Diabetes Prevention Via Dance

Community-based exercise organizations, such as the YMCA, are an effective tool in the fight against diabetes, according to a study by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers in the October 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. More than 60 million Americans have pre-diabetes, and most of them are unaware. Adults with pre-diabetes are at more than 10 times the normal risk for developing diabetes and at twice the risk for heart attack or stroke. Reaching this growing population is a concern for diabetes educators and physicians. "Previous studies, such as the highly regarded national Diabetes Prevention Program, have shown that structured diet and physical exercise can significantly reduce the progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes. But these trials involved major lifestyle changes that are difficult to translate into large-scale, community-level programs. In our study we were able to train lay people in the community to deliver the program at the YMCA, an environment accessible to many people with pre-diabetes, to help them sustain lifestyle changes," said the study's principal author, Ronald Ackermann, M.D., M.P.H., IU School of Medicine assistant professor of medicine and an affiliated scientist of the Regenstrief Institute. With more than 2,500 facilities serving more than 10,000 inner-city, suburban and rural communities nationwide and a long history of implementing successful health promotion programs, the YMCA is in a unique position to reach persons with pre-diabetes, according to Dr. Ackermann. In this study, 92 individuals were enrolled in two groups. The intervention group received a core curriculum involving 16 classroom-style meetings focused on building knowledge and skills for goal setting, self-monitoring and problem-solving. The control group was offered standard diabetes-prevention advice. At the 4-6-month follow-up visit, body weight had decreased by 6 percent in the intervention participants and by 2 percent in the control participants. This was equal to a mean weight loss of 12.5 pounds for intervention participants and 4 pounds for the group that received the standard information. The difference in the amount of weight lost is a clinically meaningful and significant difference, as was the change in total cholesterol concentration, according to Dr. Ackermann. These differences persisted at the 12-14 month follow-up visits. "This is the first study to demonstrate that the YMCA is a promising vehicle for the dissemination of the DPP lifestyle intervention into the community. In the DPP, a 5 percent weight loss was associated with a 58 percent reduction in risk of developing diabetes. In our pilot study, people at high risk for developing diabetes achieved and maintained a mean 6 percent reduction in baseline body weight and significant reductions in total cholesterol," he noted. The study concludes, "By lowering the cost of and expanding the accessibility to diabetes-prevention services, the YMCA may serve not only to increase the number of individuals with pre-diabetes who have access to and can pay for evidence-based diabetes prevention; it may also provide a compelling model for health-plan reimbursement. This provides yet another compelling reason to develop and test novel strategies that link community-based program delivery with existing clinical services that could help to identify and activate more adults with pre-diabetes." Source: Cindy Fox Aisen, Indiana University Article Date: 11 Sep 2008 Article adapted from original press release. (Source: Medical News Today; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Babies 'programmed for obesity in the womb'

Babies "learn" obesity in the womb and "absorb" unhealthy habits, new research reveals today. The developing brains of unborn children of overweight mothers end up programmed to crave sugar and fat. The findings by Australian doctors will be unveiled today at a medical conference on fertility treatment at London's Imperial College. Experts already know children growing up in overweight families are at risk of obesity, but the study is the first to show a direct link between obesity in pregnant women and the impact on their unborn babies. It was based on women who had undergone weight-loss surgery or were fitted with a stomach-shrinking "gastric band". It also shows babies born to women who have undergone gastric banding are more healthy. Doctors say they are treating increasing numbers of women in their thirties who cannot conceive because they are overweight. IVF is often their only chance if they lose weight, but doctors are divided over how to treat them. A growing number want obese patients to have gastric band operations then IVF so they can start a family. Most NHS trusts refuse free fertility treatment for women with a body mass index over 35 because success rates are so low. Women can wear a gastric band to limit food intake while they are trying to conceive or even when pregnant. The cost of a gastric band operation is around £11,000 per patient and a standard IVF cycle £3,500. "People are postponing when they start families so these are women who don't have time on their hands," Imperial College London surgeon Dr Carel Le Roux said, adding: "The issue we find is to get them to take exercise. "Medication does not work because it takes at least a year and you can't fall pregnant if you are taking it. Gastric bands can deliver weight loss quicker." Source: Sophie Goodchild 10 September 08 (Source: Evening Standard; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Workplace Obesity Management Provides Good Return On Investment

