New Joint Programme on Agrifood Supply Chains

November 2005

 

A new joint programme is addressing the barriers to, and opportunities for, participation of small-scale producers in international agrifood supply chains. This programme - "Small-Scale Producers and Standards in Agrifood Supply Chains", is a three-way partnership between IIED, NRI and DFID, and established its own website at www.agrifoodstandards.org in November 2005.

 

Large food retailers in the UK and elsewhere in Europe have developed markets for high quality food from around the world, at an affordable price and in all seasons, produced according to high ethical, environmental and safety standards. This creates new market opportunities for producers in developing countries. However, the management of the supply chains - involving rationalization, standards and certification - represents a potential barrier for small-scale producers in these countries, where they are often the backbone of the rural economy.

 

© University of Greenwich

 

Focusing on horticultural food crops exported from sub-Saharan Africa into international markets, and particularly into the UK, the programme aims to create opportunities for small-scale producers in developing countries to participate in international supply chains, against a background of rising commercial and public standards in the horticultural sector. The programme team will work closely with food retailers, manufacturers, standard-setting agencies, traders and producers to achieve these aims.

 

The programme has three underlying themes:

• dialogue among the wide range of stakeholder groups on the future direction and development of both private sector and public standards;
• provision of information on standards and compliance, including costs and benefits, to assist small-scale producers in selecting appropriate beneficial market-entry points;
• development of 'good practice' in standard-setting and implementation, using shared learning and innovative solutions to encourage inclusion of small-scale producers.

For more information, contact Dr Andrew Graffham (a.j.graffham@gre.ac.uk) or Dr John Orchard (j.e.orchard@gre.ac.uk).

 

Partnership Focus in Latest Newsletter

August 2005

 

The latest newsletter issued by NRI’s Agriculture, Health and Environment Group focuses on partnership approaches to research projects in Africa and Asia, with a short essay on the subject by Prof. George Rothschild and articles on five successful partnership projects, as well as news of PAHHG staff and associates, completed PhD studies, and a new short course on GM biosafety.

 

Dr Glyn Vale, a long-time collaborator with NRI’s vector management scientists and a finalist in the World Technology Awards 2003 for his contribution to tsetse control in Africa, has recently been appointed by the University of Greenwich as a Visiting Professor to NRI.

 

Photo courtesy of Andrew Martin at Rothamsted Research

PAHHG’s Dr Don Reynolds participated in a research study of the ‘waggle dance’ of honey bees, the results of which – published in the journal Nature in May – have verified the hypothesis of Karl von Frisch that bees recruited by the ‘waggle dance’ use its encoded information to locate the source of nectar. At the start of this year, PAHHG’s Dr Gay Gibson became co-editor of the Royal Entomological Society’s journal Medical and Veterinary Entomology.

 

Nepalese chickpea project farmer Mrs K Shrestha wins district agricultural prize for achieving chickpea yield of over 4 t/ha © University of Greenwich

In his ‘Opinion Piece’, Prof. George Rothschild summarizes the changing role and definition of partnerships in renewable natural resources research, and illustrates this by reference to the five partnership projects described in the newsletter. He concludes that the achievements of partnership research projects have been significant, in spite of the lack of resources available for capacity building, dissemination and uptake, and he highlights strategic challenges for the long-term success of the approach. The five partnership research projects featured in the newsletter are:

 

• impact and spread of banana streak virus disease in Uganda;

• integrated crop management strategy for chickpea in Nepal;

• diagnostic tests for fish-borne trematode infections in Asia;

• combatting tomato leaf curl virus disease with resistant varieties in India;

• prospects for integrated control of malaria and trypanosomiasis in Ethiopia.

 

To obtain printed copies of the Newsletter, or for more information about PAHHG, contact Tim Chancellor. The newsletter can be viewed on-line, or downloaded in its printed format, here.

Knowing Rodents

July 2005

 

A short article about rodent management in Africa and Asia written by Dr Steve Belmain, of NRI’s Agriculture, Health and Environment Group, has been judged the winning entry in the booklet “Did You Know...?” published by NR International. The publication features 17 international development projects funded by DFID and the European Commission. Steve’s article was chosen as the most entertaining, interesting and informative by a team of young students from Rochester Grammar School in Kent, UK, and he has decided to donate his prize of £250 to the agricultural research charity, Farm Africa.

 

© University of Greenwich

The article includes key facts about rats and their interactions with human populations, and highlights the impact of recent research by Steve and fellow scientists in Bangladesh and South Africa. In Bangladesh, the research team has seen the benefits of their work as farmers and village communities have begun to change the way they store their livestock fodder to reduce rat numbers. In South Africa, communities have stopped using dangerous and illegal poisons, and have instead adopted improved traps that are now being manufactured locally.

 

Three other NRI-led projects are featured in the “Did You Know...?” booklet: our work on management of tomato leaf curl virus in India is described by project leader Dr John Colvin; and Ulrich Kleih reports on his project team’s studies on fish marketing in coastal communities in Bangladesh, and also on his research with collaborators in Uganda on improving the use of draft animals for transporting farm produce to market. In addition, NRI staff are collaborators in four other projects described in the book: integrated pest management of potatoes in Bolivia; migrant pest forecasting in southern Africa; the horticultural industry in Kenya; and rural livelihood initiatives in India.

 

A full copy of “Did You Know...?” can be downloaded in PDF format from NR International’s website. For more information on NRI’s work on rodents, see the details of the current EC-funded RatZooMan project, or contact Steve Belmain (S.R.Belmain@gre.ac.uk).

