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MT 19 March 2017

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 MARCH 2017 40 This Week When most people think "duck" they get this image of a flightless bird with a waddling walk. While that may be true of our overfed domestic fowl, their wild cousins are actually strong, fast fliers with impressive stamina. About two dozen species of wild duck have been recorded in Malta but most of them are scarce to extremely rare. The garganey (M: sarsella ħamra) is one of the more frequent of the bunch, turning up regularly in spring and autumn, sometimes in large flocks, especially in spring. Birdwatchers usually spot garganeys and other wild ducks offshore, flying rapidly across the Malta-Gozo Channel or floating like pieces of cork on the heaving sea surface. Very few garganeys actually fly inland, and why should they? There are no lakes or large reservoirs for them to land in for an overnight power nap. BirdLife's nature reserves at Għadira, Is-Simar and Salina regularly host a handful of wild ducks for a few nights at this time of year but that's about it. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate Text Victor Falzon Phot Denis Cachia As in other commodities of international trade, companies of the Global North capture the largest share in the value chain. Millions of cocoa farmers in the Global South account only for a very small share – 6.6% respectively – in the value chain of chocolate. This is compared to 16% in the late 1980s. Furthermore, a farmer's income cannot be seen as 'net profit', but has to be counted as income from labour, land, and return on investment. The small scale of the farms and relatively low yields mean that the annual income remains very low. Even if the farmer could double his yield and receive a premium for producing certified cocoa, his net income often wouldn't be able to reach the extreme poverty line. By contrast, the share for processors and grinders, chocolate manufacturers and retailers has increased to 87%. Due to recent developments in the European retail sector where a growing production of store and private brands and an accumulating market concentration can be observed, an even bigger influence of the retail sector and an increasing dependency of producers on retailers can be forecast. Bittersweet Chocolate Massive imbalances in the value chain 549. GARGANEY GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 452 WEED KILLER: If weeds are a problem in your garden, cover the flower beds with newspaper and soak them with water. Then cover the paper with compost or mulch. Eventually the paper will smother the weeds, and the organic matter will help your garden flourish. Malta celebrates World Theatre day with series of activities next week MALTA will also join the global celebrations of World Theatre Day on March 27 under the banner of Viva t-Teatru, with a programme of events by Teatru Malta and Arts Council Malta. The programme of events will open on March 24 at noon at Te- atru Metanoia in Luqa with the launch of Spazji Teatrali, a cata- logue of 78 theatre spaces, as part of a study commissioned by Arts Council Malta with the Valletta 2018 Foundation and the Univer- sity of Malta. The launch will be followed by the preview of Teatru Malta's new brand and its first ini- tiative. A two-day informal forum on current issues in Maltese theatre, entitled Taħdita Teatru, will be organised as a platform for debate on the remit of Teatru Malta. This will take the form of informal dis- cussions, held in various theatre spaces in Malta and Gozo as part of a bus trip, with these discussions actually continuing on the bus ride between the various venues, and the ferry ride when travelling to Gozo. Taħdita Teatru will begin on March 25 at the Valletta Campus Theatre (formerly known as MITP) with a discussion on whether thea- tre can be both experimental and popular. The final session will be held on the way back from Gozo on March 26. The discussions will be moder- ated by various theatre practition- ers coming from different schools of theatre, such as Nicole Bugeja, Chris Dingli, Joseph Zammit, Phil- ip Leone Ganado and others. Vari- ous spaces will be used in each of the five regions of Malta and Go- zo, such as the Domus in Żejtun, Mount Carmel Community Thea- tre, Sala Dun Karm Lia in Rabat and others. Also part of the programme is Manoel, Iftaħli, a series of free one-hour tours of Teatru Manoel led by Malcolm Galea and Narcy Calamatta on March 26, as well as two free Toi Toi shows for chil- dren attending schools in Valletta. A special tour for the Valletta el- derly will be organised on March 27. These tours are being organ- ised in collaboration with the Ma- noel Theatre. The full programme and more info on each event are available on www.artscouncilmalta.org. Partic- ipation is free of charge. Registra- tion for the Teatru Manoel tours, bus rides and lunches is on a first- come first-served basis. To book for Taħdita Teatru send an email on fundinfo@artscouncilmalta.org or call on 2339 7020. To book for the Teatru Manoel tours send an email on bookings@teatrumanoel. com or call on 2146 3389 Actors Narcy Calamatta and Malcolm Galea will participate in 'Manoel, Iftahli'. Photo by Chris Farrugia Studios

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