International Tea Day 2020: celebrating tea’s importance to our planet
International Tea Day aims to increase public awareness of sustainable production and consumption of tea; its importance in fighting hunger and poverty as well as improve the tea value chain. On this inaugural International Tea Day, CABI is honoured to celebrate the smallholder farmers we work with through countries with the systems and economies that rely on the production and commercialisation of tea to thrive.
10 highlights from 10 years of the China-CABI Joint Laboratory
2018 marks the 10th anniversary of the Joint Laboratory for Bio-safety established by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) and CABI. A decade of cooperation and knowledge sharing through the Joint Lab has helped to address Chinese and global needs for food and nutritional security, food safety, greater innovation and sustainable development.
Air pollution, can we reduce the impact of cars on urban air quality?
Air quality in Delhi, India, is so poor due to vehicular pollution that it caused the city to run a 2-week experiment in January 2016: private cars were allowed on the streets only on alternate days, depending on license plate numbers. Delhi's PM10 particle levels are nearly twice that of Beijing, and its PM 2.5 the worst of 1600 cities in the world (including Iran and Bangladesh). Similar experiments have been tried in major cities in France, Italy, UK, China, all suffering public health problems (cancer, heart attacks, asthma, premature death) due to their love affair with the motor car.
African Swine Fever on the Move – China, the EU and FAO Assessing Preparedness in East and Southeast Asia, the Region with >50% of the World Pig Population
By M Djuric, DVM African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to spread in traditionally endemic sub-Saharan Africa, but it is also expanding into previously ASF-free countries with a new front opening up along the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. The risk of ASF entering China is of particular concern since the country keeps almost half of the…
NICE people lend a helping hand
“Nice” is not a word often used in scientific research and when it appears in the UK media, it’s now associated with NICE, National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence. More often than not this government organisation makes headlines with bad news: the press reports quickly when a drug is not approved for general use…
Recent developments in the world of biofuels
Opinions on the use of crops for biofuel and bioenergy continue to be polarized – are they a ‘good thing’ or not? When are they a ‘good thing’? Who benefits? How do you measure the impacts and their interactions at a local, national and international level on food security, land resources, water, greenhouse gas emissions,…
Melamine in the Centre of Food Safety Scandal in China
Two infants have already died after they were fed milk formula laced with melamine and doctors are fighting to save the lives of over 1250 babies who have fallen ill with kidney stones.