A program to reduce weight and improve health risk factors in obese employees produces a short-term return on investment (ROI) of $1.17 per dollar spent, reports a study in the September Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). Just as important, the ROI model used in the study provides a relatively simple and inexpensive tool to help companies estimate the dollar benefits of investing in employee wellness programs. The lead author of the new report is Kristin M. Baker, M.P.H., of University of Georgia. The researchers analyzed a group of 890 overweight or obese employees participating in an obesity management program called Healthyroads. The workers received coaching and other services to support their efforts to lose weight, improve eating habits, and increase physical activity. The participants' average age was 44; about three-fourths were female. The average body mass index (BMI), a standard measure of weight for height, was 30.6. (A BMI between 25 and 30 indicates overweight, while a BMI of 30 or higher indicates obesity.) Over one year, the participants had reductions in seven of ten health risk factors, including poor eating habits and poor physical activity. On average, the participants lost about ten pounds, with a BMI decrease of 0.9. To assess the financial impact of the program, the researchers used a recently developed ROI model, which estimated the changes in medical costs and worker productivity resulting from reductions in health risks. The results suggested a total projected savings of nearly $312,000. About 60 percent of the savings resulted from reduced health care spending; the remaining 40 percent resulted from improvements in productivity. The model estimated an overall ROI of $1.17 to $1.00 for each dollar spent on the obesity management program, costs decreased by $1.17. The total cost of the Healthyroads program averaged $300 per employee per year. Overweight and obesity have a major impact on costs for employers. However, companies deciding whether to invest in health improvement programs may need economic justification, including an estimate of the ROI resulting from such programs. The new study shows that an obesity management program like Healthyroads can provide a significant improvement in employee risk factors with at least a "modest" ROI in just one year. "Employers could potentially achieve bigger savings in health care costs and productivity if the observed risk changes persisted beyond the study period," according to Ms. Baker and her coauthors. Their results support the use of the ROI model as a lower-cost alternative to formal evaluation studies that would otherwise be needed to build a business case for health promotion programs. The ability to simulate the cost savings associated with reducing employee health risks could help in building a "credible and defensible case" for investment in employee wellness, the researchers conclude. 10 Sepember 2008 (Source: Medical News Today; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Poorly educated parents more likely to have obese children

POORLY-educated parents are more than twice as likely to have obese children as well-educated mums and dads, a new study reveals. The finding has prompted a leading health education researcher to urge governments to address social inequities in favour of the "shame and blame'' strategies that have not stemmed obesity. University of Sydney Associate Professor Jenny O'Dea will present the findings on obese children and a survey of 345,713 adults to a parliamentary inquiry in Sydney tomorrow. The Roy Morgan survey shows the rate of obesity for adults in the lowest socio-economic groups grew at almost triple the rate of those belonging to the highest earning and educated groups between April 2000 and March 2007. Nearly a third of people in the lowest socio-economic group were regarded as obese in March last year, compared with 26.6 per cent in April 2000. In the highest socio-economic group, 17.8 per cent were obese, up from 15.9 in 2000. Dr O'Dea says governments need to rethink their strategies to battle obesity. "The most poignant message from this data is that we have been operating since the year 2000 in a huge media and social panic about obesity in Australia and it hasn't made one iota of change, especially in the low-income areas,'' she said. "The sort of banging on, the exposure, shame and blame approach to obesity prevention has certainly not had any impact in those people who need it most, namely in the lowest socio-economic groups.'' Dr O'Dea studied 960 families of children from years two to six in 10 primary schools across regional and rural NSW. She discovered 2.7 per cent of tertiary-educated mothers had obese children compared with six per cent of mums who had completed year 10 or less. Seven per cent of fathers in the low-educated group had obese children, while the figure was three per cent for those in the highly-educated group. "Those issues of education will follow through generations,'' Dr O'Dea said. "If the mothers don't know how to read a food label then perhaps their children won't either.'' Dr O'Dea said a large part of the solution to the obesity epidemic lay with ensuring parents could afford and access fresh, healthy food for their families. People needed to be educated in how to manage a family budget rather than "shaking a big stick at them and telling them that they are fat and so are their kids. "We need to provide education in schools about food and nutrition and cookery,'' she said. "This used to be delivered in home economics, which has largely been down-scaled by federal and state governments and now we have a whole generation of young people who simply cannot cook a meal and don't have much skill in managing a family budget.'' Governments should provide disadvantaged schools and communities with climbing structures, heated swimming pools and play equipment to encourage children to be active, Dr O'Dea said. There was also merit in providing parents with food vouchers for healthy, staple food items, which was an approach that has worked well in the United States. The House of Representatives standing committee's inquiry into obesity will hear from fast-food giant McDonalds and retailer Woolworths during tomorrow's public hearing. Source: Melissa Jenkins 10 September 2008 (Source: heraldsun.com.au; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Women who eat too little during pregnancy increase risk of obesity in children

