“NRI's mission is to discover, apply and share knowledge in support of global food security, sustainable development and poverty reduction”"Knowledge to feed the world"
“NRI's mission is to discover, apply and share knowledge in support of global food security, sustainable development and poverty reduction”"Knowledge to feed the world"
Margaret Haggis, a former employee of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), has recently published a fascinating book called ‘Tales of travels with and without a porter’ based on her diary and field note entries assembled during her fieldwork in the 1970s, in Africa and Canada...Read full news post
Keith Tomlins, Professor of Food Science at the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich gave his Inaugural Professorial Lecture 'Let Them Eat Cake: Food Quality and Acceptance in Africa' yesterday, 12 June 2013 to an audience of over 100...Read full news post
Reducing food losses after harvest is an important means of improving food availability. Since the food crisis of 2006/2007 the international community has taken an increased interest in loss reduction...Read full news post
A new report prepared by Dr Robert Black of the Natural Resources Institute has recently been published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that assesses existing border controls on agricultural products in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) group of countries...Read full news post
Over 90,000 of the world’s poorest farmers, many of them women living on less than a dollar a day, are taking advantage of new opportunities to increase their incomes, thanks to the C:AVA (Cassava: Adding Value for Africa) project, an ambitious international collaboration led by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI).
NRI and its major partners in five African countries have developed a network of 103 organisations, both public and private, who are working together to enable small-holders to gain more income through....Read full news post
Parliamentarians of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Agriculture and Food for Development are calling on the UK Government, and specifically the Department for International Development (DFID), to invest in agriculture to combat the hunger that 925 million people around the world are undernourished face every day - in a Parliamentary Report, on “Home Grown Nutrition”....Read full news post
Keith Tomlins, Professor of Food Science at the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich will be giving his Inaugural Professorial Lecture 'Let Them Eat Cake: Food Quality and Acceptance in Africa' on Wednesday, 12 June 2013. All are welcome.
‘Let them eat cake’, said by Marie Antoinette during the reign of Louis XVI, acquired great symbolic importance as an indication of people in power being out of touch with the reality of life faced by poor people. In his lecture, Keith will be exploring how resource-poor people can and should have access to foods of the right quality that are also acceptable to their culture...Read full news post
All partners of the FP7 project ‘Gratitude’ gathered recently (22nd-26th April) in Bangkok, Thailand to conduct a successful mid-term review planning meeting.
Presentations were given by each of the project’s eight research package leaders on what has been achieved so far on the proposed tasks. The team also discussed the issues and challenges that need to be addressed in order to reach the mid-term review targets...Read full news post
Professor Andrew Westby, Director of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), welcomed over 90 delegates to a recent meeting at The University of Greenwich on “Biopesticide Market Opportunities”. The meeting on 11th April brought together researchers and European crop protection companies, to discuss the key role that biological pesticides or biopesticides could play in replacing the many synthetic chemical pesticides that are likely to be withdrawn from European agriculture under the EU wide decision to move from risk assessment to hazard assessment and to reduce chemical residues on crops...Read full news post
Cosmetics made from the Namibian myrrh, Commiphora Wildii, a natural product used by the indigenous Himba people as body scent, will be on display during the Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS), 26-31 October 2013. This will increase awareness of the product, helping to secure income for local harvesting communities...Read full news post
Julie Crenn, from Nantes in France, is now a food/product development technologist for the Fudge Kitchen in Kent, UK, and part-time lecturer at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), having studied the MSc Food Safety and Quality Management course at the NRI in 2005...Read full news post
A successful workshop was held in Maputo on 21 February on climate compatible development strategies in Mozambique, and the implications for agricultural research and extension. The workshop attracted 40+ participants from the agriculture sector, national director level, representatives of other Ministries, and a number of NGOs...Read full news post
