Dr. Bukar Ali USMAN, mni

Africa was the only region where the number of hungry grew over the period, from 175 million to 239 million, with nearly 20 million added in the past four years. The prevalence of hunger, although reduced over the entire period, has risen slightly over the past three years, from 22.6 percent to 22.9 percent – with nearly one in four hungry. And in sub-Saharan Africa, the modest progress achieved in recent years up to 2007 was reversed, with hunger rising 2 percent per year since then.

Source: globalfoodpolitics.wordpress.com

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The purpose of this workshop is to discuss important aspects of Ebola virus and vaccine immunology in order to inform future clinical, scientific and regulatory decision-making related to vaccines against Ebola.

Source: www.fda.gov

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The old world camels (Dromedary and Bactrian) are well adapted to the harsh (both cold extreme and hot extreme) and hostile (deserts with scarce water and feed availability) ecosystems of the north…

Source: camel4all.wordpress.com

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Knowledge is increasingly online and digital, making connectivity essential; and offline explicit knowledge invisible. Getting their own hidden knowledge online and visible is a number one task for institutional KRCs. It also makes sure that knowledge seekers are more likely to find more of what they want. Extension, educational and practical (non-scientific) information as well as content in smaller languages is especially missing. Physical ‘reading’ and ‘storage’ spaces are becoming redundant in many institutions; these spaces can be re-purposed to support other forms of communication and interaction. Peter Balyntine – ILRI

Source: paepard.blogspot.com

"We need to adapt knowledge and information to different types of value chains: global value chains (in which other countries and regions are involved and depend from each other): in this you need something beyond a local Knowledge Resource Centers; local value chains can be targeted by KRCs (stakeholders; the State, the industry, the local communities) Pascal Bonnet" – CIRAD

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The plant will be expected to produce 15 tons of the aflasafe in a week, with the initial target being to produce sufficient amounts to treat about 100, 000 hectares. The facility will also serve in making aflasafe for local and regional trials and serve as a demonstration facility for manufacturing and business plan development,” he said, adding that construction of the factory, the first of its kind in Africa, will be completed within 12 months.

Source: clippings.ilri.org

"The plant will be expected to produce 15 tons of the aflasafe in a week, with the initial target being to produce sufficient amounts to treat about 100, 000 hectares. The facility will also serve in making aflasafe for local and regional trials and serve as a demonstration facility for manufacturing and business plan development,” he said, adding that construction of the factory, the first of its kind in Africa, will be completed within 12 months." – ILRI

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There’s a new feature article in National Geographic this month titled: Carnivore’s Dilemma. Written by Robert Kunzig and photographed by Brian Finke, the feature asks, and attempts to answer, the …

Source: clippings.ilri.org

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“Conclusion; Phantom could be considered as a suitable approach to collect semen due to simplicity, safety, and lack of specimen contamination in dromedary camel.” Findings

The GNR will contribute to country-led efforts to strengthen accountability, share learning about what is working, and highlight bottlenecks to progress and how they may be overcome,” said Lawrence Haddad, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and co-chair of the independent expert group that produced the report. 

Source: www.ifpri.org

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Displaced populations and their host communities face a high risk of food insecurity, malnutrition, and epidemics. The security situation in northern Mali improved due to international efforts, but violence has increased in northern Nigeria. An exodus of people from northern Nigeria, the Central African Republic and from Darfur, Sudan, put more pressure on Chad, Cameroon, and Mali to absorb refugees.

Source: www.ifpri.org

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Source: www.ifpri.org

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The adoption of agricultural biotechnology, and specifically genetically modified (GM) crops, by many African countries has been quite limited to date, however. To further inform the debate over agricultural biotechnology, this report collects current information on the status of biotechnology in Africa—with an emphasis on GM crops—and assesses the opportunities offered by and constraints on adoption.

Source: www.ifpri.org

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Diets link environmental and human health. Rising incomes and urbanization are driving a global dietary transition in which traditional diets are replaced by diets higher in refined sugars, refined fats, oils and meats.