Women who eat too little during pregnancy increase the risk of their children becoming obese in later life, experts have warned. Researchers have discovered eating too few calories while pregnant changes the way that a baby's fat cells behave once they are born. A new study by Dr Helen Budge, from the centre of reproduction and early life at Nottingham University, found that the fat cells in lambs, which received too few calories while in the womb, produce excessive levels of inflammation. This inflammation can damage the body's ability to metabolise food and so leave the youngsters at risk of putting on excessive weight. The researchers also found that poor nutrition before birth promotes defects in a fat gene, known as FTO, which has been associated with a 30 per cent increased risk of obesity. Dr Budge, who was speaking at the British Association for the Advancement for Science, said: "Fat cells were originally thought to be inert tissue, but we are now finding they release hormones that are crucial in metabolising food. "If the levels of these hormones are disrupted or the fat tissue is damaged by inflammation, then it can increase the risk of obesity." Dr Budge and her team used sheep in their study as they are one of the best animal models for human obesity. By altering the diet of sheep while they were pregnant they were able to observe the changes it produced in the lambs after they were born. She is now attempting to unravel exactly which foods are best for pregnant women to eat in order to give their children the best start in life. She said: "What a mother eats while pregnant can have a large impact on the health of their baby in later life. "What is particularly interesting is that we are not just talking about babies that have been malnourished while in the womb but those that are born within normal weight ranges." Although her research concentrated on receiving too few calories while in the womb, other research has shown that over eating while pregnant is similarly harmful. Dr Budge added: "The best advice we can offer at the moment is for pregnant women to eat a healthy, balanced diet." Dr Giles Yeo, from the University of Cambridge, said: "We need to get away from this idea that obesity is entirely the fault of the individual. Genetic and environmental factors play a huge part." Source: Richard Gray, Science Correspondent 09 September 2008 (Source: telegraph.co.uk; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Child exercise estimates 'wrong'

Parents vastly overestimate the amount of time their children spend exercising, research suggests. On average they claimed their offspring took more than two hours exercise a day - while the truth was less than 30 minutes for both boys and girls. The government recommends at least an hour a day - but specialists say it is impossible for parents to work out how much their child is doing. The study was published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. One in three 11-year-olds in the UK is said to be overweight or obese, using the body mass index method of measurement. The 60-minute recommendation was introduced in an effort to stave off the advance of obesity driven by unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyles. However, the evidence to support it is less clear and the latest study, by scientists at the Universities of Glasgow and Newcastle, suggests that monitoring it is equally problematic. They fitted 130 six and seven-year-olds with an "accelerometer", a portable recording device worn on a waist belt, and left it there for a week. This measured exactly how much the child was moving during the day, working out how much time was spent on vigorous activity, such as brisk walking, running and sport. They then asked their parents how much exercise they thought that their children had done during the week. The parents provided an optimistic picture - with 83% of boys and 56% of girls reported to be meeting the 60-minute guideline.

Off the mark

Unfortunately, the accelerometer readings showed that in fact, only 3% of boys and 2% of girls had met the target. Parents claimed an average of 146 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity a day, compared to an average 24 minutes offered by the accelerometer. The parent questionnaires did not even manage to pick out accurately those with lower levels of activity from those who exercised more. The study authors called for "marked improvements" in the way physical activity was measured to meet future "public health challenges". They suggested that more research on the potential benefits of "light exercise" - which made up much of the playing activity of the children measured - might be worthwhile. Professor Terry Wilkin, from the Peninsula Medical School in Devon, and a researcher into child exercise, said the results were "unsurprising". He said: "What this shows is that parents really don't have a clue what their children are doing in terms of exercise - they spend most of their day at school, so how would they? "If put under scrutiny, they will hopelessly overestimate activity levels. "There is absolutely no basis for the current 60-minute recommendation and, frankly, we should leave that sort of information behind when we are trying to research the exercise levels of children."

Worrying findings

Maura Gillespie, of the British Heart Foundation called the findings "deeply worrying". She said: "In order to really encourage children to be more active, we believe it is crucial that the environment around them allows for daily exercise. "The government needs to ensure our streets are attractive and safe for cyclists and pedestrians, encouraging more children to cycle and walk to school safely. "Neighbourhoods, parks and green spaces need to be well designed and maintained to encourage children to play safely outside." Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: "This study shows just how inadequate our current information on children's physical activity is. "Government boffins urgently need to come up with an accurate way of monitoring kids' exercise habits." 8 September 2008 (Source: BBC News; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Exercise 'blunts fat gene effect'

Vigorous physical activity could blunt the effects of a common gene linked to obesity, claim US researchers. Carrying two copies of the FTO gene significantly increases the chances of becoming obese. However, a study carried out among the US Amish community found an active lifestyle appeared to remove this risk. A UK specialist said the results, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal, would be interesting if repeated by larger studies. The complex relationships between our genes and lifestyles, which can mean obesity for some people and not for others, has yet to be fully understood. Several genetic variants have been linked to obesity, but none is wholly responsible for it. The most common of these is FTO, with half of all people in Europe carrying either one or two copies of it. It is not clear how it influences weight gain, although some scientists have suggested it may play a role in an individual's appetite. The study from the University of Maryland supports other research which suggests that a person's level of exercise may help determine whether their genetic makeup will contribute to obesity.

