Role of food and agriculture research at the UN high level meeting September 19-20

On September 7th, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) hosted a seminar and panel discussion about the role that food and agriculture research can, and should, play in the high level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on September 19-20. It was a continuation of their large “Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health 2020 Conference,” held in New Delhi, India, this past February.

The upcoming United Nations’ high level meeting [19 and 20 September 2011 in New York] is only the second ever to focus on a health issue (the first focused on communicable diseases – HIV/AIDS – in 2001). Many view this as an opportunity to shift focus and funding toward NCDs.  To see videos of all three presentations, follow this link. Click here for more information on the UN high level meeting. Last week’s seminar addressed the alarming escalation of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in developing nations. Once perceived as threats only to developed countries, conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, and cancer actually afflict a higher proportion of people in poorer areas of the world. As many as 80 percent of NCD deaths occur in developing countries.

Presentation by Tim Lang, City University London, at the IFPRI Policy Seminar, "Leveraging Agriculture to Tackle Noncommunicable Diseases," Sept. 7, 2011, Washington, DC

NCDs, Agriculture and Food

View more presentations from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

The Role of Organic Agriculture in Uganda

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have put together this short video highlighting the important contribution that organic farming is making to rural livelihoods in Uganda.

Uganda has an organic certification program that offers local and international certification services for a variety of fruits and vegetables. The program was developed by the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU), a body that works across the nation to promote organic agriculture and the export of organic products around the world. And the organization hasn’t forgotten about the importance of staying local, working to sell the produce in cities around the country as well.

Chief executive officer of NOGAMU, Musa K. Muwanga, says forty seconds into the video that the “green economy” is important for Uganda because it allows different actors, such as small farmers and traders, to create wealth in a way that is more sustainable and protects the environment. Ultimately, this holds promise not just for Uganda but other developing countries as well. As the narrator mentions at the beginning, “Organic means many things to many people, but for organic farmer[s in Uganda]… organic simply means a better life.”

The Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

Framework Programme Seven’s (FP7s) successor, the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, will be one of the world’s leading sources of research funding when it begins on 1 January 2014. Horizon 2020’s total budget is expected to be more than 80 billion Euros (about US$ 109 billion), an increase of 46 percent from the 56 billion Euros (about US$ 76 billion) allocated to the FP7 in the period covering 2007 to 2013.

The Horizon 2020 Framework Programme ‘‘will make participation in EU funded research and innovation easier,’’ according to an EU spokesperson in Brussels, Belgium. Consultations on Horizon 2020 ‘‘underlined the importance of a strong involvement of international partner countries,’’ the spokesperson said. He recommended that African researchers establish a relationship with their national contact points in government, who can offer guidance in writing successful proposals and assist in linking them up with European researchers.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European commissioner for research, science and innovation, announced the new name for the next funding programme in June and said that:

Horizon 2020 will bring together different types of funding provided through the FP7 in a coherent and flexible manner. It is the name for the new, integrated funding system that will cover all research and innovation funding currently provided through the Framework Programme for Research and Technical Development. In future, research and innovation funding will focus more clearly on addressing global challenges. Needless red tape will be cut out and participation made simpler.

Horizon 2020 will only become fully operational in 2013. A new website includes the outcome of the consultation: Green Paper on a Common Strategic Framework for future EU Research and Innovation Funding, a summary analysis of over 750 written responses and around 1300 online questionnaires submitted by companies, research institutes, associations and citizens, as well as the individual responses.  The new initiative will be presented by the Commission by the end of 2011, for decisions of the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. 

G20 Conference on Agricultural Research for Development

G20 Conference on Agricultural Research for Development

September 12-13, 2011. The French Presidency of the G20 convened in Montpellier a conference on Agriculture Research for Development, promoting scientific partnerships for food security.

This Conference provided a timely opportunity to consider how G20 Agricultural Research Systems can achieve a step-change in supporting development and to consider which actions to take forward in specific regional and inter-regional initiatives.