So said the t-shirts proudly worn by participants attending a three-day planning workshop (12-14 March 2013) in Ibadan, Nigeria for the Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA) project. Now in its second year, the five-year $12m project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is led by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)...Read full news post
Scientists at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and the University of Brighton, have won a £194,000 grant from The Leverhulme Trust to study the mosquito’s ‘buzzing’ sound in a bid to hinder the spread of malaria which kills one child every minute of every day in Africa...Read full news post
Africa continues to face huge challenges in producing sufficient quantities of safe and nutritious food for its rapidly expanding population in an environmentally sustainable way. There is tremendous potential for knowledge generated through scientific research, and acquired through farmers’ own experience, to be better utilised to address these challenges...Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute’s Biodiversity and Molecular Biology Research Group have received a ~£500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop specific research tools for African cassava virologists and breeders that will assist their research and development work to improve cassava productivity and sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa...Read full news post
Certain foods sold in developing countries are often not fit for consumption due to contamination by toxins produced by fungi (mycotoxins) causing serious public health impacts, including childhood stunting, liver cancer and immune disorders...Read full news post
Parliamentarians will be presented today with a poster on malaria research by Frances Hawkes, a PhD student at the Natural Resources Institute. The presentation is part of the prestigious “SET for Britain” competition to encourage early-career research scientists, with prizes of up to £3,000...Read full news post
Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea), a greatly undervalued crop throughout sub-Saharan Africa, has been found to have a key role in belief systems across Malawi. The crop is highly important to women, who play a significant role in its production and marketing. This relationship provides both opportunities and risks associated with bambara groundnut development interventions, which are hitherto unrecorded...Read full news post
You may need a cup of coffee to kick start the day, but it seems honeybees also get their buzz from drinking flower nectar containing caffeine. Scientists have today shown that caffeine improves a honeybee’s memory and could help the plant recruit more bees to spread its pollen...Read full news post
Professor Rick Hodges and Dr Tanya Stathers, of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) have been working with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to develop a “Training Manual for Improving Grain Postharvest Handling and Storage”...Read full news post
Coinciding with Fairtrade Fortnight, Jeremy Haggar, department head of Agriculture, Health and Environment at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) was invited to speak today at the Twin-Fairtrade conference ‘Make Climate Change your Business, Concerning Solutions for Smallholder Supply Chains’...Read full news post
In the lead up to the G8 summit in June, Hanneke Lam, Economist at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), gave a presentation yesterday at a Parliamentary hearing on ‘Financial Services for Smallholder Farmers’...Read full news post
NRI Professor Robert Cheke has written a report that will contribute to the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the possible climate change effects on health in Lesotho...Read full news post
The main cotton growing area in Tanzania has recently been affected by what appears to be a new disease, afflicting most of the crop in that area. Temporarily named ‘Premature Defoliation Syndrome’ (PDS), the disease causes leaf distortion, where the leaves become red in colour and are prematurely shed. As these symptoms occur at the important boll forming stage of growth, PDS can cause a 100% loss of marketable yield...Read full news post
Agriculture in the “garden of England” may be dramatically different in the decades to come but, with the right planning, farmers will be able to adapt to the challenges of climate change. That’s the message from Professor Chris Atkinson of the University of Greenwich who will be speaking at a special public event to mark Climate Week on Wednesday 6 March...Read full news post
A new paper examines the impact of declining winter chill on the production of temperate perennial crops in the northern hemisphere. Winter chilling is a measure of the requirement for a period of cool temperatures during dormancy, below a threshold temperature, to induce budding, flowering and setting fruit...Read full news post
