PROCEEDINGS: Mushroom Farming Training Workshop

I have read, with profound interest and encouragement, the wealth of information contained in this publication. I have taken special note of the fact that mushrooms are a very promising biological resource which can be developed and farmed as a new cash crop in Africa, and are Increasingly becoming a conspicuous item in the world trade. I was delighted to note that their contribution in that regard is currently valued at about US$30 billion annually. I have noted also that mushrooms have been accepted as human food in Africa, and elsewhere, from times immemorial, by virtue of: their unmistakeable, pleasing, and characteristic flavour; their delicious, meaty, and tantalizing taste; their timely availability as a new, fresh, nutritious vegetable, appearing soon after the rains; and their medicinal potency, especially with regard to their possession (amongst their members) of some vital natural products which are anti-tumour, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial, and which: can boost the body's immunoresponse systems, normalize blood pressure, lower the body's cholesterol level, and promote the body's general fitness.

I have noted, furthermore, that when farmed as new cash crops in Africa, mushrooms offer great promise, due to the following facts: they grow relatively fast (some can be harvested within only 10 to 14 days since planting): this enables quick investment returns; they can be grown on a wide range of readily available substrates, which are inclusive of agricultural crop residues, forestry biomass wastes, grass straw, which is so abundant in Africa's savannah ecosystems; and their cultivation practice is labour intensive: hence the activity can generate many job opportunities in society, especially amongst women and the youth.

I have been thrilled by the wealth of information contained in the proceedings: especially with regard to the large representation of medicinally potent mushrooms collected during the field visits to Salima, Malawi; and the richness of information contained in the comprehensive lectures delivered during the Workshop by Professor Shu-Ting Chang. I recommend that this publication be read by policy makers in Government, by investment promotion practitioners, by tertiary educational and research institutions in Africa, and especially by individuals who are aspiring to become mushroom farming entrepreneurs. I commend and thank UNDP and UNOPS who are financially supporting the mushroom farming initiative and related activities within the broad framework of the Regional ZERI Project for Africa (RAF/99/021). I commend UNDP Malawi and Bunda College of Agriculture, Lilongwe, Malawi, for having hosted the Workshop. I commend also the University of Namibia hosting the Regional Project Management Unit, as well as Prof. Keto E. Mshigeni and Prof. S.T. Chang for their vital inputs.

I see this publication as a significant milestone towards catalyzing the UNDP-funded Regional Project to become a vehicle for promoting diversification of Africa's agriculture, and spearheading promoting value-addition to the huge tonnage of agricultural crop residues, which are currently discarded as waste, or which are burnt, thus aggravating the problem of environmental pollution. The Government of the Republic of Namibia, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development, and the University of Namibia, remain committed towards consolidating the promising results of the mushroom farming trials already initiated in Namibia at the Neudamm Campus of the University's Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, within the framework of the UNU/UNESCO ZERI Africa Chair, based at the University of Namibia, and towards expanding the Faculty's activities through the new support from UNOP, to become a Mushroom Research Centre of Excellence for Africa.

I see Africa gradually rising to become a major contributor in the world Mushroom Production trade, given the continent's rich mushroom biodiversity, her huge tonnage of lignocellulosic biomass (emanating from her people's agricultural activities: currently discarded as waste), and her wide range of climatic types, which enable the cultivation of both tropical and cool temperate climate mushroom species. Based on this information, it can be concluded that if Africa is to fully realize the goal of becoming a respectable mushroom producer in world trade, our various Governments must support long term education and training, and research and development (R&D) in mushroom farming and related activities.

Hon. Helmut Angula,
M.P. Minister of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development,
Republic of Namibia