Taking back control of opioid prescription drugs
North America is in the middle of an opioid overdose epidemic, and its moving into the over 50s as well. The opioids include heroin, synthetic opioids like fentanyl, and prescription painkillers like hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine and morphine. 50% of opioid-related deaths are due to prescription painkillers, partly through co-prescribing with benzodiazepine, partly because they cause euphoria as well as pain relief and are used for non-medical reasons. Rural white middle aged men are typical addicts but women are catching up and Native Americans are severely affected. WE look into how we can take back control at state and personal levels.
Agro-tourism on agenda at Mekong Agriculture Ministers Meeting
Planting rice at Siem Reap At the second Greater Mekong Subregion Agriculture Ministers Meeting, which opened yesterday in Siem Reap province in Cambodia, ministers from the six GMS countries – Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – are discussing the most important issues in agricultural sectors of the sub-region. The main topics in the…
Indigenous people and tourism
Planeta.com, a website promoting “conscious travel”, has designated the 7-13 August as Indigenous Peoples Week, when it aims to promote news, social media and storytelling about indigenous peoples and tourism. Like many themes in tourism, this is one where there is both a positive and a negative side. Where tourism development is led and managed…
CABI participates in a regional forum on Enhancing Global Food Security through Science, Technology and Innovation
I recently attended a one-day regional forum organised by the Human Life Advancement Foundation (HLAF) in Thailand. The meeting, held on 17th May 2017, sought to identify ways in which HLAF and other organisations, like CABI, can contribute to achieving food security especially through science, technology and innovation.
Building a climate-smart value chain: The role of research, development and technology
This is the second of a two-part blog series following my visit to Africa supported by CABI’s development bursary The first blog in this series described the Africa Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) and how it aims to improve cassava agronomy to increase production and productivity, as well as how ACAI partnerships could build a climate-smart…
“Biocontrol? What’s that?”: My experience at CABI
Amy Hudson writes about what she learnt as a summer intern at CABI whilst working on the systematic review done in 2017 concerning the biological control of pests and the impact on crop yield. She spent time extracting relevant data from various online journals and compiled it so that a meta-analysis may be completed. Before…
Tourism and sustainable development in Africa
People who are aware of CABI through our work in agriculture, the environment, plant protection, or invasive species management, are sometimes surprised to find that we are also engaged in tourism, primarily through publishing books and database products. With tourism in overcrowded Western cities such as Barcelona and Venice increasingly seen as a problem rather…
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…
CABI Books on Livestock Breeds and Breeding Are Essential Resource for Education, Research and Policy Influencing
This article focuses on the following three books 1. “Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding: 2 volume pack”, edited by V Porter, L Alderson, S Hall, D P Sponenberg, March 2016, Hardback, 9781845934668. Volume 1: Asses, camelids, cattle, goats, horses and pigs, Volume 2: Sheep, water buffalo, yak and other livestock 2. “Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties,” published in August 2002; DOI: 10.1046/j.1439-0388.2002.00353. 3. “A World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties” by Ian Lauder Mason, 1996 (ISBN 0851991024) [previous editions: 1988, 1969 1957 (reissued with Supplement), first published in 1951) In March 2016, CABI published “Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding”, which was written by co-authors (Porter, Hall and Sponenberg). This is a major international and much expanded reference book based on Ian Mason's original book, which includes breeds of domestic livestock. This version covers conservation of animal genetic resources,…
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…