The main purpose of the first G20 Conference on ARD was to mobilise the G20 capacities in this field to meet the global challenges of scientific partnership for development and food security, with 4 specific objectives:

• To build a mutual knowledge between the G20 agricultural research systems, in order to improve policy coherence through enhanced cooperation and coordination of research policies and programmes on food security.
• To mobilise the G20 agricultural research and knowledge systems to develop effective and innovative research partnerships for development, leverage innovative research results-based mechanisms and enhance the impact of the CGIAR Research Programme (CRP) outcomes.
• To strengthen capacities in agriculture technologies and productive systems for developing countries optimising complementarities and synergies between the G20 agricultural research systems.
• To better involve the G20 agricultural research systems in the design of and participation in the 2nd Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) scheduled in Uruguay in 2012.

Carlos Perez Del Castillo (CGIAR Board Chair), Monty Jones (GFAR Board Chair), David Nabarro (Special Representative of the UN SG on Food Security and Nutrition), Philippe Petithuguenin (European Union, DGRTD), Feng Dongxin (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, CAAS)

Session 2

How to establish effective multi-stakeholder research partnerships to capitalise on the knowledge and expertise of diverse research actors (e.g. North-South, South-South and trilateral cooperation) and leverage the private sector for additional investments in agricultural research (e.g. pull mechanisms)?

Japan-Brazil-Mozambique Cooperation on Tropical Savannah Agricultural Development / Teruyoshi Kumashiro, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Frederico Paiva, Brazilian Agency of Cooperation (ABC)

Intellectual Property Rights, a tool to enhance private/public partnerships / Niels Louwaars, Wageningen University (NL)

Pull mechanisms in Agricultural research for Development / Susan Mc Adams and Ulrich Hess (WB)

Session 3

How to improve effectiveness and efficiency in capacity-building programmes to generate, share and make use of agricultural knowledge for developing countries through new and existing tools?

Capacity Development in ARD, point of view from Agrinatura on critical issues for the G20 / Andrew Westby (Director of the Natural Resources Institute, NRI, UK)

Andrew Westby, Tim Chancellor, Paolo Sarfatti and Didier Pillot

Presentation of the concept note on a platform for Tropical Agriculture / Dr. Xiangjun Yao (Director, Office of Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension, FAO)

Concept Paper-Tropical Agriculture Platform

Ruralweb helps people apply ICT for development

Ruralweb tries to help people to make the most of the ICT available to them. It wants to help people apply ICT for development. To do that, you must first know how to use ICT (1st time online). Then you can use all the e-learning that is available online, or find and use resources that will foster development.

1st time online

This section of Rural Web is aimed at people who have never or barely ever used the internet and who do not have many people in their offline network who have done so either. In other words, it is aimed at people who will have to learn to use the internet pretty much on their own.

Tutorials and step-by-step introductions help mastering ICT.

dev resources

This section aims at improving access to useful information that will improve the livelyhoods of rural and poor communities. It is up to them (and their development partners) to implement it.

For example, by which simple techniques can a small farmer get a larger yield? How can a mother improve hygiene or prevent malaria? How can markets be reached?

Apply ICT for Development.

e-learning

There are tons of things you can learn online. From large amounts of tutorials on youtube to online university courses. What are the most useful resources for developing communities?

Learn anything online.

Larvae could become a protein source for a large [human] population

The man loves to eat meat. At the point where it does not change its regime, global production must double to meet the demand by 2050. Deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions: the addition will be priceless in terms of pollution. This excess of meat, the world can not digest. Transgenic pig to skewer larvae or fried grasshoppers, this video reviews the menus which are being prepared now to avoid the indigestion tomorrow.

Global Steak: Demain nos enfants mangeront des criquets is a 2010 French documentary film directed by Anthony Orliange. The film explores the problem of human meat consumption and suggests that the increasing demand of meat in the world could lead to a catastrophe.

