Nibbles: WEMA, AGRA, African universities, Taining breeders, Millets @ICRISAT

CIMMYT pushes its newly-bred water-efficient maize in Africa.
AGRA not mentioned in the above but surely they were involved? If only in the extension part.
African universities also not mentioned, but probably less likely to have been involved. Alas.
Register for the next class of the European Plant Breeding Academy, which starts in October 2015. Not at an African university. At a US university.
ICRISAT pivots towards millets. Will probably involve breeding. And maybe universities.
As for genebanks, I’ve given up expecting namechecks in any of the above.

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.