Featured: Livestock data

Many thanks to Susan MacMillan of ILRI for facilitating one of the authors of a paper we nibbled, Dr Delia Grace, to respond to a couple of queries we had yesterday:

As you pointed out, the data on livestock is SSA is very poor. As a result our reasoning was deductive rather than inductive, based on evidence on the links between system change, genetic homogeneity, population density, transmission opportunities, species diversity etc. on disease emergence and endemicity; it was also based on our own experience (between us multiple decades) of livestock epidemiology in Africa. I can’t speak to use in FARA but the thinking around hot and cold spots is feeding into the CGIAR Consortium Research Program on Agriculture, Nutrition and Health. We are hoping this “megaprogram” will give us the opportunity of ground-truthing and quantifying these disease dynamics trajectories.

We really appreciate it when people respond to what we say here. We know they don’t have to. We know they have better things to do. We really appreciate it very much.

Protecting Chinese agricultural biodiversity products

So, in retaliation for Europe protecting Roquefort, Stilton cheese and Scottish farmed salmon (sic.), among other agrobiodiversity products, the Chinese have slapped Protected Denominations of Origin (PDO) on Guanxi honey pomelos, Shaanxi apples and Longjing tea and a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) on Liaxian Mashan yams. 1 Well, no, not really, it was all much more amicable than that. And Dongshan asparagus, Jinxiang garlic, Pinggu peach, Yancheng crayfish and Zhenjiang vinegar are waiting in the wings…

Keeping bees in Hong Kong

I can’t resist sharing this wonderful video about a guy I found, well, inspirational is the only way I can describe him. And believe me, I don’t often use that word, at least about people. Clicking on the photo will take you to Vimeo. Thanks, Grist.

Climate Change and Indigenous Knowledge Systems: conference

AYSICCIK is, believe it or not, the snappy acronym for the African Young Scientists Initiative on Climate Change and Indigenous Knowledge. And they’re drawing attention to an International Student Conference on Climate Change and Indigenous Knowledge Systems, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 15-17 August 2011. It is probably too late to apply for a scholarship, but you have until next Tuesday (31 May) to submit an abstract on one of the six conference themes. Food security is in there, as are indigenous knowledge, biodiversity management and other topics dear to us.

So, what are you waiting for? And if you do go, we would welcome reports.