Markets for agrobiodiversity to the fore today. Two resources highlighted by Eldis look at strategies for agricultural diversification and at the importance of assessing market potential in prioritizing among indigenous fruit trees for promotion and development. And once you get your high-value agricultural product to market you will want to guard against pilferage and counterfeiting, won’t you?
Terrible news from the northern Pacific
My friend and colleague Lois Englberger has just written to say that the building which housed the Secretariat of the Pacific Community office in Pohnpei and the headquarters of the Island Food Community of Pohnpei burned down during the early morning of 4 April. Losses were great, though thankfully nobody was hurt. Both SPC and IFCP are active promoters of traditional foods, and have done great work documenting and conserving traditional varieties of Pacific crops, and not just in Pohnpei. What’s happened is a terrible blow, but I’m sure both organizations will make a full and rapid recovery and continue their vital work. My thoughts and best wishes are with Lois, Konrad, Adelino and all my other friends affected by this in Pohnpei and around the Pacific.
Nibbles: IITA, Bats, GBIF, Avocado disease
- IITA’s Hartmann on the BBC.
- Bats protect coffee plants from insect pests.
- GBIF grants awards, pollinators well covered.
- New fungal disease threatens avocado production.
What is the value of pollinators?
Exactly a year ago yesterday Jeremy wrote a post about the dollar value of pollination as an ecosystem service. Now comes an article in Gaia which argues that previous criticism of such valuations in the same journal are unfounded. ((Alexandra-Maria Klein, Roland Olschewski and Claire Kremen. 2008. The Ecosystem Service Controversy: Is There Sufficient Evidence for a “Pollination Paradox� GAIA 17/1:12–16.)) A year is a long time in science.
The criticism in question was based on the observation that “crops depend on pollinators but crop yield does not necessarily depend on pollinators as other factors are likely to limit crop production.” Jaboury Ghazoul called this the “pollination paradox” ((Ghazoul, J. 2007. Recognising the complexities of ecosystem management and the ecosystem service concept. GAIA 16/3: 215–221.)) in an article which argued that it is impossible to value ecosystem services individually.
The authors of the latest paper dissect the situation with coffee and almond and conclude that “there is currently no evidence for a pollination paradox.” However, they do say that recent figures for the monetary value of pollination may well be media-driven overestimates. Even the often-seen figure that “one third of the caloric value of our food is derived from animal pollination … is still not well supported.” That pollinators are important to food production is not contested. But how important is perhaps not as easy to calculate as has been made out.
Nibbles: Donkeys, UG99, fruit GI, negected species, Spore
- Cypriot wild donkeys in trouble.
- Gates Foundation tackles wheat rust UG99. Phew!
- Malaysians measure fruit glycemic indices, no mention of varieties.
- English exposed to neglected species.
- Sorry, missed the redesigned Spore.