Dr Rob Reeder goes ‘bananas’ about pests and diseases on the Urban Farm Podcast
Plant pathologist Dr Rob Reeder has this week spoken to Greg Peterson of the US-based Urban Farm Podcast about how the global supply of bananas (particularly the Cavendish variety) could be put at risk from a three-pronged attack of pests and diseases. In the podcast, Dr Reeder reveals the reasons why the fungus known as…
How Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Enter the Food Chain in non-GMO Producing Countries
How Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Enter the Food Chain in non-GMO Producing Countries - by Tatjana Brankov A superficial review of the legislation on transgenic foods and feeds indicates that consumers in non-GMO producing countries consume GMO-free food. However, less attention is paid to the fact that GMOs can enter the food chain through the import of transgenic foodstuff and feedstuff or by contamination. In some countries, transgenic food production is fully equal to conventional production. The concept of substantial equivalence, developed by the OECD and further elaborated by FAO/WHO “embodies the concept that if a new food or food component is found to be substantially equivalent to an existing food or food component, it can be treated in the same manner with respect to safety, i.e. the food or food component can be concluded to be as safe as the conventional food or food component” (FAO/WHO 1996). Such a…
Building capacity for greater food security in Pakistan
As part of CABI’s mission to help farmers grow more and lose less, we have been funded by USAID – via the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – to help Pakistan improve its sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems and therefore open up its fruit and vegetables to more high-end global markets that were previously untapped. Currently these products only contribute 13% of the country’s export but improvements to its SPS capabilities could see this number rise significantly.
Irrigation facilities to enhance all year seed supply by farmers in central Uganda
Lack of access to quality seed, particularly of traditional crops that are not well integrated into the formal sector, remains a key challenge for increased productivity of these crops in African farming systems. CABI, working with national and regional partners, aims to strengthen seed systems in Africa through developing farmer seed enterprises and linkages to…
Stuffed and starved: is sufficiency the new efficiency?
Attending a recent Chatham House event, one statistic seemed to encapsulate the crisis of our current food system: 795 million eat too little while 2 billion eat too much. After the initial shock of hearing this, I couldn’t help but wonder; if there’s plenty of food to go around why are we simultaneously starving and…
Capitalising on Africa’s agriculture to achieve ‘zero hunger’
CABI board member Professor Ruth Oniang'o talks about winning the 2017 Africa Food Prize and how CABI is working towards helping to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.
Building a climate-smart cassava value chain: The role of partnerships
This is one of a two-part blog series following my visit to Africa supported by CABI’s development bursary In June 2017, I visited Zanzibar, Tanzania, to attend a 5-day planning meeting organised by the Africa Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI). The purpose of this planning meeting was to bring together all project partners to identify project…
Taking the power back
How apple growers are regaining control of the supply chain from retailers Apples are one of the world’s most popular fruits. In 2013 world production reached almost 82 million tonnes and the export value broke US$8 billion (FAO STAT, 2017). The fruit comes in all shapes, sizes, flavours and colours; yet what we see in…
African indigenous vegetables to help fight hidden hunger in Uganda
African Indigenous Vegetables (AIV) are an excellent source of essential vitamins and minerals including micro-nutrients, supplementary protein, fibre and calories. Micro-nutrient deficiency threatens nutrition security and also causes hidden hunger in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite their nutritive value, these vegetables have not been a high priority in national food programmes. As a result, adequate resources have not been allocated to promote…
Author of the Month: Big Data’s Big Potential in Developing Economies, Nir Kshetri
Big data’s role in addressing the root causes of poverty There clearly are some signs of big data-led political, economic and social transformations taking place in developing countries. Early evidence has shown the huge potential benefits that can be realized by implementing big data in diverse fields that are critical to the future of these…