5. Crafts and Crafts People (DVD 8384)
Adesuwa, aged 10, and Akugbe, aged 11, are going to have new party dresses made. They choose a tie-dyed fabric, and we learn how it is made. We also learn how the famous bronzes were cast. Today's chief bronze caster narrates the dance drama that explains how the bronze casters became the most important craft guild in Benin.
Director: Ben Onwukwe, Deborah Isaacs Distributor:Films for the Humanities and Sciences
Keywords: Nigeria, Benin, agriculture, urban life, family, history, economy, crafts

Coffee-Go-Round, The (DVD : 26 min. )  [2005]
DVD 7920
Abstract: Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world - a major cash crop for many poor, developing countries trying to trade their way out of poverty. Coffee promises to increase developing countries' share of income from agricultural products on world markets - in line with Millennium Development Goal No 8's commitment to a global partnership for development. But for the last 10 years the international coffee industry has been in crisis - and many coffee-producing countries are facing disaster. The world's 25 million coffee farmers receive less than one per cent of the price of a cup of coffee sold in a coffee bar. Life visits Ethiopia, the cradle of coffee cultivation, and speaks to players in the international coffee trade to find out how individual coffee growers can survive the boom and bust of the global coffee market.
Director: Joost de Haas Distributor:Bull Frog Films
Keywords: Ethiopia, coffee, industry, agriculture, development, economy, trade

Farmers of Gaho, The (Videocassette : 21 min. )  [1998]
VHS 9331
Abstract: Over the generations, the farmers of the village of Gaho in southern Ethiopia have developed unique farming techniques that enable them successfully to grow crops in their arid environment. The preservation and enhancement of their soil is the villagers' most important priority. They accomplish this through constant weeding and composting. To trap water and prevent erosion, they build stone terraces on hilly terrain and earth embankments on level ground. Amongst the crops they grow successfully in this land of undependable rainfall are sorghum, sunflower, rapeseed, coffee, cassava, and yam. Farm Africa, an NGO promoting sustainable agriculture, has enabled the farmers of Gaho to experiment with new sorghum varieties resistant to pests, and requiring less moisture. It has also enabled Gaho's women to purchase livestock to be used for meat and sold in the region for supplemental income. Although each farmer has his own plot of land, cultivation and maintenance are communal endeavors. A common area is tilled and planted, and the yield of this area is stored for distribution during times of scarcity.
Director: Bill Locke Distributor:Bull Frog Films
Keywords: Ethiopia, arid regions, agriculture, sustainability, NGO, development

Geldoff in Africa (DVD : 240 min. )  [2005]
DVD 5559
Abstract: If Bob Geldof had never seen news footage of the horrific famine in Ethiopia back in the mid-'80s, he might have carried on in relative obscurity, making so-so records with his band the Boomtown Rats. But see it he did, which led to Band Aid (and 'Do They Know It's Christmas' ), Live Aid, Live 8, knighthood, and now Geldof in Africa, a profound, provocative, beautifully made six-part series that aired in 2005 on Britain's BBC. Sir Bob, who narrates both on- and off-screen, visited many parts of what he calls the Luminous Continent (as opposed to the Dark Continent moniker that was ironically bestowed on Africa by Europeans whose own countries were often gray and grim), including Somaliland, a sort of non-country whose very existence isn't acknowledged by any other nation; Ghana, from which slaves were once shipped to America and elsewhere; the Congo, the true heart of darkness, which still bears the ugly scars of Belgian colonization; the Sahara desert, where 'you discover the absolute insignificance of you'; Uganda, where a brutal 'rebel leader' abducts children and turns them into sex slaves and soldiers; and Ethiopia, where it all started for Geldof (and where conditions are actually improving). But Geldof and producer-director John Maguire's film is not a travelogue. Nor is it a scientific documentary, although we learn something about geography, anthropology, meteorology, geology, agriculture, history, religion, and, inevitably, politics. What distinguishes Geldof in Africa is the presence of Geldof himself. An excellent writer and articulate speaker, he brings a decidedly subjective point of view to the work. 'I can't do slick television,' he admits; neither cynical nor naïve, he says exactly what he thinks, and expresses his wonder, fascination, rage, grief, sympathy, blame, and hope with a quiet passion that compels the viewer to feel those things as well. The camera work is flawless throughout, with shot after shot of breathtaking beauty, and Pete Briquette's music provides graceful accompaniment. Extras include audio commentary by Geldof and Maguire, deleted scenes, photos, and a Geldof interview. --Sam Graham
Director: John Maguire Distributor:BBC/Warner Vision International
Keywords: Africa, Congo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, charity, development, NGO, travel

