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Algae is one of the most promising sources of green energy since it gives off little carbon. A number of ACP countries are now developing its cultivation (Spore 120, page 3). In March 2008 Malgasy company IBIS took over an existing algae farm on the north coast of Mozambique (Nacala district). It cultivates red marine algae known as cottonii (Kappaphycus striatum) and spinosum (Eucheuma denticulatum) in lagoons or other shallow waters. The company has set a production target of 1,000 t of dried algae over the next 3 years - equivalent to 30 times the country’s currrent output - and 3,000 t over the next 6 years. The scientific community, industry and politicians are showing a growing interest in algae. The June 2009 launch of the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA), created by the University of Florence (Italy) and the European Biodiesel Board (EBB), is one of the most recent initiatives. The EABA seeks to foster exchanges between scientists and industry and to encourage decision-makers to promote research and technology in this sector in Europe and throughout the world. Algae has a very wide range of uses: renewable energy, biofuels, bioproducts (bioplastic, etc.), food for humans (for example confectionery) and animals, as well as applications in the pharmaceuticals industry as food supplements. http://www.eaba-association.eu |
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The agricultural context in the ACP region is rapidly changing against a backdrop of scientific and technological advances, and farmers, policymakers and scientists need to keep pace with these developments. A new dossier on CTA’s Knowledge for Development website looks at Innovation Systems in Agriculture and Rural Development. Lead articles include a discussion of innovation systems by Ethiopian expert Tesfaye Beshah and an analysis of agricultural knowledge systems by World Bank specialist Riikka Rajalahti.
A free editing service for developing country researchers who are trying to publish their work has been launched by students from leading academic institutions. SciEdit is run by a team of undergraduate and postgraduate students in Canada, Europe and the USA. They offer detailed editorial feedback in accordance with the standards of established journals. Most international scientific journals are written in English, making it difficult for non-native English-speaking scientists to contribute.
The Global Crop Diversity Trust is providing a range of grant awards to support scientists seeking to explore the millions of seed samples maintained in the world’s 1,500 crop genebanks. The researchers are searching for biodiversity critically needed to protect food production from the ravages of climate change.
The grants support a wide range of innovative projects, including an initiative to increase the ability of maize to cope with erratic rains in sub-Saharan Africa and a search in the Pacific for bananas that are resistant to banana streak virus, which is likely to intensify with climate change.
Kenya has been declared free of rinderpest, one of the most common and devastating animal diseases in Africa and one which causes massive economic losses. Kenya’s eradication of the viral disease was the result of a range of programmes involving mass vaccination and careful surveillance. The country’s new status as a rinderpest-free country is expected to greatly improve its position in international livestock markets and serve as a boost to efforts aimed at eradicating other animal diseases.
The Kenya Agricultural Information Network (KAINet), an open access repository launched in May, is making information about agriculture more widely available. Its aim is to offer a freely accessible system for the generation, collection, processing, archiving and dissemination of agricultural information. Content from participating organisations include technical notes, manuals, conference proceedings, research notes, sessional papers, journals, annual reports and project reports. KAINet’s vision is “to make public domain agricultural information in Kenya truly accessible to all.”
Women produce 60 to 80% of all crops, but fewer than one in five agricultural researchers in sub-Saharan Africa is female. The African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) project seeks to correct this imbalance by training women scientists in various disciplines to better serve small-scale farmers. The programme, launched by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), aims to train and build the capacity of at least 240 women scientists in the region. It is currently promoting the career development of women scientists selected from nine countries.
Contact:
Margaret Kroma, PhD
CGIAR Gender & Diversity Programme
United Nations Avenue, Gigiri
PO Box 30677-00100
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 20 722 4001
m.kroma[AT]cgiar.org
link
An internet portal developed by FAO offers a one-stop-shop for the latest information about the welfare of livestock. The Gateway to Farm Animal Welfare provides details of legislation and research findings, as well as information on animal welfare standards, practices and policies. It also serves as a forum for animal welfare issues related to activities such as transport, slaughter, animal husbandry and the culling of animals for disease control.
