- Solutions for a Hungry World from PopSci: supercrops, C4 rice, remapping Africa and robots. But no agrobiodiversity.
- The symbolism of chicory.
- The backyard poultry value chain deconstructed.
- The Dobos Memorial Gastronomy Museum sounds fun.
- Join USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan at 3:45 pm ET on 1 October for a LIVE Facebook chat about local food systems.
- One-Village-One-Product in Uganda. I call that a hostage to fortune.
- Ndara, mathunzu and ngaa all that stand between drought-hit Kenyan livestock and starvation in Ukambani.
More from IIED on landraces and climate change
Jeremy took IIED researchers to task a few days ago over their antipathy to GURTs, as articulated in a recent press release. One of the researchers quoted in that release, Krystyna Swiderska, is now the subject of an interview. GURTs don’t come up, but Dr Swiderska is clearly not completely against GMOs in principle:
If GM crops were produced with the people who need them and who will plant them, and they are specifically addressing their needs, then maybe they can be helpful.
Her main concern is to safeguard the rights of farmers.
We need to recognize farmers’ rights to maintain genetic diversity. We also need to protect land rights, cultural and spiritual values, and customary laws. Traditional knowledge is dependent on genetic diversity and vice versa and those two are dependent on farmers having rights to land and plant varieties.
Asked if traditional farmers could feed rising populations in a warming world, she points out that “there are technologies based on traditional seed varieties that can increase yields.” These technologies mainly turn out to be participatory plant breeding. I would have liked to see more discussion of this topic.
I’ll try to follow up on some work on genetic erosion I was not aware of:
Our research on rice in India’s eastern Himalayas, on potatoes in the Peruvian Andes, and on maize in southwest China, found significant reductions of traditional varieties in the last 10 to 20 years. There used to be 30 to 40 varieties of a crop being planted but now there are maybe 5 to 10 varieties.
Nibbles: WFP and Millennium Villages, Agroecotourism squared, Mango, Wild pollinators, CGIAR change process, Grape breeding, Landraces and climate change, Mau Forest, Eels
- “…WFP’s partnership with the Millennium Villages Project would deploy the full range of the Programme’s tools and help utilize the Millennium Villages as a platform for best practices.” Good. But let’s just hope the villagers’ own best tool — agrobiodiversity — doesn’t get left behind.
- More on the Cotacachi agroecotourism project in Ecuador.
- Heritage tourism in the Virgin Islands targets old sugar cane mill.
- The “mango villages” of India.
- Pollination needs to go wild.
- Ok, so the CGIAR is going to re-organize itself into mega-programmes (look at the PDF at the bottom of the page), one of which is on “Crop germplasm conservation, enhancement and use.” Big deal? I wish I knew.
- Pssst, wanna discuss grape breeding?
- More from IIED on landraces and climate change.
- Deforestation, drought and politics in Kenya.
- Tracking eel migrations.
Nibbles: Gary Nabhan, Poppies, Gates and Worldwatch, Vavilov update, Aquaponics
- “His piped cowboy shirt and vest made my westy heart ache with thoughts of home, and the intensity of his commitment to bringing variety back to our land and our table was inspiring…” I bet it was.
- “The briefing note apparently anticipates a public-relations battle over planting poppies on the Prairies.” I bet it does.
- “You ask if the money might have been better spent supporting the dissemination of this proven knowledge within Africa.” I bet they did.
- Cassava processing in Africa. Lots of people betting on this.
- Vavilov finds enormous onions in Algeria. Who wants to bet they’re still there?
- Aquaponics catching on in Hawaii? You bet.
A new hope, or the empire strikes back?
I seem to have angered my old friend Nigel Maxted. ((Nice beard, Nigel!)) A recent piece of mine suggested that IUCN’s new book Conservation for a New Era may be evidence of a rapprochement between the biodiversity and agrobiodiversity communities. Nigel begs to differ:
I do not want to dull Luigi’s spin on the Conservation for a New Era which I guess is not meant to be specific but I just think again it draws attention to the need for joined-up conservation, that is the integration of biodiversity with agro-biodiversity conservation which I believe is far too often ignored altogether or simply given lip-service only.
After a detailed analysis of what’s been happening — or not happening — in crop wild relatives conservation, and why, Nigel ends thus:
For me in a time of climate change and increasing food insecurity THE issue is how the better integrate biodiversity with agro-biodiversity conservation, not fashionable perhaps but a real priority. The McNeely and Mainka text in my view fails to address this issue!
Do read the whole thing. What do you think? Glass half full or half empty? Or maybe totally empty? And what do we do about it?