2014: the International Year of Family Farming
Did you know that there are 1.5 billion people worldwide who are estimated to be involved in family farming? The United Nations has declared 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) to recognize the importance of family farming in reducing poverty and improving global food security. So what is family farming?
IPPC and Plantwise lead successful workshop for coordinated plant protection in East Africa
From Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, key representatives of agricultural institutions gathered in Nairobi last week for the first ever joint workshop led by CABI’s Plantwise programme and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat. The workshop was convened in an effort to exchange national experiences in plant protection and pave the way for renewed…
CEO Trevor Nicholls live at The Economist’s Feeding the World 2014
Bringing together key players in food security from the private, public and civil society sector, the Economist’s annual Feeding the World conference yesterday in London also highlighted CABI’s efforts to level the playing field for the smallholder farmer. Invited to speak on the afternoon panel focused on trade and supply chain resources, CABI’s CEO Dr…
Water water everywhere…but is climate change to blame?
It is perhaps not surprising that the latest statistics from the Met Office in the UK show that this winter has been one of the most exceptional periods of rainfall in England and Wales in at least 248 years, thanks to a sequence of low pressure weather systems making their way across the Atlantic. As…
UK boating contributes £3.7 billion to economy
Image: VisitBritain, Boats at Christchurch Boating tourism contributed an estimated £3.7 billion to the UK economy in 2012/13, according to the new comprehensive report published by the British Marine Federation. This figure accounts for 3.2% of all tourism expenditure in the UK, and supports approximately 96,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs through direct and indirect effects.…
Could Climate Change threaten the future of the Winter Olympics?
As Russia prepares to host the 22nd Olympic Winter Games, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has begun to release the findings of its Fifth Assessment Report. If the climate projections of the IPCC report prove accurate, only six of the previous 19 host cities will be cold enough to host a…
Outbreak of peace in the sweetener world
You might expect that producers of sugar and producers of other sweeteners would see each other as rivals, and there is indeed evidence of this. For example the ‘Truth About Splenda’ website, provided by the Sugar Association which represents sugar beet and cane farmers in the USA, emphasises the presence of chlorine atoms in the…
Bear viewing more valuable than hunting
Image Source: Douglas Brown, Creative Commons License According to research released on 7 January, bear viewing ecotourism in British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest (GBR) "generates far more value to the economy" in terms of revenue, taxes, and jobs than the older and more well-established trophy hunting of grizzly and black bears.
Big predators in big trouble
Large carnivores, from lions to polar bears, are among the most iconic and charismatic species on earth. They also play vital roles in many ecosystems, restricting populations of herbivores from reaching levels where they degrade vegetation and prevent woodlands and forests from regenerating. But the world's top carnivores are in big trouble, with over three-quarters…
Reconciling Modern Animal Production Systems and Sustainability
By M Djuric, DVM A consortium of 22 research partners from 11 countries has received a £10.6m grant from the European Union (EU) to improve pig and poultry production. This is the largest EU grant awarded in this field. The project aims at investigating ways to increase animal production quality, whilst limiting environmental impact and…