Compliance with animal welfare standards can open access to international markets for products from less developed countries. The portal will also offer on-line conferences and seminars.
New regulations ordered by the European Commission for the approval of pesticide use are expected to enter into force at the end of 2010 or in early 2011. According to the Pesticides Initiative Programme (PIP), the impact on ACP countries is more likely to be felt over the medium and long term, particularly in the smallholder sector, due to the possible loss of some less expensive, broad spectrum pesticides and consequent rise in production costs.
The full report is available on the PIP website
The European Commission has decided to introduce regulations, due to come into force in January 2010, in an effort to “prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU)”. IUU affects 50 of the ACP’s 79 countries, mainly due to lack of resources for protecting and monitoring the waters.
Some 60 ACP countries export their fish to the European Union and 12 others have signed fishing agreements with Brussels. ‘Bad fishing’ accounts for lost catches of more than 50% for some countries of sub-Saharan Africa, according to the latest issue of Agri-Info, the monthly bulletin on rural and agricultural information.
An emergency international locust campaign carried out in East and Southern Africa has succeeded in preventing major harvest losses threatened by a massive upsurge of the insects in Tanzania, says FAO. In the first large-scale use of biopesticides on the African continent, the UN agency applied Green Muscle® to about 10,000 ha infested with locusts. The biopesticide consists of spores from the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae and a blend of mineral oils. It is not toxic to humans and only kills locusts and grasshoppers.
A project launched by the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), based in Abomey-Calavi, Benin, seeks to give a significant boost to rice production. Developed together with Japan, the initiative plans to improve access to quality seeds in 20 sub-Saharan African countries. According to FAO, Africa will import 11 million t of rice in 2010. These costly purchases are constantly on the rise, as is the price of this cereal. There is therefore a growing need to increase output, not least since world rice stocks are at their lowest level since 1983-1984 and African countries can no longer rely on imports from Asia to feed their growing populations.
Knowledge Base is an interactive Internet-based tool that facilitates the access, exchange and accumulation of key knowledge to implement Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in Africa. Developed by the TerrAfrica Partnership, it offers resources in a range of formats, including text documents, multimedia documents, maps, statistics and Internet portals.
Website in English and French:
link
The Jatrophabook website promotes the development of jatropha, the shrub that has medicinal and biodiesel applications. Its use as a biofuel has led to an increase in production levels in recent years. Jatrophabook seeks to be a focal point for various players in the sector, helping them to make contact with each other. It also aims to support small-scale producers and help them gain market access. Visitors can sign up to the website for free, either as individuals or as organisations, and present their jatropha project in their own personal space, using photos, videos and documents.
The International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources in Food and Agriculture is providing more than €180,000 to support projects in Costa Rica, Cuba, Egypt, India, Kenya, Morocco, Nicaragua, Peru, Senegal, Tanzania and Uruguay. The funds will be used to ‘reward’ farmers who conserve and propagate varieties of vulnerable plants and help safeguard global food security. The international treaty has also stipulated that whenever a commercial product results from the use of this gene pool, and that product is patented, 1.1% of the sales of the product must be paid to the Treaty’s benefit-sharing fund.
Launched in May 2009 by two universities, an African research centre and the public research institute G-Eau, the International Center for Water Economics and Governance in Africa (IWEGA) coordinates research and training for the water sector in Eastern and Southern Africa. A series of briefing papers will periodically be made available to political decision-makers in the three languages of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA), launched in 1971, has become the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice). The name change reflects a wish to highlight the pan-African strategy of the Centre, which has become more marked since 2007, during which time six countries from Central, Eastern and North Africa have joined the organisation. The technologies and services offered by AfricaRice now benefit 34 countries on the continent, including 11 non-members.
Health authorities in Uíge province, northern Angola, are trying to make rural communities more aware of precautions that can help reduce transmission of influenza ‘A’, caused by the H1N1 virus which attacks the respiratory tract. Health officials are particularly recommending that people do their best to avoid crowded places such as markets.
Source: AngolaPress