Movement log

The researchers looked at 704 Amish men and women, chosen because of that community's relative genetic "purity", with members generally able to trace their ancestry back for 14 generations to early settlers from Europe. Volunteers were fitted with "accelerometers", measuring their precise movements over a period of time. They found that while the expected link between the number of copies of FTO carried and increased body mass index could be seen in less active volunteers, that link was broken once in those who recorded high levels of activity - equivalent to three to four hours of moderately intensive activity. Dr Soren Snitker, who led the research, said: "Our results strongly suggest that the increased risk of obesity due to genetic susceptibility can be blunted through physical activity. "Some of the genes shown to cause obesity in our modern environment may not have had this effect a few centuries ago when most people's lives were similar to that of present-day Amish farmers." Professor Andrew Hattersley, from Peninsula Medical School in Devon, who also carries out research into the FTO gene, said that this was the second study which suggested that exercise levels could have a bearing on the way this gene had an effect on obesity. "Because the gene effects are very small, it would be good to see this repeated in larger studies. "The weight of evidence for physical activity potentially overcoming genetic susceptibility is increasing." 8 September 2008 (Source: BBC News; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Pollution linked to obesity, new study finds

Pollution could determine whether a child is fat or not before they have even been born, a new study has found. Exposure to a range of common chemicals before birth increases the chance of a baby to growing up overweight or obese, the research indicates. The study by scientists at Barcelona's Municipal Institute of Medical Research is the first to link obesity with chemical contamination in the womb, where humans are most vulnerable. advertisementA quarter of all British adults and a fifth of children suffer from obesity, with at least 300 million obese worldwide. Published in the current issue of the journal Acta Paediatrica, the research measured levels of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in the umbilical cords of 403 children born on the Spanish island of Menorca. HCB is a pesticide banned internationally but which continues to remain in the environment and can be found in food. Those with the highest levels of HCB were twice as likely to be obese when they reached the age of six and a half. The report's authors are now calling for exposure to similar pesticides to be minimised, including bisphenol A (BPA), used in baby bottles and cans of food, and phthalates, found in cosmetics and shampoos. Tests have shown BPA is found in 95 per cent of Americans, while 90 per cent have been found to be exposed to phthalates in the womb. Dr Pete Myers, chief scientist at the US-based Environmental Health Sciences, said: "This is very important. It is the first good study of the effects on the foetus. Its conclusions are not surprising, given what we know from the animal experiments, but it firmly links such chemicals to the biggest challenge facing public health today." The research comes after Conservative leader David Cameron said that obesity is purely a matter of "personal responsibility". Source: Chris Irvine 8 September 2008 (Source: telegraph.co.uk; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Obese People With Asthma Have Nearly Five Times Greater Risk Of Hospitalization For Asthma

Obese people who have asthma are nearly five times more likely to be hospitalized for the condition than non-obese people with asthma, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the September issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. This is the first study to control for the risk factors – smoking, use of oral or inhaled corticosteroid medications, gastroesophageal reflux disorder, and demographics – that might explain the obesity-asthma association. Previous studies have shown that obese people are more likely to suffer asthma than non-obese people, and that obese patients often have more severe asthma than their non-obese counterparts. More than 20 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma. Nearly a third of adults with asthma are also obese, according to researchers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines obesity as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore., and the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Research in Denver surveyed 1,113 patients in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado, age 35 and older, who have persistent asthma. The researchers asked the patients about their weight, height, smoking habits, other illnesses, treatment and their asthma-specific quality of life, asthma control and asthma-related hospitalizations. "The big finding here is that even after adjusting for risk factors, obese adults were nearly five times more likely to be hospitalized for their asthma," said study lead author David M. Mosen, Ph.D., MPH, of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research. "Given that nearly 30 percent of our country is obese, this study is yet another example of the long-term dangers of obesity, along with heart disease, diabetes, stroke and dementia." The study uncovered these findings:

- Obese people with asthma had significantly worse asthma control, lower asthma-related quality of life, and had 4.6 times higher risk for asthma-related hospitalizations than non-obese asthmatics

- Obese people with asthma were younger and less educated than non-obese people with asthma

- Obese people with asthma used more oral corticosteroids

- Obese people with asthma had a higher incidence of gastroesophageal reflux disorder.

