Ending hunger will require increased agricultural investment, urges UK Parliament
In order to end global hunger and malnutrition in this lifetime, the UK government needs to increase investment in agriculture, urges members of the UK parliament in a new report released today. Home Grown Nutrition, produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development, outlines the key challenges facing food security, and recommendations for overcoming these challenges based on the series of Westminster- held debates. At…
Hazardous pesticides on the agenda as the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions hold joint meeting
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland Geneva– The three conventions that govern chemicals and hazardous waste safety at the global level are, for the first time, convening jointly in an historic back-to-back meeting of the parties in Geneva from 28 April to 10 May, 2013. The joint meeting aims to strengthen cooperation and collaboration between…
What is M&E? and Gender Mainstreaming?
M&E is more than just a development buzzterm, it’s “a way of thinking” explains INTRAC workshop leader Max Peberdy, who was part of a the week-long training course for CABI staff in the UK. Plantwise programme leaders were among those learning how to embed montitoring and evaluation (M&E) as well as gender responsiveness into everyday project planning, and outcome tracking, for…
Open Letter on Open Data from CABI’s CEO to G8 Delegates
Check out the latest message from CABI’s CEO on revitalising food security challenge through open data. He and other Plantwise reps are reporting live from DC for the G8 Conference on Open Data for Agriculture today and tomorrow. Download pdf of his letter here.
Plantwise talks Open Data at G8 event next week… Join us!
What food security challenge could be solved with open access to data? CABI’s CEO and Plantwise representatives will join DFID, host USDA, and delegates from G8 countries in Washington, D.C. next week, April 29-30, to discuss putting the open exchange of knowledge at the heart of food security and global nutrition. This is your chance to weigh in and participate. Watch the event on the…
Organized and motivated, African plant health leaders take issue in Rome
Participation in the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM) is much more than just turning up. It needs a good understanding of the technical issues involved, and of the way in which decisions are reached. To be heard, interventions from the floor must be made in the right way at the right time. So to build…
Separating the grains from the chaff, and all the pests that move with it
Contributed by Melanie Bateman, CABI Switzerland, and Roger Day, CABI Africa While responding to a food crisis in Tanzania in the 1970s, evidence indicates that the larger grain borer (Prostephanus truncatus) was inadvertently introduced into Africa through an infested food aid shipment[1]. Following this introduction and a later introduction in West Africa, the larger grain borer…
Plantwise shares impacts of local agricultural advice and partnership building with plant health leaders in Rome
For 350 international delegates and observers attending this week’s annual meeting of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), standards will be adopted on plant protection with far-reaching implications on livelihoods, food security and ecosystems back at home. Plantwise, a development cooperation programme led by CABI which works to improve livelihoods in 31 countries, convened representatives…
Invasive species by sea: What can be done?
Contributed by Roger Day and Melanie Bateman from Rome One major cause of pest spread- sea shipment containers- was a key discussion topic on the first evening of the IPPC’s week-long annual meeting, the CPM8. With over 35 million sea shipments each year, regulation is both crucial and extremely complex. “The complexity of the situation is such that…
Rise of Agriculture in the past 300 years
This glimpse of agricultural expansion over recent centuries, courtesy of Bill Rankin, tells us a compelling story of the importance of farming in the modern world. However, the increaase in land dedicated to farming does not necessarily translate to the increase in food and income to sustain people- not while 40% of these crops is lost to pests before it can even be harvested. Is it time to grow more…