 

Biomass Energy Conference in Sri Lanka

July 2005

 

An international conference on the development of sustainable energy resources is being organized as an integral part of an NRI-managed EU-funded project on the use of wood and agricultural waste for energy production in South-East Asia. The conference, entitled “Issues for the Sustainable Use of Biomass Resources for Energy”, will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 15-17 August 2005, and will bring together project participants from Europe, Sri Lanka and India, plus contributors from elsewhere in South-East Asia.

 

NRI’s partners in the project and the organization of the conference are:

 

Bio Energy Association of Sri Lanka (BEASL)	The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India	Comitato Termotecnico Italiano (CTI), Italy

 

The conference will focus on issues relating to both the technology and the social implications of the development of these sustainable energy resources, and will also examine the opportunities for funding such development through the CDM and other financing models. Following the conference itself, participants will visit those locations in Sri Lanka where the development of biomass-derived energy has already been initiated through the use of producer gas and in the direct production of electricity.

 

A crop of the legume Glyricidia planted under coconut to provide biomass fuel © University of Greenwich	Collection centre for farm-produced Glyricidia chips for use as biomass fuel © University of Greenwich

 

On the fifth day, a set of Working Groups will be initiated. These Groups, whose work will continue into 2006, will have the task of developing a series of technical guidelines and manuals for the development of biomass energy. These outputs will be aimed at a wide range of interested parties, including those who are involved in the growing of short-rotation coppice crops and those concerned with the engineering aspects of biomass conversion.

 

All papers relating to the conference will be hosted on the BEASL website. For further information about this project, contact Trevor Abell (T.M.B.Abell@gre.ac.uk).

 

Conference proceedings are now available here [PDF 722Kb]

 

Praise for Book on Participatory Livestock Research

June 2005

 

A new guide for livestock professionals, written by NRI author Czech Conroy, has earned plaudits from international agricultural development experts.

• Robert Chambers has said of it: “This guide fills a serious gap. A treasury of practical ideas and good advice based on extensive experience... It should be on the desks of all who are engaged on research to serve small-scale livestock producers in developing countries”;
• Prof. Gordon Conway FRS has written: “This book provides a comprehensive and unique guide... As such, it should be read – and used – by livestock professionals worldwide”; and
• Prof. Jules Pretty has described it as: “A timely and extremely valuable guide to engaging livestock raisers in research to improve their systems of production.”

 

© University of Greenwich

The book – “Participatory Livestock Research: A Guide” – is the first to provide an introduction to participatory research for livestock development. It brings together the author’s expert knowledge of livestock research issues and of participatory research approaches in order to help researchers and practitioners to overcome the potential difficulties associated with participatory research on livestock. It illustrates the subject with practical case-studies from many different projects around the world, including examples from Mozambique, Kenya, Sudan, India, South-East Asia and Mexico.

 

For more details or to order a copy, view further information about this book on ITDG Publishing’s web site.

 

NRI Welcomes Commission’s Report

March 2005

 

Development experts at NRI have welcomed the Report of the Commission for Africa published on 11 March 2005. The NRI team, which prepared a background paper on agricultural infrastructure for the Commission, argues that governments, donor agencies and development banks around the world should go even further to assist and support sustainable development programmes across the African continent.

 

In a statement, Dr Guy Poulter, NRI’s Director, said: “This is an excellent start. Growth and poverty reduction are clear priorities for the Commission for Africa and, to achieve these priorities, agriculture has a critical role to play. The fact that 70-80% of employment, 40% of exports and 30% of GDP in Africa are agriculture-based reflects the vital importance of this sector. However, agricultural growth and productivity are clearly constrained by a wide range of obstacles. The key issues are: poor infrastructure, including that in the post-harvest sector; impacts of international trade regimes; burdens from pests, diseases and weeds; and insecurity of land tenure. Successful development, based on agriculture, will need to be underpinned by north/south partnerships of scientists and other researchers working with African farmers and smallholders at the local level.”

 

Dr Poulter added: “The Commission’s Report rightly highlights the need for research into improved methods of crop production, pest and disease management, reduction of post-harvest losses, and tackling of land-rights issues. Despite advances over the past 40 years, there are many very real and pressing problems still facing the agricultural sector in Africa. Existing partnerships between African research institutions and northern centres of excellence, such as NRI, which have been formed through mentoring and linkages over nearly half a century, provide a strong platform from which to develop the new technologies required. Such approaches also provide an entry point for the investment required to achieve the lasting enhancement of capabilities of African organizations, which the Report identifies as key to achieving the Commission for Africa’s objectives.”

 

Report of the Commission for Africa

 

Contact: R.G.Poulter@greenwich.ac.uk

 

International Workshop on African Water Laws

26-28 January 2005

 

 

Dr John Butterworth of NRI, Dr Barbara van Koppen of IWMI and Dr Ibrahim Juma of the Faculty of Law of the University of Dar es Salaam are co-organizing a 3-day International Workshop on African Water Laws, hosted by the South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry at the Willow Park Conference Centre near Johannesburg during the last week of January. The key theme of the Workshop is the issue of plural legislative frameworks for rural water management. Whilst the Workshop’s focus is on water legislation in sub-Saharan Africa, with keynote presentations from Eastern and Southern Africa, other international contributors will bring experiences and perspectives from elsewhere, especially from South Asia and South America.

Depleted spring in Tanzania © University of Greenwich

The Workshop programme includes presentations of papers, with group and plenary discussions of key issues. The outputs of the Workshop will be:

• comparisons of ongoing national policy and legal reforms in Africa, and their impacts on small-scale rural water development;
• case studies on the effects of statutory and customary arrangements on water use by communities, especially for poor women and men;
• recommendations and guidelines for water management and legal pluralism to foster sustainable development for the poor in Africa, informed by experience in Asia and Latin America; and
• a peer-reviewed publication of the papers presented at the Workshop.

(More information about the Workshop)

 

 

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