Land Affairs (Videocassette : 26 min. )  [1995]
VHS 9197
Abstract: Hundreds of thousands of rural South Africans, displaced during the apartheid years, want land --land which white farmers now own. On the day of two meetings held in rural Natal, one with black farmers who want land, and one with white farmers who want to keep it, Weekly Mail Television filmed a white farmer, a displaced black tenant farmer, and Derek Hanekom, the Minister of Land Affairs. An important look at still unresolved tensions facing rural South Africa.
Director: Guy Spiller Distributor:First Run/Icarus Films, NY
Keywords: South Africa, Natal, agriculture, apartheid, displacement, land affairs, politics, race relations

Patterns of Subsistence: Food Foragers and Pastoralists (Videocassette : 29 min. )  [1994]
V.CASS. VHS 5840
Abstract: Examination of various subsistence patterns. Selected roles among the !Kung, Mbuti and Nuer of Africa, the Netsilik Eskimos, and the Baseri of Iran are used to illustrate patterns and relationships.
Director: Ira R. Abrams, John Bishop Distributor:Insight Media
Keywords: South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, !Kung, Mbuti, Nuer, pastoralists, hunting and gathering, agriculture, economy

Peanuts (Videocassette : 46 min. )  [2002]
V.CASS. VHS 7824
Abstract: Documentary on the introduction of appropriate technology in a village in Southern Mali. Film technician Jock Brandis alerted villagers to the fact that growing cotton would rob their soil of nitrogen, and suggested that they plant peanuts either around the cotton plants or in rotation, to improve the soil. Peanuts are also more profitable, but a mechanical peanut sheller was needed. Brandis set about designing a small scale sheller that local people could build on the spot and repair themselves. A living example of the difference that one person, with good will and determination, can make in the lives of countless others.
Director: Martin Harbury Distributor:Bullfrog Films
Keywords: Mali, cotton, peanuts, agriculture, development, technology

Rivers of Sand (Videocassette : 52 min. )  [1991]
VHS 9344
Abstract: The Niger River brings life to the countries on the southern edge of the Sahara, known as the Sahel. Because nomadic herders are losing their grazing land to the desert, plans are being made to divert Niger River water to this area to permit the growing of crops.
Director: Bruno Sorrentino Distributor:NA
Keywords: Mali, Sahel, Sahara, drought, agriculture, development, desertification

Setting the Grass Roots on Fire (DVD : 56 min. )  [2000]
DVD 8935
Abstract: Dr. Norman Borlaug, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, has spent his life battling against hunger and poverty in developing countries. With characteristic energy and a sense or urgency, he is setting the agenda for a 'Green Revolution' in sub-Saharan Africa as population increases overwhelm production. Borlaug grew up on a small farm in Iowa during the Depression years and trained as an agricultural scientist. He developed a lifelong determination to use science for the benefit of subsistence farmers. The film charts his struggle against third world poverty, using footage shot in Africa and Mexico over the last thirty years. In Mexico after World War II, Borlaug designed a simple approach for intensifying traditional agriculture that had dramatic results. It saved India and Pakistan from a repetition of the dreadful famine of the 1960's. Often embroiled in politics in his determination to put agriculture at the top of the agenda, he has also crossed swords with some environmentalists, who he felt had little understanding of life in developing countries. His faith has always been in small-scale farmers who are 'setting the grassroots on fire.'
Director: Tony Freeth Distributor:Filmakers Library
Keywords: Nobel Peace Prize, poverty, hunger, development, agriculture, environment

Si-Gueriki = The Queen Mother (Videocassette : 62 min. )  [2003]
V.CASS. VHS 8657
Abstract: This documentary film was intended as a tribute to the filmmaker's late father, a member of a royal family in northern Benin. But in the course of his investigations, the director discovers the lives of his mother and sisters, which had previously been invisible to him, and he decides to make a film about them instead. Si-Gueriki examines patriarchy and the role of women in a polygynous society...Mora Kpai's mother is the si-gueriki or 'queen mother' of the Borgu people. Yet her daily routine of grinding rice and potash show into what low estate this once noble position has fallen in many parts of Africa. The title of 'queen mother' is misleading to Westerners since the si-gueriki is most typically not the mother but the aunt, niece or cousin of the king. From Ghana to Swaziland, legendary noblewomen have been praised for their prowess as military leaders. They have had their own palaces, feudal land holdings, retinues and, like the king, even enjoyed sexual freedom. They characteristically resolved disputes especially in the marketplace and in agriculture, two arenas controlled by women in most of Africa. The 'queen mother' even could nominate the next king and serve as one of his counselors.The Borgu queen mother, like European monarchs today, fills largely a ritual function. In this film, for example, we witness the annual gaani festival over which the si-gueriki presides; she is announced by trumpeters, brightly caparisoned horses and riders pass in review and she accepts the tribute as her subjects prostrate themselves before her.
Director: Idrissou Mora Kpai Distributor:California Newsreel
Keywords: Benin, Borgu, queen mother, kinship, history, government, festival