Entomophagy section

• Entomologist Séverin Tchibozo suggests the larvae of the rhinoceros beetle contain much protein (40%), more than chicken (20%) andbeef (approximately 18%) and that larvae could become a protein source for a large [human] population.
• Professor Arnold van Huis at Wageningen University in Netherlands says that locust can produce 1 kg protein from 2 kg fodder compared to a cow needing 10 kg fodder to produce the same amount protein. Other benefits are that locust does not produce greenhouse gases and does not need antibiotics.
• Marian Peters of Bugs Organic Food talks of people's attitudes towards eating insects and suggests separating mealworms from their exoskeleton and repackaging them.

Related:

The FP7 2012 call for proposals on FOOD, AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES, AND BIOTECHNOLOGY (FAFB) launched on the July 20th a research call on Insects as a novel source of proteins [KBBE.2012.2.3-05]

Tutorial Sembunyikan Shoutbox Blog

Pada kebiasaannya, shoutbox akan berada di sidebar dan akan dapat dilihat terus. Tutorial kali ini akan menunjukkan tutorial untuk sembunyikan shoutbox anda.:)



Antara sebab kenapa disembunyikan shoutbox ini adalah untuk menampakkan page yang lebih kemas dan mungkin juga untuk tampil unik berbanding blog-blog lain.


Tutorial sembunyikan shoutbox seperti di bawah

1. Login akaun blogger anda, dari dashboard > design > page element > add a gadget > HTML/javascript.

2. Copy dan paste kod berikut ke ruangan html/javascript

<style type="text/css">
#gb{
position:fixed;
top:50px;
z-index:+1000;
}
* html #gb{position:relative;}

.gbtab{
height:100px;
width:30px;
float:left;
cursor:pointer;
background:url('http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hp5hb7Z7Gvk/TmzEhhJZRmI/AAAAAAAAGgo/vmECDANflYw/s320/shoutbox.png') no-repeat;
}
.gbcontent{
float:left;
border:2px solid #666666;
background:#F5F5F5;
padding:10px;
}
</style>

<script type="text/javascript">
function showHideGB(){
var gb = document.getElementById("gb");
var w = gb.offsetWidth;
gb.opened ? moveGB(0, 30-w) : moveGB(20-w, 0);
gb.opened = !gb.opened;
}
function moveGB(x0, xf){
var gb = document.getElementById("gb");
var dx = Math.abs(x0-xf) > 10 ? 5 : 1;
var dir = xf>x0 ? 1 : -1;
var x = x0 + dx * dir;
gb.style.right = x.toString() + "px";
if(x0!=xf){setTimeout("moveGB("+x+", "+xf+")", 10);}
}
</script>
<div id="gb">
<div class="gbtab" onclick="showHideGB()"> </div>
<div class="gbcontent">

KOD SHOUTBOX DISINI

<div style="text-align:right"><a href="http://tutorialuntukblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/tutorial-sembunyikan-shoutbox-blog.html" target="_blank"><small>tutorial here</small></a>
<a href="javascript:showHideGB()">
[close]
</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var gb = document.getElementById("gb");
gb.style.right = (30-gb.offsetWidth).toString() + "px";
</script>

Nota: Gantikan "KOD SHOUTBOX DISINI" dengan kod shoutbox anda.
(tiada shoutbox.?)


3. Save dan lihat hasilnya.:)

TAMBAHAN.

Secara default, tab shoutbox adalah berwarna hijau, anda boleh menukar mengikut warna yang anda mahu dengan gantikan url yang anda mahu.

.gbtab{
height:100px;
width:30px;
float:left;
cursor:pointer;
background:url('http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hp5hb7Z7Gvk/TmzEhhJZRmI/AAAAAAAAGgo/vmECDANflYw/s320/shoutbox.png') no-repeat;
}

Anda copy sahaja mana² url dari tab di bawah ini.
(tidak tahu cara dapatkan url gambar.?)




Tab kredit:ohcerita.com