varieties of potatoes are grown in high mountain fields on a seven year rotation.  These fields belong to Mariano Sutta Apucusi, who is a technician at the park and a varayoc, a traditional spiritual "mayor" of the community.  Someone who has a lot of knowledge about the rituals and maintains these rituals in their home. In their family field in Pampallacta at 14,000 feet altitude.  It is an hour trip each way to the fields.  The horses are loaded with bags of potatoes that take two strong men to load.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
Mariano Sutta Apucusi is wearing the traditional hat and a dark red sweater. Sabina Sutta Apucusi is his sister, wearing a brown hat and a light red sweater.<br />
<br />
The Parque de la Papa, or potato park, near Pisac, Peru is using potatoes as a focal point to aid biodiversity and local economics, as well as bringing the community together through traditional values.
    MM7753 2010-05-29 5080.jpg
  • Horses, ponies, cobs, and sheep graze the lush rolling hills of mid-Wales in the UK. Breeds are selected and adapted for local conditions with consideration of maximum economy. The hills of mid-Wales profide rich grazing on moderate slopes with plentiful rainfaill and moderate winters.
    MM7753_2010-07-27_15858.jpg
  • Horses, ponies, cobs, and sheep graze the lush rolling hills of mid-Wales in the UK. Breeds are selected and adapted for local conditions with consideration of maximum economy. The hills of mid-Wales profide rich grazing on moderate slopes with plentiful rainfaill and moderate winters.
    MM7753_2010-07-27_15517.jpg
  • Kerry Hill sheep in Wales. The Kerry Hill Breed is from Powys, on the English/Welsh borders, and it derives its name from the village of Kerry, near Newtown. There are records of this distinctive breed in this area dating back to 1809, and the first Flock Book was published in 1899 with 26 Members.<br />
<br />
A well balanced sturdy sheep with ears set high and free from wool. A black nose and sharply defined black and white markings on the head and legs. Both ewes and rams are hornless. It is a handsome sheep, with a dense fleece, which is usually white. The fleece handles well, and is amongst the softest of British Wools. Average staple length is 10 cm (14 inches). Average weight of fleece is 2.75kgs (6lbs). Bradford count 54-56's.<br />
<br />
Robert and Jean Price of Pentrenant farm in the Vale of Kerry, mid Wales. The sheep are kerry Hills and the Prices have kept them for many years and Robert judged them at the Royal Welsh this year.
    MM7753_2010-07-28_21950.jpg
  • The Williams family raises Hill Radnor on Trawscoed Farm in the Brecon Beacons region of Wales. <br />
<br />
Lyn Williams is seen looking over the sheep with the Welsh hills in the background. <br />
<br />
The Hill Radnor is a breed of domestic sheep originating in the United Kingdom. Classified as one of the mountain (or upland) breeds, it is most common from Powys down to southwest Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. The Hill Radnor has a dense white fleece, with a light brown face and legs. Ewes are polled and rams are horned.[1] It is hardy and forages well, like many hill breeds. Hill Radnor ewes have good maternal instincts, and are sometimes crossed with lowland rams to yield market lambs or mules. Lambing percentages vary under different conditions but the breed can easily average around 155%.[2] The breed is listed as "vulnerable" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust of the U.K.
    MM7753_2010-07-28_20903.jpg
  • Ruhi Hamilton with her Wiltshire Horn sheep on their family farm in Carmarthenshire, Wales. <br />
<br />
The Wiltshire Horn is an ancient British breed from the Chalk Downs region of England. Reaching large numbers during the 17th and 18th centuries, they became almost extinct by the beginning of the 20th. A few dedicated breeders persevered with Wiltshires, forming a breed society in 1923. Since the 1970's interest in their unique qualities has increased and by 1982 there were 45 pedigreed flocks in England.<br />
<br />
Wiltshire Horn Sheep were exported to Australia in the 1950's and again in the 1970's. They are currently attracting attention for their lack of wool and the need for shearing, as well as their ability to pass on their vitality and quality meat in a cross-breeding program.