"The take-home message of this study for clinicians is that obese people with asthma need to be followed more carefully because it's harder to control their asthma, so they are more likely to end up in the hospital," said study co-author Dr. Michael Schatz, Chief of Allergy at Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center. "My advice for obese asthmatics is: be vigilant to keep your asthma symptoms in check, make sure you know what to do when your symptoms worsen, and do whatever you can to lose weight." Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study was authored by David M. Mosen, Ph.D., MPH of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research; Michael Schatz, MD, MS, of Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center; David J. Magid, MD, of the Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Research in Denver; and Carlos A. Camargo, Jr, MD, DrPH, of the Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Adapted from materials provided by Kaiser Permanente, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. 8 September 2008 (Source: ScienceDaily; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Playing fields a national disgrace

THREE-QUARTERS of Scotland's playing fields are in an "unacceptable" condition, according to the leading charity which cares for the country's green spaces. Fields in Trust – formerly the National Playing Fields Association – is to apply for Lottery cash to protect and improve 214 fields across the country, on the back of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games bid. It says the cash is needed to turn around the "intolerable" state of many of public playing fields, most of which lack proper drainage or decent facilities. The group's findings are crucial evidence in support of Scotland on Sunday's campaign, "Fair Deal for Glasgow", which is demanding a substantial injection of Lottery cash to be awarded to Scotland as a legacy for the 2014 Games. Scottish ministers claim the country's overall Lottery pot has been slashed by £150m because of the billions being spent on the London 2012 Olympics. Funding for Glasgow's Commonwealth Games is already in place from the public purse, but politicians from across the spectrum are backing a special Lottery-funded pot to ensure a legacy. Fields in Trust has submitted a document to the Scottish Government in which it lays out how that legacy fund should be spent. The most recent audit of Scottish playing fields, carried out in 2006, found that 74% of natural grass pitches, 61% of synthetic grass pitches and 50% of tennis courts require replacement or significant upgrading. Sportscotland will release a report this week showing there have been significant improvements since, with many of the unpopular red 'blaze' pitches phased out. But Fields in Trust says that far more needs to be done. Colin Rennie, manager of Fields in Trust Scotland, said: "Our concern is that three out of every four pitches is not fit for purpose. That is an intolerable figure for a nation hosting the Commonwealth Games. We want to protect and improve 214 playing fields by 2014 as a legacy for those games. "There have been some improvements in the last two years, but in terms of the big picture, there hasn't been a fraction of the required investment which we need." The 2006 audit – published by Sportscotland – found that many public pitches had inadequate drainage, which led to frequent cancellation of matches. Maintenance was often "inadequate", even on new facilities. Changing facilities were often in "very poor condition", with half requiring replacement or significant upgrading. Only in private clubs, or in schools which had recently been rebuilt, was the picture more promising. Friends in Trust says that, with Lottery funding, it would help to upgrade pitches, parks and sports areas. It also suggests building and improving children's play areas, creating walking paths and more seated areas in communal areas. Its document to the Government declares: "These 214 protected and improved playing fields will provide a tangible, practical, accessible and well-loved legacy for everyone throughout Scotland." The extra Lottery funding would help to build further on improvements already underway, says Fields in Trust. Sportscotland will release a report this week showing that there was a net loss of just one playing field in Scotland in the first quarter of 2008, compared with a peak of 28 playing fields lost in 1998 and 25 in 2000. The report will also say dozens of unpopular mineral pitches have been replaced with grass or synthetic fields. Glasgow, Edinburgh and North Lanarkshire have had the greatest increase in the number of synthetic pitches, with 60 artificial surfaces built in the past decade. Falkirk, Stirling and West Lothian have seen the most pitches disappear – 22 – without being replaced in the same period. A spokesman for Sportscotland, which is consulted on any planning application to build on playing fields, said: "Across Scotland we are seeing improved playing fields delivering greatly enhanced usability and playability and we are very encouraged that in the last 15 months proposals for 36 new synthetic grass pitches have been approved." (Source: Eddie Barnes and Fiona Gray 07 September 2008; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Cancer links to obesity revealed in new study