Source: www.nature.com

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‘ILRI research has contributed to appropriate health management systems leading to healthy animals, people and ecosystems and increase animal-source food and income for all’.

Source: aghealth.wordpress.com

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A 2001 court decision crippled the federal government’s ability to shut down food plants that are sickening people.

Source: www.alternet.org

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The Cornucopia Institute has updated the infographic detailing supporters and opponents of Washington state’s historic November 5 vote on the labeling of GMO food ingredients, known as I-522.

Source: www.cornucopia.org

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The FAO has always been concerned with agricultural development and food security. Recent disease epidemics, in both developing and industrialised countries, have once again focussed attention on livestock disease and their potential to harm development. In the context of developing countries, disease epidemics do four things:

They reduce herds and flocks dramatically, which, in the case of pastoral peoples, is a major blow to food security and the ability to survive;

They cause trading partners to – quite understandably – put trade barriers in place in order to protect their own countries from infection. Where livestock or meat exporting countries are affected by epidemics, their “pariah” status can cost millions of dollars in terms of foreign exchange losses, and drive farmers and the local meat industry to the wall.

They are a deterrent to sustained livestock production.

They add significantly to the cost of livestock production through the necessity for the application of costly disease control measures.

Source: www.fao.org

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Classical risk assessment approaches for animal diseases are influenced by the probability of release, exposure and consequences of a hazard affecting a livestock population. Once a pathogen enters into domestic livestock, potential risks of exposure and infection both to animals and people extend through a chain of economic activities related to producing, buying and selling of animals and products. Therefore, in order to understand economic drivers of animal diseases in different ecosystems and to come up with effective and efficient measures to manage disease risks from a country or region, the entire value chain and related markets for animal and product needs to be analysed to come out with practical and cost effective risk management options agreed by actors and players on those value chains.

Value chain analysis enriches disease risk assessment providing a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration, which seems to be in increasing demand for problems concerning infectious livestock diseases. The best way to achieve this is to ensure that veterinary epidemiologists and social scientists work together throughout the process at all levels.

Source: www.fao.org

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Protecting livestock against diseases and preventing their spread is one of the keys to fighting hunger, malnutrition and poverty. The Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES) was established by FAO’s Director General in 1994. AGA is entrusted with the EMPRES animal disease component, which provides information, training and emergency assistance to countries to prevent, contain and control the world’s most serious livestock diseases, while also surveying for newly emerging pathogens.

Source: www.fao.org

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Despite being treated like Bigfoot believers by their opponents, pesticide ascetics are inching their way toward credibility. Introduced by Monsanto in the early 1970s under the trade name Roundup (and used primarily back then as a weed killer), glyphosate is now used throughout the world on wheat and soy crops and since 2007 it has been the most widely used herbicide in the U.S.

Source: www.outsideonline.com

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The industry assures us it’s safe, but new research has found that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s popular herbicide Roundup®, is more insidious to human health than previously thought.

Research published in the journal Entropy found that glyphosate interferes with several biochemical pathways in the human body, disrupting the healthy balance of gut bact

Source: www.naturalgrocers.com

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Source: gx196.infusionsoft.com

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And here’s why you should buy them….

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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At Walter Bracken STEAM Academy, they still teach the three Rs: radishes, rhubarb and rutabagas.

Source: www.reviewjournal.com

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The Whartons want a garden, but don’t have much space in their backyard. Here are the results of their ZipGrow towers vs. Soil Gardening experiment.

Source: brightagrotech.com

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“If farmers are the implementers of these technologies, then obviously they should be involved in their design and development.”

Gilbert Nakweya

Source: m.scidev.net

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The Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems (SAFA) Guidelines were developed for assessing the impact of food and agriculture operations on the environment and people. The guiding vision of SAFA is that food and agriculture systems worldwide are characterized by all four dimensions of sustainability: good governance, environmental integrity, economic resilience and social well-being.

