A dramatic approach to Cocoa farming
Street/community dramas are often used to try to get a message across to a local audience, but have you ever seen a street drama about pesticide use? Well that’s what they’re doing in Nigeria – a dance/drama approach is being used by the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) to educate farmers about which chemicals…
Dark chocolate this Christmas?
With a complete lack of imagination, at least one person in my family normally receives a chocolate gift from me each Christmas. Should I find myself uninspired again this year, maybe I can convince a recipient of some good quality dark chocolate, that I am also thinking of their heart, improving their brain performance, reducing…
The state of our planet told in ‘Hard Rain’ a film released today to set the scene for the UN climate talks
Each time I check my work email inbox lately, I find it’s inundated with notifications, press releases and invitations to events during the COP15 Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen. One email, which caught my eye and prompted me to share it here, was a press release and invite to the launch of the film‘Hard Rain’…
Grow your own Christmas tree
Have you ever considered trying to grow your own Christmas tree? Or wondered what paper made of reindeer poo would be like…? How about combining the two – a little natural fertlizer perhaps? Well somebody has… The Exotic Paper Company, better known for its Ellie Poo and Rhino Poo papers (made from elephant and rhino…
Is local food environmentally costly?
Many consumers feel that they should be buying “local food” to help combat climate change – but could “local food” actually result in more carbon emissions than food distributed through conventional supply chains? David Oglethorpe raises this possibility along with some other surprising ideas in a paper in CAB Reviews. Oglethorpe, of the Newcastle…
Flu – can we say goodbye to yearly vaccines soon?
I was at the CDC's session on H1N1 influenza at the American Public Health Association annual meeting in Philadelphia recently and the problems of getting a flu vaccine out to the population fast was brought home to me. It takes about 5-6 months at present to grow and manufacture new flu vaccines and in a…
Repelling boarders…
Given a choice, faced with a malaria-carrying mosquito heading in your direction, would you opt for an insecticide that killed it before it reached you, or one that merely repelled it? Most of us would plump for the first option I am sure, and this is how insecticide treated bednets (ITNs) work and why they…
The Carbon the World Forgot
Image courtesy of "The Carbon the World Forgot" report. Boreal forests, found in northern areas like Canada, Russia, Scandinavia and parts of the United States, cover 11% of the earth and store 22% of all carbon on the land surface in soil, permafrost, peatlands and wetlands. They also store nearly twice as much carbon as…
Himalayan glaciers – not melting as fast as once thought?
I came across an interesting article whilst reading a recent issue of Science (13 November) that bucks the trend of many gloomy climate change reports over the last few months. It seems that Himalayan glaciers are not melting as fast as is commonly believed. A recent report by senior glaciologist Vijay Kumar Raina, formerly of…
Focusing food security efforts where they are needed
The current World Summit on Food Security , as noted in an earlier blog, is a major effort to focus agriculture to lower risks of starvation and economic insecurity. But how can researchers and planners work out what is needed where? John Dixon of ACIAR and his co-authors describe a major Food and Agriculture Organization –…