Vitamin A deficiency is a major public health issue in sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, 20% of pregnant women and about 30% of children under five are estimated to be deficient in vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency leads to Nyctalopia (“night blindness”), increased susceptibility to infections and impaired growth and development...Read full news post
The University of Greenwich’s Natural Resources Institute has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support research to detect damaging viruses, which can reduce the yield of valuable yam crops for smallholder farming communities in West Africa and other parts of the developing world...Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) have recently presented their findings of a systematic review on the impact of capacity strengthening of agricultural research for development (AR4D) in developing countries during a seminar at the UK Department for International Development (DFID) on 23rd January...Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute is launching the ‘Supporting Aspiring Agriculturalists Campaign’ that will provide postgraduate scholarship support for a network of talented individuals who are committed to developing their skills and knowledge to bring about long-term change in the agricultural and food systems of the world’s poorest regions...Read full news post
Newly appointed Reader in Economics for Sustainability at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), Dr Şerban Scrieciu, has recently published a paper which argues for greater diversity in the discipline of economics, particularly in its response to climate change and the need for “green growth”...Read full news post
Students wishing to apply for the MSc Sustainable Environmental Management programme should be aware that they may be eligible to apply for a Scholarship funded by the Tullow Group Scholarship Scheme. These Scholarships are specifically for students originating from the following countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Suriname, Uganda and Uruguay...Read full news post
PhD student Frances Hawkes, studying at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), won first prize for ‘best presentation’ at the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s (RSTMH) ‘Research in Progress’ meeting on 14th December 2012...Read full news post
A large number of extensive outbreaks of African armyworm, ravaged Zambia throughout December 2012 and caused a national emergency, as hundreds of resource-poor farmers lost their entire crops...Read full news post
A fine mist of rain falls on the world’s oldest desert, the first rain in 24 months. In a valley apparently devoid of life, the local nomadic Himba women, with babies strapped to their backs, bend over spider-like plants and harvest golden beads of precious resin. This is the Myrrh of the Bible. Excreted from the bark of the Commiphora species, gathered and traded since ancient times for its deep notes of leather and denim...Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) recently completed an evaluation of the Comic Relief Trade Programme, examining its impact on smallholder producers in Africa. As well as assessing the impact of the programme, the evaluation also identifies the key factors supporting positive impacts and the effectiveness of the Comic Relief approach...Read full news post
The first book devoted to the subject of ‘Radar Entomology’, the technique used to observe the movements of insects, has been co-authored by Alistair Drake of the University of New South Wales, Australia and Don Reynolds of the NRI, entitled...Read full news post
In the first week of January 2013 Professor Bob Cheke from the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) will appear on the new BBC Nature TV series ‘Nature’s Weirdest Events’ which will unpack the science behind strange and amazing events in the natural world. ...Read full news post
A major new scientific collaboration between East Malling Research (EMR) and the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) of the University of Greenwich (UoG) was launched on Tuesday December 11th by HRH The Duke of Kent KG on a visit to EMR...Read full news post
The role of women in the global economy is crucial but often under-appreciated. Dr Ana Marr, Reader in International Development Economics at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), was invited to take part in a TV programme called ‘Real Talk’ on the topic of Women and Finance, which was broadcast on Sky TV earlier this year...Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) co-hosted a workshop last week with ISEAL - the international membership body for a range of sustainability standards. Participants represented Rainforest Alliance, the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation, 4C Association, UTZ Certified, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Aquaculture Stewardship Council, Union for Ethical Biotrade, the Forest Stewardship Council and ISEAL itself....Read full news post
Lord Boateng has called on the United Nations to put agriculture at the heart of African development.