Source: www.fao.org

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Supporting farmers to add value to the food chain goes beyond the monetary dimension of increasing their incomes, Graziano da Silva argued, saying: “It means more nutritious and healthy foods, produced sustainably.”

Source: www.fao.org

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What “organics” is, how it should be defined, and how it should be regulated is a hot topic right now from Brussels to Berlin. The reason? The European Commission has proposed a new legislative framework, and was met with broad opposition from organic farmers, politicians, and industry reps.

Source: foodpolicyforthought.wordpress.com

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By 2050 the world will need to feed an additional 2 billion people and will require 70 per cent more meat and milk. The increasing future demand for livestock products, driven by increases in income, population and urbanization will impose a huge demand on feed resources. Sustainability of feed production systems is being challenged due to biophysical factors such as land, soil and water scarcity, food-fuel-feed competition, on-going global warming and frequent and drastic climatic vagaries, along with increased competition for arable land and non-renewable resources such as fossil carbon-sources, water and phosphorus. A key to sustainable livestock development is efficient use of available feed resources including reduction in wastage, and enlargement of the feed resource base through a quest for novel feed resources, particularly those not competing with human food.

Source: www.fao.org

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The conference “Insects to feed the world” organized by the FAO/WUR, that took place last May in The Netherlands was a milestone in the recognition of the professional insect industry. Feed industry leaders, insect breeders, universities, NGO’s and other stakeholders gathered for the first time, with a clear message: Insects for feed and food are viable solutions for the protein deficit problem.

Source: www.wageningenur.nl

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ABSTRACT

During the last four decades a number of animal-nutrition-based technologies and practices have been developed and used in developing countries, with varying degrees of success. Some technologies have produced profound beneficial effects and have been widely used; while others have shown potential on research stations but have not been taken up by farmers. To learn from these experiences, the FAO Animal Production and Health Division organised an e-conference from 1 to 30 September 2010. This document presents the current status of animal nutrition practices and technologies being practiced in developing countries and an analysis of the reasons for their success or failure. It also contains a synthesis paper that summarises the major issues discussed by participants and presents conclusion drawn and lessons learnt for the future. This document is expected to assist developing countries make informed decisions about the adoption of appropriate animal nutrition practices and technologies. In addition, it should also be useful for the development community, including donor agencies, to better understand, prioritize and support appropriate animal nutrition practices and technologies in developing countries.

Source: www.fao.org

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Livestock production is resource hungry: it occupies 75 percent of all agricultural land, including crop and pasture land, and consumes 8 percent of global human water use, mainly for the irrigation of feed crops.

Source: www.fao.org

“Insects have many advantages over other feeds,” he added. “They grow and reproduce easily, have high feed conversion efficiency since they are cold blooded and can be reared on bio-waste. One kilo of insect biomass can be produced from around 2 kilos of waste.” – Studies

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31 October 2014
Smallholder farmers in the main yam-growing areas of West Africa will benefit from a new project that aims to develop new varieties of this crucial staple crop and enhance yam breeding capabilities and partnerships in the region.. This is a list of the IITA Press Release for 2014.

Source: www.iita.org

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Insight into business in Africa

Source: www.howwemadeitinafrica.com

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While many mothers in developing countries don’t have access to healthy foods, almost all of them have access to something else: a mobile phone

Source: www.theguardian.com

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The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries. It provides access to information and knowledge, facilitates policy dialogue and strengthens the capacity of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities. CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.
Le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA) est une institution internationale conjointe des Etats du Groupe ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes, Pacifique) et de l’Union européenne (UE). Il intervient dans les pays ACP pour améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, accroître la prospérité dans les zones rurales et garantir une bonne gestion des ressources naturelles. Il facilite l’accès à l’information et aux connaissances, favorise l’élaboration des politiques agricoles dans la concertation et renforce les capacités des institutions et communautés concernées.
Le CTA opère dans le cadre de l’Accord de Cotonou et est financé par l’UE.

Source: cta.int

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