World Environment Day 2017 – “Connecting People to Nature”

First held in 1974, World Environment Day (WED) is considered to be the largest global event for positive environmental action, with participation from over 143 countries.  It takes place on 5th June each year and is a flagship campaign for driving change and raising awareness on emerging environmental issues, from climate change and wildlife crime, to resource consumption and marine pollution.  This year's host country is Canada and the chosen theme is 'Connecting People to…
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Author of Month Blog: Olfaction in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Birte L. Nielsen

We all use our nose much more than we think. Is this fish okay to eat? Can you smell gas? Mmm, they smell nice! From knowing when to change a baby’s nappy to choosing (and using) a particular deodorant, odours affect our behaviour on a daily basis. And yet, we do not consider ourselves a…
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World Biodiversity Day focuses on Sustainable Tourism

The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. This year, to coincide with the observance of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, sustainable tourism has been chosen as the…
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6 lessons learned on organising a stand at an ‘international development’ event

Public events are a great opportunity to make CABI more visible and enlighten others on how our work is improving livelihoods all over the world. As a regular on the conference circuit, I know the value and challenges of organising a stand at an event. Most recently I attended the 1st All Africa Post Harvest…
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Author of the Month – Global Urban Agriculture, A.M.G.A. WinklerPrins

Urban Agriculture and its Role in Community Building A.M.G.A. WinklerPrins Urban agriculture (UA) is about much more than producing food, it is about growing communities and empowering people.  The social interactions needed to grow food in urban settings, whether in organised community gardens or allotments, in abandoned lots, sacks, balconies, or berms, brings people together…
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Omega oils 3, 6, 7 and 9 – what’s the difference?

Many people are not sure how omega oils feature in their diet and in what quantities they should be consuming them. Considering that many of are not getting even the minimum levels in our diet that are deemed “critical” to health by the World Health Organization (WHO),  maybe we should rethink our 'laissez faire' attitude.
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CABI’s Good Seed Initiative contributes to seed policy dialogue and review in Tanzania

Photo: Agricultural extension worker of Arumeru district interacting with a seed grower contracted by Alpha seed company in Arusha. Photo credit: Kansiime, CABI CABI’s Good Seed Initiative (GSI) aims to improve the seed systems of small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.  A GSI project funded by Irish Aid has been implemented in Tanzania…
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Intra-household survey – Tanzania

This blog piece was originally posted on the ASHC blog Over the past few months the GALA delivery team has been trying to understand how households in Tanzania obtained and share information on farming practices. This will help us to understand the effectiveness of different communication approaches in delivering agricultural information to small-scale farmers.  It will also help us to reflect on which currently…
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Author of the Month, Tourism and Resilience, Richard W Butler

Is resilience the new sustainability? Let us hope not.  Or let us hope that the concept does not follow the same path as that of sustainable development, whereby it becomes a sound bite with a variety of meanings, none of them really accurate or definitive, and a catch-all for those wishing to sound environmentally friendly.…
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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…
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