He told an audience at the University of Greenwich that the next set of Millennium Development Goals need to come from the people, rather than the previous “top down” approach from the UN Secretary General’s office...Read full news post
The issue of land rights and natural resource management in Mozambique is a challenge affecting millions of people. A recent study indicates that women in these areas experience only limited access to and control over their land and natural resources, compared to men, and are often excluded from decision making....Read full news post
NRI experts working on the project ‘Agroforests: A critical resource for Megadiversity in Guatemala’, have initiated studies to evaluate the biodiversity on coffee farms in Guatemala. Diego Pons from the University of Valle leads the study with support from Francisco Pacay of the Foundation for the Defence of Nature which manages the Sierra Las Minas Biosphere reserve...Read full news post
Recent collaboration between researchers at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and the University of Leeds has led to the publication of a new working paper in the NRI series on sustainability standards: 'A Review of the Literature and Knowledge of Standards and Certification Systems in Agricultural Production and Farming Systems'...Read full news post
The first of the Vice Chancellor’s public lecture series of 2012-13 will be given on Tuesday 27 November by Lord Boateng on "Beyond the Millennium Development Goals.. What next for Africa?"...Read full news post
Bees are in crisis, and collapsing colonies and habitat loss threaten the pollination of some important crops. While much current research work focuses on bees, other pollinators, such as midges, which pollinate cocoa plants across the world, must not be forgotten...Read full news post
Don Reynolds of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) was part of a large international team, led by the Spanish ecologist Constanti Stefanescu, which was assembled to map the whole migration circuit of the Painted Lady butterfly in the Western Palaearctic Region...Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) has appointed a new Professor and a Reader to strengthen its programme of research on Climate Change, Agriculture and Natural Resources...Read full news post
Lipid oils extracted from plants are particularly good for use in cosmetics because they are very stable and can therefore carry other oils without going rancid: which is not a desirable quality in a body butter! Two oils extracted from seeds of sustainably wild harvested plants in Northern Namibia show great commercial promise...Read full news post
Biodiversity and associated indigenous knowledge around the world are eroding fast. The NRI project ‘African Dryland Alliance for Pesticidal Plant Technologies’ (ADAPPT) aims to bring together indigenous and scientific expertise to retain this knowledge and optimise the way farmers use plants for pest management....Read full news post
Livestock can act as a potential pathway out of poverty for rural producers and other actors throughout the value chain, but it is dependent on market access. There has been a long history of successful export of non-livestock products from African countries to wealthier countries (particularly vegetables and...Read full news post
Scientists from 42 countries around the world gathered in Nigeria for the 16th Triennial International Symposium of the International Society for Tropical Root Crops (ISTRC). Root and tuber crops are important for the diets and livelihoods of 2 billion people, the majority in developing countries...Read full news post
NRI research confirms that there are tangible, significant and sometimes considerable economic, social, technical, organisational and empowerment benefits to smallholder families and estate workers in Malawi arising from Fairtrade certification. However this situation will only continue in the long term if the benefits are equitably distributed.....Read full news post
The 16th Triennial Symposium of the International Society Tropical Root Crops (ISTRC) this week is hosted by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. More than 300 root and tuber crops scientists will attend the meeting to share important new discoveries from their recent work on these commodities which are important to the livelihoods of many millions....Read full news post
Experts at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) are leading a major new project that will deliver knowledge to support the development of markets for cassava products in sub-Saharan Africa. The Cassava Growth Markets Project (CassavaGMarkets) project aims to address some of the key researchable issues...Read full news post
Don Reynolds, a scientist at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), together with colleagues from Rothamsted Research, the UK Met Office and the Universities of Exeter, Oxford, York and Lund (Sweden), have published a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that reveals a fundamental shift in...Read full news post
A joint report by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and Concern Worldwide, calling for more targeted investment in agriculture for the poorest and most vulnerable farmers, was launched last year at the Houses of Parliament. In July this year, a version of the report was launched in Rwanda, translated into Kinyarwanda, the language spoken by over 12 million people in the country....Read full news post
Monday August 20th is World Mosquito Day, celebrating the discovery of the role mosquitoes play in malaria transmission. On this day in 1897, Sir Ronald Ross made a breakthrough that would later earn him a Nobel prize in medicine when he found malaria parasites within dissected mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. By identifying how the disease...Read full news post
