- It’s so exciting: Rio+20 is almost upon us. Here’s the CGIAR’s Call to Action. Maybe they could fix the splits too?
- CIAT hopes to have some useful answers on food security and ecosystem services, in four years.
- At Chelsea, maybe the sun will shine on seedsmen of old?
- How they make flour from diverse agricultural products in Ethiopia video.
- They’re commercializing camels there too.
- Obituaries for bioinformatics tools. Stop sniggering in the back.
- Third annual Malthus lecture starts in just a few hours. In Washington DC.
Happy International Day for Biological Diversity
Once again, May 22 rolls around as an opportunity “to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues,” as the Convention on Biological Diversity puts it. This year the focus is on marine biodiversity. So we’re going to look at rainforests. And agriculture.
The Copenhagen Consensus is an interesting attempt to have a bunch of economists (usually) work out where to find the best return on investments in development. The deal is that people write a paper examining interventions designed to tackle a development problem (nutrition, AIDS, clean water …) and a bunch of other experts decide which interventions make most economic sense, given a limited pot of money. The big list of “16 investments worthy of investment” came out a week ago, with better nutrition at No. 1. At No. 6 is “creating an increase in agricultural productivity through research and development,” one of three policy options offered in response to the challenge to reduce the loss of biodiversity.
Here is Copenhagen Consensus Capo Bjorn Lomborg’s summary of the value of that:
The authors estimate that with a $14.5 billion annual infusion into research we can achieve 20 percent higher annual growth rates for crops and 40 percent higher growth rates for livestock, which over the next 40 years will significantly reduce pressures on nature and hence help biodiversity.
The other favoured option to reduce biodiversity loss is to “prevent all dense forests from being converted to agriculture”. Preventing deforestation has a benefit:cost ratio of between 3 and 30, while the benefit:cost ratio for increased agricultural R&D is between 3 and 20. (A third option — “increasing the amount of protected areas globally to around 20 percent” — is barely worth trying because it seldom reaches break-even, with benefit:cost ratios of between 0.2 and 1.4)
There’s a lot one could (but won’t) say about the Conpenhagen Consensus approach and assumptions; it is odd that investing in agriculture is part of the solution to biodiversity loss, although it is not a big part of solutions to undernutrition. And the value of agricultural biodiversity specifically is nowhere to be seen.
Which will do as our contribution to increasing understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.
Nibbles: Welsh sheep, Indian cows, International centres, NUS in Asia, Purdue workshop, Onions, New Alliance, Community seedbanks, Seed Savers Exchange, Restoration, Shakespeare
- “I think you’re going to need different sheep.” In Wales, that is. (And different grasslands?)
- And new cattle in India, apparently.
- Another bunch of international agricultural research centres get together. Yeah, because the other lot are doing so well.
- I wonder if any of either lot will be going to this FAO symposium on NUS in Asia in a couple of weeks’ time. And no, I don’t know why we didn’t know about this earlier.
- On the whole, though, I think I’d rather be at the Purdue llama workshop.
- Or, at a pinch, this thing on the edible Alliaceae.
- Wait, there’s also a New Alliance to Increase Food Security and Nutrition. Not sure who’s invited to this party, but the “Rome-based agencies” seem to be the ones throwing it. (I guess this comes on the heels of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ annual symposium? Where’s a good summary of what happened there? Anyone? Ah, yes, Ian Scoones explains all.)
- One of those agencies wants to hear from you if you have experience of community “gene/seed banks.”
- Unclear if Seed Savers Exchange would qualify, but they have a bunch of peas out for the “community” to have a look at.
- These Indian award-winners would definitely qualify. Which is just as well as it seems the national genebank is up for sale.
- Meanwhile, botanic gardens get together to restore degraded ecosystems.
- The Bard’s plants. Well, some of them.
Nibbles: Olives, Sweet potatoes, Kew’s kitchens, Markets, Easy-SMTA
- Ancient olives not that old after all. But still attractive.
- Giving up tobacco – in favor of purple sweet potatoes?
- Kew is now as much about cooking as growing. Visit the 18th century kitchens.
- Linking small farmers to markets, video from a conference.
- The International Treaty’s SMTA made easy. Well, kinda. It would have been even easier if they had linked to the site. Good thing there’s us, eh?
Nibbles: Esquinas-Alcázar, Legumes, Neolithic, FAO data, Fisheries, Fish pix, Another old goat, Kew campaign, Bees
- Pepe gets a prize from a queen.
- The Princess of the Pea gives no prizes, though.
- Oldest farming village in a Mediterranean island found on Cyprus. No royalty, alas.
- The Emperor of Agricultural Statistical Handbooks is out. Oh, and the online source of the raw data has just got some new clothes.
- Fish are in trouble. Well, not all. Kingfish, queenfish, king mackerel and emperor angelfish all unavailable for comment.
- No royalty connected with these beautiful pictures of Asian fish either. Does a former Dutch consul count?
- Quite a crown on this wild goat.
- The Royal (geddit?) Botanic Gardens Kew’s Breathing Planet Campaign: The Video.
- ICIMOD on the role bees (including, presumably, their queens) in mountain agriculture.