Embracing change – how family farmers can face the future
This year opens the Decade of Family Farming, which aims to improve the life of family farmers around the world. In an earnest discussion, two leaders in the global agriculture community reflect on the challenges facing family farmers, the promises of high- and low-tech solutions, and their hopes for the future. A conversation between Dr…
Scientists release new allies in the battle against invasive yellow toadflax in the Rocky Mountains
A team of international scientists are collaborating to fight the noxious weed yellow toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) in Montana’s world-famous Rocky Mountains with the help of a tiny insect – the shoot-galling weevil Rhinusa pilosa. Yellow toadflax, first introduced from Wales in the late 1600s as an ornamental and medicinal plant and to make textile dyes,…
Engendering a more profitable cotton industry for Pakistan through female empowerment
CABI is helping to engender a more productive and profitable cotton industry for Pakistan through the training of more than 57,000 farmers and farm workers – including these women picture above – as part of the Better Cotton Initiative. The Pak Mission Society teamed up with CABI in the Tehsil Khipro, District Sanghar of Sindh…
CABI’s publishing business strengthens partnerships with China
CABI’s publishing business has been busy strengthening partnerships in China by showcasing the benefits of its range of print and online products and services to Chinese clients and partners, and exploring opportunities of further collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) in Beijing. Dr Andy Robinson, CABI’s Managing Director, Publishing, led a delegation…
‘Women can be good leaders and science managers’
In the week that the UN Decade of Family Farming was launched, Segenet Kelemu, the Director General of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), tells CABI’s sister organisation SciDev.Net that women can be good leaders and science managers. In a candid interview, she reveals how she came from humble beginnings (having to…
“The warnings of impending doom are real but the timeframe is very much up for debate”
Did you know that more than 100 billion bananas are eaten every year in the world, making them the fourth most popular agricultural product? You might also be surprised to learn that Uganda has the highest average per capita consumption in the world, where residents eat an average of 226kgs of bananas per person per…
Climate-smart pest management holds the key to future global food security
CABI scientists Luca Heeb, Dr Emma Jenner and Dr Matthew Cock, have issued a stark reminder to the world – we must embrace climate-smart pest management (CSPM) if we are to ensure the food security of a global population predicted to reach 10 billion by 2050. In the paper ‘Climate-smart pest management: building resilience of…
CABI helps Pakistan Museum of Natural History showcase scourge of noxious parthenium weed
CABI in Pakistan is helping the Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH) showcase the scourge of the noxious parthenium weed, otherwise known locally at ‘Gajar Booti’, to members of the public visiting its Bio Gallery exhibit. Parthenium is regarded as one of the major threats to native species, environment and ecosystems in more than 48…
App-based agriculture for a tech-savvy farmer
Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa is undergoing a digital revolution bought about through the advancement and increasing availability of mobile technologies. Improved affordability has placed mobile devices in the hands of more African’s than ever before, with 444 million subscribed users in 2017. Take Tanzania for example where the average cost of mobile phones has fallen…
Guest blog: ‘Keeping in mind the real use of our research’
In this guest blog, Dr Haseeb Md. Irfanullah discusses the findings of a recent workshop he was a rapporteur of in Bangladesh on the potential impact on policy and practice of agricultural research in the country. A research system is basically made up of four components: accessing, conducting, communicating, and utilizing research. While we often…