Frances Hawkes, a PhD researcher at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), is the first winner of the University of Greenwich ‘Student of the Year’ award. The energy she has put in to the University and the community of Medway has contributed to improving the University’s environment, the well-being of local children and ...Read full news post
Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year (approximately 1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted. A policy briefing in Brussels on June 26th on ‘food losses and food waste’ addressed some of the concerns that revolve around global hunger...Read full news post
Smallholder farmers and other poor rural people in developing countries, such as pastoralists and artisanal fisherfolk, are expected to suffer some of the worst impacts of climate change in the decades to come. Many of these people already live with climate variability and the recurrence of extreme climate events – droughts, floods and tropical storms...Read full news post
At the Global Cassava Partnership meeting for the 21st Century (GCP21) in Kampala, Uganda on June 20th, Dr Mike Thresh, Emeritus Professor of Plant Virus Ecology of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) received the Golden Cassava Award in recognition of his longstanding scientific contributions to understanding and building awareness of cassava diseases...Read full news post
In many European countries today, the systematic use of pesticides is questioned because of their undesirable negative effects on ecosystems, animal species, and human health. As a result, in 2009 the European Parliament approved new European Union pesticides legislation that will see some ‘active substances’ (the chemical ingredients of pesticides) banned; in particular, the highly toxic chemicals that are known to cause cancer....Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) has been commissioned by the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) programme of the CGIAR to test the CCAFS ‘Farms of the Future’ approach, which introduces farmers to places where the current climatic conditions are similar to those projected for the farmers’ home areas in the future...Read full news post
New bumblebee research from scientists at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and Queen Mary, University of London teaches us how bees cope with complex visual environments in nature. Guided by scent and vision, foraging bumblebees are known to continuously seek and collect nectar, however a new paper has found that the bees find it challenging to distinguish the colours of succulent blooms when the transition from broad daylight to leafy shade alters the flower’s hue...Read full news post
Insect pests are a major threat to food production everywhere, but they are especially devastating in Africa where poor farmers are unable to afford chemical pesticides. Concerns about the environmentally damaging effects of pesticide use are also driving EU efforts to develop new safer biological controls for crop pests. These biological pesticides or Biopesticides are a major focus of research worldwide as scientists strive to identify new ways of controlling pests. Now a team of scientists from the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich....Read full news post
Among the UK commitments at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 was the establishment of the Darwin Initiative, which promotes conservation in countries rich in biodiversity, but poor in economic resources. Since its establishment it has financed over 700 projects in 155 countries, and a few of these have been implemented by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), including most recently a new project entitled: “Agroforests: A critical resource for Megadiversity in Guatemala”. As described here, a tour of the areas where the project will work shows the magnitude of changes since 1992.Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI), in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies, has completed a four-country study assessing the impact of Fairtrade cotton. Covering Mali, Senegal, Cameroon and India, the study identifies the main areas of impact for cotton producers and their organisations, and explores the value chain issues which play a role in shaping impact. Organisational research partners for the study included ENDA Pronat (Environment and Development Action in the Third World) Senegal, and the Gujarat Institute of Development Research. Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) is collaborating with East Malling Research (EMR), a Kent based research institute with an international reputation for horticultural research, to establish the Produce Quality Centre as a centre of excellence for UK based research on fresh produce quality. Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) hosted an international workshop from 9 to 11 May 2012 with experts attending from France, Portugal, Madagascar, Senegal, Cameroon, Benin, Ghana and Egypt. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together partners from a European Union funded FP7 project, AFTER, (African Food Tradition Revisited by Research). Read full news post
For his Inaugural Professorial Lecture, Professor John Colvin gave a dynamic account of his extensive research, of over 25 years, tackling problems in developing countries caused by insects and associated plant diseases. Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute has launched ‘The Resource’, a monthly update with the highlights of our latest activities, to keep colleagues, friends and followers informed via email. Read full news post
