A number of articles that share experiences around the development of Apps and use of digital platfoms in health and nutrition were published in Field Exchange in recent years. If you use the Search function on FEX's page (https://www.ennonline.net/fex), you should be able to identify some examples that are interesting for you. Quite a bit were shared in FEX66, a special issue on adolescent nutrition. 

Good morning.

I believe we are putting too much hope in webs and digital platforms. Moreover, I would suggest not to use the word eradicate but to decrase the impact...........

I am a veterinarian with vast working experience in arid and semi-arid areas. I believe that we should start usung properly and better waht we already have: weather forecasts. Digital platforms and apps can also plain a main role, but, at this stage, they are not a priority.

Agriculture (as a all): (1) we need better and timely weather forecasts to be passed on time to allow plainting on time or not at all. We still have agriculturalists planting 3-4 times hoping for rains and going bankarupt; (2) phasing out growing maize (when we expect few rains) and go toward more drought tollerant plants; (3) agriculture is the main cause of deforestation. Agriculture is not feasible in arid and semiarid lands, and should be banned: (4) we need certified seeds and fertilizers availability

Livestock in arid and semi-arid lands: it is very sustainable and protect the environment,. Only under stress pastoralists cut down trees.

If a drought is forecasted: (1) commercial destocking. With the money the livestock owners will be able to buy food, not becoming destituted and will have money to restock. (2) usually during a drought we have grass (standing grass) but not water. Therefore, we have to destock and carry out water trucking both or people and livestock (we did so in Puntland in 2004 and it was a success). (3) the first rain after the drought are very heavy and dangerous because the livestock is defedated. At the first rains they drop dead by hundreds on the spot because they develop iperacute pasteurellosis. We should distribute livestock owner with plastic canvass.

We have been filming-documenting the 2017-2018 tanzanian drought and postdrought period for one year every 15 days in the same areas. We have showed the impact on environments and people, food prices and scarsity.

We do not find anybody wanting to edit all these docements to make a docu-film. We do not want money. I believe, a lot of people would benefit looking at it and what the livestock owners would like us to do.

In September 2017, in Arusha, we organizanizwed a Maasai gathering and we can up with the Arusha Declaration and the Future of pastoralism. They are also available.

Both activities were carried out using our own funds, because nobody is interested in solving probems and listening to livestock owners seriously.

Best regards

Dr. Beppe Di Giulio (bdigiulio@habari.co.tz)