Overweight people are significantly more likely to develop a range of common cancers, a major study has found. The findings show the extent to which an individual's risk of contracting seven types of cancer increases with every pound of weight put on. People who lose weight can reduce their chance of developing the disease. In the study, which is published in the British Journal of Cancer this week, researchers analysed data from around the world on obesity, weight gain and weight loss in relation to cancers of the breast, pancreas, kidney, colon, prostate, oesophagus and endometrium, which is the lining of the womb. Ed Yong, health information manager at Cancer Research UK said: "Most people associate high body weight with conditions like diabetes and heart disease, and a lot of people are not aware of the links between body weight and cancer. "This is a very important and growing issue. Maintaining a healthy body weight is one of the most important things you can do to prevent cancer after not smoking. "If you look at these cancers, they include two of the most common, breast and colon, and some which have very low survival rates, pancreatic and oesophagus. So body weight has a substantial impact on cancers that are common and those that are difficult to treat." In the study, carried out at the Washington University School of Medicine in the US, the cancer which emerged as having the clearest link to weight gain was breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The risk of catching the disease increased by five per cent with every five kilograms of weight gained. Weight gain in adulthood accounts for almost a quarter of cases of the disease in older women, the study found. Around 45,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK, eighty per cent of which are in women over the age of 50. Conversely, women who lost weight were at a significantly lower risk of the disease. Researchers believe this may be because weight loss lowers oestrogen levels. Research into colon cancer found that men who put on six kilograms or more in weight ran twice the risk of contracting the disease as men who lost two kilograms or more. Those who gained 21 kilograms or more after reaching the age of 20 had a 60 per cent increased risk compared to men who have gained less than five kilograms. Colon cancer is diagnosed in more than 36,000 people a year in the UK. Scientists suspect that weight loss and increased activity reduces circulating levels of insulin which may help to prevent the cancer from developing. The study found links between cancer rates and increases in body mass index (BMI), the measurement of obesity which is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by their height in metres. A BMI increase of one, after the age of 20, gives a 14 per cent increased risk of oesophageal cancer, which is diagnosed in around 7,500 Britons a year. Those with a BMI increase of more than eight ran a threefold risk of contracting the cancer. A person whose BMI increases by five runs a 14 per cent increased risk of pancreatic cancer, a 31 per cent increased risk of kidney cancer, and, among women, a 52 per cent increased risk of endometrial cancer. Links between prostate cancer and obesity were less clear. However, men who put on more than 10 per cent of their body weight and had a BMI greater than 24.4 were twice as likely to develop prostate cancer as men with a lower BMI. Source: Roger Dobson 6 September 2008 (Source: .telegraph.co.uk; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Link Between Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes And Neurodegeneration Found

New research from Rhode Island Hospital found that obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) can contribute to mild neurodegeneration with features common with Alzheimer's disease (AD) – the first study to show that obesity can cause neurodegeneration. In a study on animal models, lead researcher Suzanne de la Monte, MD, MPH, of Rhode Island Hospital, utilized chronic high fat diets to cause a two-fold increase in mean body weight. In these animal models, there was a marginally reduced mean brain weight and a significantly reduced mean brain weight/body weight ratio, providing evidence that obesity with T2DM is sufficient to cause mild global atrophy in the brain. De la Monte says, "In essence, the brain shrinks and several biochemical and molecular abnormalities found in patients with AD, including brain insulin resistance, develop with chronic obesity and T2DM. However, the extent of the abnormalities in no way matches AD." Researchers note that the neuropathological abnormalities were mild and the associated brain insulin resistance could serve as a co-factor in the development and progression of AD. Overall, the study found that that the effects of obesity and T2DM can essentially aggravate or contribute to the severity or progression of AD, but cannot be the sole cause of the condition. The findings suggest that strategies to reduce obesity and prevent or control T2DM could modify the clinical course of mild cognitive impairment and AD. De la Monte also notes, "We don't know yet if these effects of T2DM/obesity are reversible with weight loss. However, we're fairly sure that the abnormalities are related to the T2DM that accompanies obesity and not just increased weight." 5 September 2008 Adapted from materials provided by Lifespan, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. (Source: ScienceDaily; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Thinking People Eat Too Much: Intellectual Work Found To Induce Excessive Calorie Intake