An investigation into agricultural research and extension in Rwanda was undertaken by the Rwandan Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Livestock Development and Environment, from 11-24 May, in collaboration with the Natural Resources Institute (NRI). Read full news post
African MSc students funded through the SCARDA project, with assistance from RUFORUM, have had fifteen research papers published in a Special Issue of the African Crop Science Journal. Read full news post
In recent years there has been a growing consensus among developing country governments and international donors of a need to increase investments in agricultural research. Research plays a crucial role in stimulating growth in the agricultural sector and this makes a vital contribution to economic development and poverty reduction. Read full news post
Significant new investment is being made in research at the Natural Resources Institute as part of the University of Greenwich's new Research and Enterprise Strategy. Research carried out by the Institute on food and agriculture, especially with relevance to the developing world, is a major strength of the University. Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute, of the University of Greenwich UK announced today that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr Maruthi Gowda will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled “Use of endosymbiotic bacteria as a novel biocontrol agent for crop pests and diseases”. Read full news post
Cutting edge research by scientists at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) on the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, one of the most destructive agricultural pests in the world, is well represented in a recent issue of the Journal of Integrative Agriculture with five published articles. Read full news post
Tucked away in the northwest corner of Namibia is the Kunene Region, an extremely arid environment that is home to the nomadic Ovahimba people, and a range of endemic plant species. Products are being developed from indigenous plants such as Commiphora wildii (known locally as “omumbiri”) from which a resin is sustainably harvested and traded by the Ovahimba communities for them to generate an income. The highly prized ‘Myrrh’ that can be extracted from the resin might soon be in a fragrance you can buy here in the UK! Read full news post
Experts from NRI continued their training of early career scientists last week, as part of the European Union (EU) African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Science and Technology Project previously introduced, this time in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Read full news post
Food safety is a growing public health problem, and institutions across the world are required to work together to ensure that animal health, plant health and food safety regulations are duly applied. Read full news post
Private and public sector organisations from Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Portugal and the UK came together at the Natural Resources Institute, in Kent UK last month to launch the new European Union Framework 7 funded project ‘Gratitude’ (Gains from Losses of Roots and Tuber Crops), and to begin the planning phase. Read full news post
The West African regional workshop on biopesticides, hosted in Accra on 20-21st March 2012, was held to mark the first successful registration of commercial environmentally friendly biological pesticides in Ghana. Read full news post
Professor John Colvin will present his Inaugural Professorial Lecture on Thursday 31 May 2012 on ‘Insects, Plants and Viruses: Dynamic Interactions in a Changing World’. Read full news post
Dr Ibrahim Mohammed, a recent PhD graduate from the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) of the University of Greenwich was awarded the Raymond/Roger Hull prize for best poster presentation at the International Plant Virus Symposium, of the Association of Applied Biology (AAB) in Dublin last week...Read full news post
Dr Peter Greenhalgh, Marketing Economist and former colleague at NRI, has been awarded the title of Visiting Fellow. Having worked for many years with what was then the Economics and Marketing Department at NRI, he is a recognized expert on agricultural markets, including tree crops, horticultural products, essential oils and spices and many other tropical commodities.
Peters work on essential oils (especially mint) in the late 1970s and Ethiopian horticulture production, especially roses, from 2002-06 has had significant positive...Read full news post
NRI has been successful in gaining funding from the Defra led ‘ Darwin Initiative’ for a new 3 year project, named Agroforests: A Critical Resource for Sustaining Megadiversity in Guatemala, expected to start in April 2012. It is designed to improve the public and private policies that recognize the role of agroforests in meeting the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Guatemala. Read full news post
Rats are arguably one of the most neglected pest problems across the world. Rodents attack virtually any crop, and their damage and contamination of food is problematic at every stage of the food value chain. Despite this, accurate valuations of loss due to rodents in both pre and post-harvest agriculture are virtually unheard of in any country. More often than not, rodent-borne diseases are not recognized, are poorly diagnosed and treated, with many thousands of poor rural people dying from rodent-borne diseases across the Tropics each year. Read full news post