Silent Killer. The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger (DVD : 57 min. )  [2005]
DVD 7636
Abstract: There are still a billion hungry people in the world. Fifteen thousand children -- the equivalent of five times the victims of the World Trade Center bombings -- die each day of hunger. Yet it doesn't have to be this way. We can end hunger -- if we make a commitment to doing so. Silent Killer shows how it can be done. Hosted by National Public Radio's Scott Simon, the film begins in South Africa's Kalahari Desert, where razor-thin Bushmen use the Hoodia cactus to fend off hunger. But now, a drug firm has patented the Hoodia's appetite-suppressant properties and is using it to make a diet product for obese Americans and Europeans. Hoodia is a metaphor for a world where some people die from too much food, but millions more die from too little. We discover how serious the problem is in Kenya as we meet Jane Ininda, a scientist who is trying to make agriculture more productive in her country, while her own brother, Salesio, barely survives the drought, poor soils and pests that constantly threaten his crops. Through powerful stories, we come to understand the dimensions of the hunger crisis. At the World Food Summit in Rome, we learn how activists have been working to end hunger since President John Kennedy declared war on it in 1963. But today, America's commitment to food security is less clear. In fact, world financial commitments to hunger research have been declining in recent years. But Silent Killer does not leave viewers feeling helpless. A visit to Brazil finds a nation energized by a new campaign called 'Fome Zero' -- Zero Hunger. In the huge city of Belo Horizonte, we meet a remarkable leader and see how, under the programs she supervises, the right to food is guaranteed to all. In the countryside, we are introduced to the Landless Peasants' Movement, which is giving hope to millions of hungry Brazilians.
Director: Hana Jindrova and John de Graaf Distributor:Bull Frog Films
Keywords: South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Kalahari, Bushmen, hunger, drought, food, agriculture, development

Sugar: The Rules of the Game (Videocassette : 33 min. )  [2003]
V.CASS. VHS 8699
Abstract: Examines the major players in the sugar industry--European and African farmers, major sugar production companies, experts and officials. The report shows how decisions made at distant international meetings affect the lives of individuals. Antonio Maolela cuts sugar cane on a plantation in Mozambique. He earns about two euros a day. Honorio Valdunciel is a farmer from Zamora, Spain, whose main source of income comes from growing sugar beet. Though he makes a decent income, it requires hard work and much investment. The future of both men is tied to the controversial price of sugar in world markets. Sugar prices in the European Union and the U.S. are highly protected by tariffs which block competition. Narration in English with interviews in Portuguese and Spanish subtitled in English.
Director: Meritxell Ribas Distributor:Filmmakers Library
Keywords: Mozambique, Spain, sugar, economy. agriculture, politics, globalization

Tooth of The Time (The) (Videocassette : 26 min. )  [1993]
VHS 9198
Abstract: Eddie Jacobs dreamed of being buried under an old prickly pear tree on the farm owned by his family for four generations. But when the government ceased its policy of 'buying' farmers' votes with subsidies - while an extended drought continued - Eddie was bankrupted, unable to pay back numerous loans. Thousands of other farmers and their workers faced the same plight. The Tooth of The Time spends a day with Eddie; Faan, a black laborer also born and raised on the farm; and Rudy Nagel, who is charged with auctioning away Eddie's life. Part of the Ordinary People series (a South African television series).
Director: Clifford Bestall Distributor:First Run/Icarus
Keywords: South Africa, agriculture and farming, economy, labor, land

You Can't Eat Potential: Breaking Africa's Cycle of Poverty (DVD : 57 min. )  [1996]
DVD 9104
Abstract: The world faces an impending catastrophe if nothing is done. In the context of the steepest rises of population in human history, world food security is an increasingly urgent issue. The film focuses on Africa, south of the Sahara, the region of the world most under threat of food shortages and where absolute poverty is increasing at an alarming rate. The key issue is the development of agriculture in this severely disadvantaged region. How this situation can be reversed is highlighted primarily by the experience in Tanzania, Ghana and Benin. The film explores the critical changes needed to reduce poverty and protect the environment in sub-Saharan Africa -- for example tackling the massive 'mining' of soil nutrients. Expert testimony is provided by Dr. Norman Borlaug (Nobel Peace Prize winner) as well as other distinguished agricultural scientists, and on the political front by Frederick Sumaye (Prime Minister of Tanzania) and Ibrahim Adam (Minister of Food and Agriculture in Ghana). The problems are huge, the situation is urgent, but there is vast untapped potential in the people and environments of the region. The right policies can avert a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.
Director: Tony Freeth Distributor:Filmakers Library
Keywords: Tanzania, Ghana, Benin, poverty, food, development, agriculture, famine, environment, government