Coffee in Rwanda

A recent paper from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University of looks at the specialty coffee industry in Rwanda. Among its conclusions:

the specialty coffee industry in Rwanda aids in local poverty alleviation and job creation;
the specialty coffee industry provides opportunities for developing business and management skills;
the actions of specific coffee entrepreneurs have affected the lives of ordinary Rwandans; and
entrepreneurial activities within the Rwandan specialty coffee industry provide Rwandans with opportunities to interact in ways that may promote post-conflict reconciliation.

It is a long read, but with a good cup of Joe by your side the time will fly by.

A paean to diverse diets is just what we all need.
And another one, from the MIT Technology Review of all places.
Menawhile, there’s only one reference to dietary diversity in the World Bank’s investment framework for nutrition.
Maybe you have to quantify that diversity before you can save it? Now where have I heard that before?
Meanwhile, Europe reports on biodiversity-friendly farming practices. Does that include the biodiversity of the actual crops? Perhaps surprisingly, yes!
You want biodiversity-friendly farming practices? Talk to Indigenous people. The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has launched an e-consultation on “Preserving, strengthening and promoting Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems and traditional practices for sustainable food systems.”
There’s diversity in asparagus too.
Genebanks can help with those biodiversity-friendly practices, diverse diets and rops and Indigenous practices.
Even big international genebanks.
Even the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
But some are in trouble.
Though others are coming back.