Nibbles: Sudan, Quinoa, Book, Nutrition, Research

Interesting take on Sudan’s vote; the South has the water, and yet, currently, the food insecurity. What next?
Quinoa “isn’t lifting us out of poverty … But we are living better.”
Agrobiodiversity Management for Food Security: A Critical Review. Book, due in April. h/t PAR.
US seed industry concentration continues. Through an intellectual property lens.
New IFPRI publication on agriculture, nutrition, health. “Agriculture is the only realistic way for most people to get the nutrition they need.” Can I get a “ramen”?
USD32 million “to harness science to improve food security for millions of people in the developing world”. Get some while it lasts.

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.