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Can Israeli Innovations
Help African Farmers?
LAURENCE R. SIMON
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Special to The Jewish. News
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(at Ganbrook)
26087 W. 12 Mile
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(INSIDE THE ORCHARD MALL)
YOU'LL FIND MORE PARTS
IN THE BRACELET OF THIS AWARD-WINNING
THALASSA THAN YOU WILL IN A ROLLS-ROYCE® ENGINE*
You're looking at the bracelet of what is
perhaps the most beautiful watch in the world:
the award-winning Thalassa. We've taken it
apart to make a point about the excellence of
this superb, water-resistant timepiece.
In the pell-mell rush to praise technology,
people often lose sight of the thing that makes
watchmaking the art it is: handcrafting.
Jean Lasalle never forgets.
It takes us 656 parts to craft each exquisite
gold and steel Thalassa bracelet. Twelve to a
link. Fifty-six more than in the engine of a
Silver Cloudrwhich has a mere 600 major
A N
moving parts.
Every single one of those parts is slipped
precisely into place by hand. If you've ever
struggled with the tiny parts of a model ship
you know what that entails.
Perhaps we could have built this Thalassa
bracelet with fewer parts. But then, it wouldn't
be as supple, as flexible, or as fitting.
With fewer parts, Thalassa might still have
won the Laurel d'Or in Monte Carlo as Watch of
the Year. And no one would have noticed. But
we'd know. And you'd know. And that makes
all the difference in the world to us.
L A
A
L E
Perhaps the most beautiful watch in the world.
David Wachter & Sons
THE FAMILY OF AWARD-WINNING JEWELRY DESIGNERS.
Downtown Birmingham • 540-4622 Renaissance Center, Detroit • 259-6922
Certified Gemologists. Members American Gem Society
The names "Rolls-Royce" and "Silver Cloud" are registered trademarks.
'There are 600 major internal moving parts in the engine of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.
44
Friday, December 5, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
« 11985, Jean Lasalle, Inc.
extraordinary
n
meeting took place
not long ago, in con-
junction with the United Na-
tions' special session on the
crisis in Africa. While world
leaders gathered at the
United Nations, urgently
seeking solutions for the pov-
erty and hunger which afflict
the majority of Africa's 550
million people, Israeli univer-
sities and research institutes
conducted a series of brief-
ings on how Israel has trans-
formed a hostile natural
environment into productive
agriculture.
Not unlike nations in Af-
rica which suffer periodic
drought and famine, Israel
has had to develop agricul-
ture in the desert in order to
survive. Unlike Africa, how-
ever, it has had the technical
and financial resources to
undertake the world's most
important desert research.
Among the most pressing
problems faced in Africa
today is falling productivity
in agriculture.
Recently I had the oppor-
tunity to tour Israeli agricul-
tural institutions and to
speak at length with resear-
chers and farmers in the
Negev. One of the first sur-
prises in Israel is finding that
there are hundreds of Afri-
cans and others who come
each year for training, in-
cluding techniques of water
harvesting and conservation.
They learn that what others
see as harsh constraints on
development in the desert
can be transformed into
major assets.
The Blaustein Interna-
tional Center for Desert
Studies has recreated and
improved upon the ingenious
methods of the ancient Neba-
tean civilization for collecting
the runoff from short but in-
tense showers which are
characteristic of the desert.
Once again, olives, almonds,
apricots, pistachios, barley
and wheat are growing in the
desert without supplementary
irrigation and relying only on
the annual rainfall of less
than four inches.
The abundant desert sun-
shine is being harnessed in
low-cost plastic silos, in-
vented by the Volcani Center,
which st-erilize crops and
have reduced post-harvest
loss to less than one percent.
This simple and appropriate
technology has significant
. potential benefits to the av-
erage African nation which is
currently losing upwards of
Laurence R. Simon is
president of the American
Jewish World Service
international relief and
development agency, and a
geographer by training.
40 percent of its basic grains
due to inadequate storing
facilities.
Ben-Gurion University is
pumping brackish water from
a full kilometer beneath the
Negev to irrigate desert fields
where saline-tolerant vegeta-
bles are growing. Water is
conserved in the high evap-
oration climate by drip irri-
gation techniques which di-
rect water only to the root
system and leave the sur-
rounding soil dry.
Closed system desert
greenhouses with four times
the carbon dioxide level of air
are propagating plants at up
to three times normal growth
rates. Hebrew University is
cultivating fruit not only
with the now-familiar
aquaponics (without soil) but
through aeroponics where
plant root systems are sus-
pended in a nutrient mist
without soil or water.
Africans know that much
of what is being developed in
Israel would be inappropriate
for Africa. Technology trans-
fers to nations of extreme
poverty often lead to a
greater erosion in the ability
of the poor to feed them-
selves. Innovation in agricul-
ture in developing nations
must serve the interests of
the small farmer who is still
the major producer of food-
crops for local consumption.
It should help to meet the
basic. needs of the poor,• to
raise family income and nut-
rition. Technologies cannot be
packaged and transplanted
from one society to another
without regard for the
environmental, social and
administrative contexts into
which they are being placed.
It is the environmental
problems that Israel shares
with many poor nations. Is-
rael's experience in solving
problems common to the
drought-prone nations of Af-
rica offers an unparalleled
opportunity for international
cooperation. While some
technologies hold promise to
be transferred with little
adaptation, the most valuable
Israeli contribution will be in
applying its experience and
hard-learned principles of
desert agriculture in ways
appropriate to Third World
problems and resources.
Population
Figures Show
Sharp Decline
lel Aviv (JTA) — The world
Jewish population is decliri-
ing rapidly and may be re-
duced to a total of six million
within one generation, ac-
cording to a report of a
demographic study presented
to the World Zionist Organ-
ization Executive last
Monday.
Diaspora Jewry is rapidly
dwindling due to intermar-