    MM7753_2010-07-26_12966.jpg
  • The sheep on North Ronaldsay are unique to that island in the Orkney's of Scotland.  They feed exclusively on seaweed and will die if left to feed on grass in the surrounding pastures.  The island council maintains a stone fence around the island to keep the sheep on the beaches.
    MM7753_20100319_2359.jpg
  • Horse judging at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show in Builth Wells, Wales, UK. <br />
<br />
Judges can be seen carefully inspecting the horses, looking for the details of breeding that can make the animals better suited for their economic tasks. Generations of farmers (and judges) have been looking carefully for these traits for hundreds of years in order to make the animals more productive.<br />
<br />
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Show is one of the largest shows in in the UK, and showcasing the great agricultural tradition of Wales.
    MM7753_2010-07-21_9646.jpg
  • Welsh pigs are part of the farm display at St. Fagan National History Museum near Cardiff, Wales. The Welsh pig is white, with lop ears meeting at the tips just short of the pig’s nose. It has a long level body with deep strong hams and legs set well apart. George Eglington acknowledged as the founder of the modern Welsh breed described the perfect Welsh pig as “pear shaped” when viewed from either the side or from above. They are still known for their hardiness and ability to thrive under a wide variety of conditions, both indoor and outside.
    MM7753_2010-07-27_18415.jpg
  • Welsh pigs are part of the farm display at St. Fagan National History Museum near Cardiff, Wales. The Welsh pig is white, with lop ears meeting at the tips just short of the pig’s nose. It has a long level body with deep strong hams and legs set well apart. George Eglington acknowledged as the founder of the modern Welsh breed described the perfect Welsh pig as “pear shaped” when viewed from either the side or from above. They are still known for their hardiness and ability to thrive under a wide variety of conditions, both indoor and outside.
    MM7753_2010-07-27_16251.jpg
  • Seed Savers Exchange is one of the oldest and largest heirloom seed conservation organizations in the world. <br />
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. The non-profit organization of gardeners is dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
    MM7753_20100904_34552.jpg
  • Seed Savers Exchange is one of the oldest and largest heirloom seed conservation organizations in the world. <br />
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. The non-profit organization of gardeners is dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
    MM7753_20100904_34522.jpg
  • Seed Savers Exchange is one of the oldest and largest heirloom seed conservation organizations in the world. <br />
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. The non-profit organization of gardeners is dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
    MM7753_20100904_34864.jpg
  • Seed Savers Exchange is one of the oldest and largest heirloom seed conservation organizations in the world. <br />
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. The non-profit organization of gardeners is dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
    MM7753_20100904_35760.jpg
  • Seed Savers Exchange is one of the oldest and largest heirloom seed conservation organizations in the world. <br />
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. The non-profit organization of gardeners is dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
    MM7753_20100904_36519.jpg
  • Men plow fields near Waliso in southern Ethiopia with teams of oxen. Using plows that are nearly timeless they are plowing fields that were planted to teff. These are not the more modern mouldboard plows that actually roll the soil over, but just a sort of spike that breaks the ground up. <br />
<br />
The men plowing were: Ayele Terefe in the orange shirt with the stick, and Teshome Negese with the red and white shirt.
    MM7753_20101027_39570.jpg
  • Stacking oats on the farm of Eshete Girma in the central Shewa region of Ethiopia north of Addis Ababa. The oats are being brought in from the fields on donkeys, then stacked with the grain to the inside of the stack so that it will dry and be protected from rain, before it is threshed. <br />
<br />
Building the stacks is actually a quick affair, taking on half an hour or so.  Seen on top of the stack is Eshete's son and farmer Girma Regassa, directing the operations and building he final cap on the stack. <br />
<br />
The oat variety is an old locally adapted variety called Avena Vaviloviana, named after the famed Russion seed saver N.I. Vavilov who traveled this region in the 1920's doing research and collecting seeds.