A Université Laval research team has demonstrated that intellectual work induces a substantial increase in calorie intake. The details of this discovery, which could go some way to explaining the current obesity epidemic, are published in the most recent issue of Psychosomatic Medicine. The research team, supervised by Dr. Angelo Tremblay, measured the spontaneous food intake of 14 students after each of three tasks: relaxing in a sitting position, reading and summarizing a text, and completing a series of memory, attention, and vigilance tests on the computer. After 45 minutes at each activity, participants were invited to eat as much as they wanted from a buffet. The researchers had already shown that each session of intellectual work requires only three calories more than the rest period. However, despite the low energy cost of mental work, the students spontaneously consumed 203 more calories after summarizing a text and 253 more calories after the computer tests. This represents a 23.6% and 29.4 % increase, respectively, compared with the rest period. Blood samples taken before, during, and after each session revealed that intellectual work causes much bigger fluctuations in glucose and insulin levels than rest periods. "These fluctuations may be caused by the stress of intellectual work, or also reflect a biological adaptation during glucose combustion," hypothesized Jean-Philippe Chaput, the study's main author. The body could be reacting to these fluctuations by spurring food intake in order to restore its glucose balance, the only fuel used by the brain. "Caloric overcompensation following intellectual work, combined with the fact that we are less physically active when doing intellectual tasks, could contribute to the obesity epidemic currently observed in industrialized countries," said Mr. Chaput. "This is a factor that should not be ignored, considering that more and more people hold jobs of an intellectual nature," the researcher concluded. In addition to Jean-Philippe Chaput and Angelo Tremblay, the study's authors include Vicky Drapeau, Paul Poirier, and Normand Teasdale. Adapted from materials provided by Université Laval, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. 5 September 2008 (Source: ScienceDaily; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Trust spends £65,000 on maps to help people take walks

A health trust is spending £65,000 on maps to show exercise-shy residents how to take walks. Stoke-on-Trent Primary Care Trust said it was keen to get the estimated 118,000 people who they fear need more exercise on their feet. But the council has been criticised for spending too much. Five different maps show routes in Stoke to walk around, such as one which takes the reader from the city's Central Forest Park to Port Vale Stadium. Fifteen more will be produced by Christmas so that every ward will have their own tailored map. The Closer To Home Circular Walks project has been funded by the trust, which commissioned the Federation Of Stadium Communities to work out the routes. Siu-Ann Pang, the Trust's obesity specialist, said research showed many people were reluctant to go to the gym or swimming pool, and that the maps were made to promote making exercise part of a daily routine. She said: "We want people to change their mindsets and their culture and walking a habit rather than a chore they have to do." The £65,000 will be spent over three years on mapping the routes, training 60 walk leaders and the creation of a walking network. However the NHS campaign group Health Emergency said it thought the Trust had not spent its money wisely. Geoff Martin, a spokesman, said: "It sounds like it's a good idea but the kind of thing they should have got a local company to sponsor. "A total of £65,000 out of its budget is a lot of money for a few maps, I could have done it cheaper for them than that. Somewhere along the line it seems like they have not spent too wisely." Matthew Sinclair, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, added: "With ordinary taxpayers paying more than ever to finance the NHS and patients being denied life saving drugs it is incredible that the Trust are wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to finance these unnecessary maps. "It isn't the job of the NHS to play tour guide and it isn't a lack of walking routes that keeps people on the couch." Source: Nick Britten 5 September 2008 (Source: telegraph.co.uk; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Health bosses get £2.5m to fight obesity

HEALTH bosses in Lothian were today handed £2.5 million to help tackle childhood obesity over the next three years. The cash is part of £19m worth of funding for health boards across the country to implement the Scottish Government's Healthy Eating, Active Living Action Plan to improve diet and increase physical activity. The announcement was made by Public Health Minister Shona Robison and the issue was set to come under the spotlight in parliament today. But The British Medical Association outlined its own five-point plan to combat the problem. "Childhood obesity rates in Scotland are worryingly high," said Dr Dean Marshall, chair of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee. "The Government's action plan provides little detail on real actions that will reverse this trend. It is time for tough action." In Scotland in 2006/07, one in five primary one schoolchildren were classed as overweight, according to the BMA, including 8.5 per cent who were classed as obese and 4.3 per cent classed as severely obese. 04 September 2008 (Source: Edinburgh Evening News; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Child obesity 'not being tackled'

Childhood obesity rates are worryingly high and not being tackled by the Scottish Government's action plan, the British Medical Association has said. The BMA said one in five primary one pupils were categorised as overweight in 2006-07, while 8.5% and 4.3% were classed as obese and severely obese. The issue will be raised in parliament later but the BMA has outlined a five-point plan to combat the problem. Ministers said NHS boards will be given £19m over three years to help children. The BMA said the Scottish Government's action plan provided little detail on measures that would reverse the trend. It recommended that ministers focus on five areas - nutrition in schools; exercise; the media and advertising; food labelling and health claims and the role of health professionals. Dr Dean Marshall, chair of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners committee, said: "Childhood obesity rates in Scotland are worryingly high. "It is time for the government to take tough action." The highest levels of overweight, obese and severely obese children were found in the most deprived areas. "We are in danger of raising a generation of children burdened with long term chronic health conditions," Dr Marshall said. "Doctors have a role to play in supporting overweight patients and talking about the dangers of obesity but there is a limit to what they can do." The Scottish Government published an action plan earlier this year to improve diet, increase physical activity and tackle obesity, called Healthy Eating, Active Living. It was backed by £56m, of which £40m was new money.