Experts from NRI gave training last week to 37 early career scientists in Papua New Guinea, as part of an EU African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Science and Technology Project, in how to write winning research proposals with a view to bolstering research on root and tuber crops, which are important to the food security and incomes of many poor people. It was hosted in collaboration with the International Society of Tropical Root Crops (ISTRC) who currently have over 320 registered root and tuber crop scientists. Read full news post
For International Women's Day, the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) is celebrating the women it works with all over the world. The Institute works with thousands of female farmers and entrepreneurs in developing countries, who often not only have the responsibility of childcare and the household, but also of food security and income generation. All this in the context of increasing environmental degradation and increasing food prices. Read full news post
Staff at NRI has been engaged in a wide range of studies relating to Fairtrade since the late 1990s in Latin America, Africa and Asia, including a number of on-going pieces of work that will be published this year. The Institute has contributed to a large amount of detailed information on the topic, focusing on different aspects of Fairtrade impact (social, economic and environmental) across many different countries. Read full news post
As recently published by BBC News Africa, Andy Jarvis of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) has reported on the climate change hope of cassava: “Whilst other staples can suffer from heat and other problems of climate change, cassava thrives”. Read full news post
Cassava and yam are important food security crops for approximately 700 million people. However, physical and economic losses that occur after harvest during processing and marketing can be as high as 60%. This is not only detrimental to food security and the environment, but also opportunities to increase the value of these crops are lost. Read full news post
Small-holder farmers are the focus of a new and innovative EC-funded €4.7m project entitled: Farm Risk Management for Africa (FaRMAf) that will be testing exciting new financial instruments in order to manage farmer risks. A consortium of AGRINATURA-EEIG institutes, led by NRI, is implementing the project in close collaboration with farmers' organisations, including the Pan Africa Farmers Forum (PAFFO). Read full news post
Our MSc Natural Resources programme routes have been renamed. Students will now be able to apply for the awards: MSc Sustainable Environmental Management, (formerly MSc Natural Resources: Sustainable Environmental Management) and MSc Agriculture for Sustainable Development, (formerly MSc Natural Resources: Sustainable Agriculture). The award of MSc Natural Resources (by research) will remain. It is felt that these new titles more accurately describe the focus and content of the programmes as they evolve. The new titles will be effective for new students registering...Read full news post
Science and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa: more support for capacity-strengthening is needed, says the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich, in evidence to House of Commons Inquiry.
The millennium development goals for hunger and poverty will not be met unless Africa's capacity in science and technology for agricultural development is strengthened at all levels, according to Professor Andrew Westby, Director of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich.
He presented evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee in Parliament yesterday, Wednesday 8 February 2012, as part of its Inquiry on Science and International Development...Read full news post
Debbie Rees and John Orchard of the Natural Resources Institute, together with Graham Farrell, a technical writer and editor specializing in plant health and analysis, have compiled a book published by Wiley-Blackwell on CropPost Harvest Science and Technology: Perishables. With contributions from internationally respected experts around the world, including other NRI staff, this landmark publication is an essential reference for all those working in this field of expertise. Researchers and upper-level students in food science, food technology, post-harvest science and technology, crop protection, applied biology and plant and agricultural sciences will greatly benefit from having this book in their research establishments and universities.
International trade in high value perishables has grown enormously in the past few decades. In the developed world...Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) welcomes the publication of the recently released Inquiry Report from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Agriculture and Food for Development entitled 'Growing out of Poverty'.
Drawing upon evidence from some of the world's most eminent authorities on food security and agricultural development, the Report builds upon the Group's first Report in 2010 which asserted that profitable small-holder agriculture must be the central tool for assisting the social and economic development of low income countries if Governments and Donors are to build...Read full news post
The Natural Resources Institute (NRI) have created a brand new and innovative Masters degree entitled MA Rural Development Dynamics to focus on the social and economic aspects of rural development, a recognised strength of the Institute. The programme will include substantial coverage of issues affecting rural change as well as training in social research principles, approaches and methods; applied research tools for use in diagnostic and baseline studies, action research, situation and gender analysis, process monitoring, and evaluation and impact assessment. The MA will be led by Agricultural Economist Claire Coote within the Food and Markets Department at NRI. The staff involved have extensive rural.... Read full news post