    MM7753_20101031_43156.jpg
  • Farmer Chala Chaka harvesting teff, the typically Ethiopian grain, near Bato Chrecha in Southern Ethiopia. (Also got Bacho Vioreda as a location.)<br />
<br />
He is using a sickle to harvest the grain by hand, cutting the stalks and then piling it behind him in bundles, which will then be gathered into piles in the fields so that the grain can dry properly. <br />
<br />
The sickle is called a machd. He thinks he will harvest abotu 500 Kg from is half hectare field. <br />
<br />
His wife is bringing him the typical local beer made from grain.
    MM7753_20101028_39917.jpg
  • The market in Bati is incredibly large, diverse and crowded, being the place where people from the lowlands and highlands of northern Ethiopia meet to exchange their crops, livestock and wares. Something like 20,000 people show up at the Monday market every week. <br />
<br />
Grain is an extremely important commodity, including the all important teff for making injera. Farmers and sellers lay their grain out in bags and piles on plastic sheeting on the ground, and measure it out with tin cans. <br />
<br />
The cattle and camel market is equally large, with pastoral herders from the lowlands, many of them Afar people, coming to sell their livestock to the highland people. The market takes place in one big corral, with buyers and sellers squeezed in amongst the animals.
    MM7753_20101101_44552.jpg
  • Sheko cattle being kept, protected and studied at the ILRI farm in the Ghibe Valley of southern Ethiopia. The Sheko are endangered with only about 2,500 known to be alive. Their are valuable for their adaptation to climates where they are resistant to diseases carried by the tsetse fly. ILRI is studing and breeding the herd.<br />
<br />
Sheko and Abigar and 31 of the Gurage were purchased from their natural habitats and introduced in to medium to high tsetse–trypanosomosis challenge area of the Ghibe valley<br />
<br />
Trypanosomiasis or trypanosomosis is the name of several diseases in vertebrates caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes of the genus Trypanosoma. Approximately 500,000 men, women and children in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa suffer from human African trypanosomiasis which is caused by either Trypanosoma brucei gambiense or Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. The other human form of trypanosomiasis, called Chagas disease, causes 21,000 deaths per year [1] mainly in Latin America.
    MM7753_20101026_37523.jpg
  • Market day in Goro, Ethiopia where women bring grain to sell and farmers bring cattle and other livestock. The cattle market is very busy with sellers and buyers mingling side by side with the animals. <br />
<br />
The grain may be ground into flower or may be used as seed for the next season's crop. They pour the grain to show it off and to further winnow and clean it to make it more valuable. Some were selling corn and chickpeas, but many were selling the typically Ethiopian grain called teff. <br />
<br />
Some choose to sell their grain directly to a broker or middleman rather that sit all afternoon in the hot sun. They can be seen with their bags of grain on a scale, waiting anxiously to see what price they will get for it.
    MM7753_20101028_40204.jpg
  • The market in Bati is incredibly large, diverse and crowded, being the place where people from the lowlands and highlands of northern Ethiopia meet to exchange their crops, livestock and wares. Something like 20,000 people show up at the Monday market every week. <br />
<br />
Grain is an extremely important commodity, including the all important teff for making injera. Farmers and sellers lay their grain out in bags and piles on plastic sheeting on the ground, and measure it out with tin cans. <br />
<br />
The cattle and camel market is equally large, with pastoral herders from the lowlands, many of them Afar people, coming to sell their livestock to the highland people. The market takes place in one big corral, with buyers and sellers squeezed in amongst the animals.
    MM7753_20101101_43924.jpg
  • Hawa Yesuf cooks injera over a traditional oven built for the purpose in her house in the Fontanina area near Kombulcha, Ethiopia. <br />
<br />
Injera is a yeast-risen flat bread with a unique, slightly spongy texture. It is traditionally made out of teff flour. It is traditionally eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The batter is usually mixed several days in advance and allowed to "ferment", using the residual yeasts in the storage bucket to add leavening. <br />
<br />
Cooking is fast, with the batter being poured on in a circular motion from the outside spiraling inwards. The a cover is put over it allowing the rising steam to contribute to the cooking. In only a couple of minutes the bread is done and gently slid onto a mat to transfer to a basket for cooling. Many of the injera are cooked at one time and stored for several days consumption. <br />
<br />
Stews, spices, meats and vegetables are served on the injera, which serves to absorb the juices. Pieces are used to pick up the food, so that the injera serves as untensil, and tablecloth, all of which is eaten.
    MM7753_20101102_45132.jpg
  • Market day in Goro, Ethiopia where women bring grain to sell and farmers bring cattle and other livestock. The cattle market is very busy with sellers and buyers mingling side by side with the animals. <br />
<br />
The grain may be ground into flower or may be used as seed for the next season's crop. They pour the grain to show it off and to further winnow and clean it to make it more valuable. Some were selling corn and chickpeas, but many were selling the typically Ethiopian grain called teff. <br />
<br />
Some choose to sell their grain directly to a broker or middleman rather that sit all afternoon in the hot sun. They can be seen with their bags of grain on a scale, waiting anxiously to see what price they will get for it.
    MM7753_20101028_40661.jpg
  • Boys eat sorghum stalks put out for the cattle at the house of Jamal Muhammed in the Fontanina area south of Kombulcha, Ethiopia.<br />
<br />
Sorghum is a staple food for people and livestock alike here and the boys like it for the same reason the cows do: it is sweet to chew. Sorghum varieties with tall stalks are favored for the amount of forage they produce.
    MM7753_20101102_46310.jpg
  • Testing for Ug99 wheat stem rust in the field station at Asella, Ethiopia.<br />
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Kulumsa Research Centre, P. O. Box 489, Asella, Ethiopia  Wheat being tested for Ug99 wheat stem rust and other rust diseases at the Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center in Asela, Ethiopia. <br />
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Ug99 is devastating to wheat, leaving the heads with nothing but small, shriveled grain in the otherwise normal looking heads. It was discovered first in Uganda in 1999 and has since been moving east, having recently been found in Yemen.<br />
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The rust is seen as red patches along the stem of the wheat, hence the name.  <br />
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KULUMSA AGRICUTURAL RESEARCH CENTER (KARC) is about 167 km southeast of Addis Ababa. It is located in the Oromiya Regional State in the northeast periphery of the town of Asela, Arsi Zone.
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  • Megate Worku and his brother Gizehany Worku winnowning barley in the wind near Dalota village in Ethiopia. <br />
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Barley is widely grown in this area of Ethiopia north of Addis Ababa.
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  • Hawa Yesuf cooks injera over a traditional oven built for the purpose in her house in the Fontanina area near Kombulcha, Ethiopia. <br />
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Injera is a yeast-risen flat bread with a unique, slightly spongy texture. It is traditionally made out of teff flour. It is traditionally eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The batter is usually mixed several days in advance and allowed to "ferment", using the residual yeasts in the storage bucket to add leavening. <br />
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Cooking is fast, with the batter being poured on in a circular motion from the outside spiraling inwards. The a cover is put over it allowing the rising steam to contribute to the cooking. In only a couple of minutes the bread is done and gently slid onto a mat to transfer to a basket for cooling. Many of the injera are cooked at one time and stored for several days consumption. <br />
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Stews, spices, meats and vegetables are served on the injera, which serves to absorb the juices. Pieces are used to pick up the food, so that the injera serves as untensil, and tablecloth, all of which is eaten.
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  • Amina Seid farms with her brother in the Fonanina community south of Kombulcha in the Wollo region of Ethipia's highlands. They keep grain in the house as well as in underground storage outside. Her brother is Ahimed Endris.
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  • Seed Savers Exchange is one of the oldest and largest heirloom seed conservation organizations in the world. <br />
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. The non-profit organization of gardeners is dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
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  • Seed Savers Exchange is one of the oldest and largest heirloom seed conservation organizations in the world. <br />
Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. The non-profit organization of gardeners is dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds. A beautiful barn.
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  • Sheko cattle being kept, protected and studied at the ILRI farm in the Ghibe Valley of southern Ethiopia. The Sheko are endangered with only about 2,500 known to be alive. Their are valuable for their adaptation to climates where they are resistant to diseases carried by the tsetse fly. ILRI is studing and breeding the herd.
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