Free fruit

A spokeswoman said health boards around the country would be allocated £19m, to be targeted at helping children over the next three years. Public Health Minister Shona Robison said: "We are determined to stop the problem of obesity in its tracks, by supporting new mums, babies and all young people to develop healthy eating and active living habits that last a lifetime. "We are fulfilling our commitment to provide free fruit to mothers and pre-school children but we're going much further than that. "These new resources will help bring about a wide range of initiatives that support a healthy diet and physical activity." The BMA said more than 40 people are diagnosed with diabetes in Scotland every day and most of these cases are Type 2 diabetes, which is closely linked with obesity. The NHS spends at least £2bn in the UK every year on treating ill health caused by poor diet. 4 September 2008 (Source: BBC News; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

TOUGH NUTRITION STANDARDS COME INTO FORCE FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Balls says schools need a proper lunch culture to keep children eating healthily - The most robust nutrient standards for school lunches in the world come into force this week in primary schools, after two years of careful preparation by school caterers and support by the School Food Trust (SFT). New menus being introduced across England include healthy versions of old favourites – from traditional roasts to Chilli Con Carne and Shepherd’s Pie; from homemade salmon fingers and stir fries to risotto, with fresh fruit, vegetables and salads. Junk food has already been banned from being sold in canteens and school vending machines – but the new standards will specify the maximum (fat, saturated fat, sugar, salt) and minimum (carbohydrate, protein, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, calcium, iron, zinc) nutrient value of an average school lunch. The standards will be statutory for secondary schools in England from September 2009. Ed Balls today said the nutrient standards were a vital step in fighting childhood obesity. But he urged schools to make tucking into school lunch more enjoyable for children starting this term – particularly in secondaries. He warned that 11-year-olds might be put off eating healthy dinners and miss out on the benefits of healthy, unless there is a proper lunch culture and they are treated like proper paying customers. Mr Balls pointed to experience of the best schools, where simple, straightforward steps can combat the historical drop-off and raise take up. These include:

• staggering lunch breaks, using swipe card systems or letting pupils pre-book lunches online to cut queues;

• younger children eating separately from older pupils; strong stay-on-site policies, if heads choose to use them;

• replacing ugly, plastic compartmentalised food trays, with proper china and cutlery;

• actively marketing healthy lunches to families; and

• involving young people in drawing up menus.

Provisional figures from the 2008 school lunch take up survey, published by the School Food Trust and Local Authority Caterers’ Association in July, showed the corner has finally been turned on school dinners. It showed that over three million children are eating school dinners daily – an increase of around 50,000 extra pupils over last year; a two percentage points rise to 43% in primary schools, while take up in secondary schools has now levelled out, after a steep fall, at 37%. The final figures will be published in the next few weeks. Children, Schools and Families Secretary of State Ed Balls said: "School catering staff and teachers are doing some fantastic work. July’s provisional take-up survey figures showed we are finally turning the corner – as all the experts accept, including Jamie Oliver. "School catering is a really tough job and a culture change in schools and wider society of this size doesn’t simply happen overnight. I understand schools’ concerns about the time, effort and cost that introducing healthy lunches take. "But the bottom line is six out of 10 secondary pupils are still not eating school dinners. Schools, parents, children and Government need to tackle obesity together and we make no apologies for introducing tough nutrient standards. "Moving to secondary school is a big moment in anyone’s life. Many children, who eat healthy lunches at primary school, stop when they go to senior school - put off by long lunch queues; unpopular menus; or having to eat in the same room as teenagers six or seven years older then them. The fact is that children are not going to eat lunch at school if none of their friends are. "The best way of keeping 11-year-olds eating at school is to treat them like the proper paying customers they are. Lunch should be a social occasion and children need a good dining experience in their first few weeks of secondary school or else they may never come back. "Hundreds of schools are already leading the way in this - it is not rocket science to give them time and space to eat; involve them in drawing up menus; and market school food properly to families." School Food Trust Chairman Prue Leith said: "This week we begin the final steps in radically changing school food. Over-fatty, salty, or sugary are gone, replaced by nutritious and delicious meals. This is an essential step in ensuring that all children, no matter what their background, can have a hot healthy meal. "Parents of children starting school for the first time today can be assured that their child's school meal will nourish their brains and bodies and give them energy to succeed in all they do." 04 September 2008 (Source: department for children, school and families; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Bosses hire Weight Watchers diet police to stop office workers piling on the pounds

Office employees could face weekly weigh-ins in a drive to encourage healthy living and bring down the number of staff sick days. The scheme, which will target nine-to-fivers who sit at a computer all day, has been devised by Weight Watchers and will be offered to companies across Britain. Dieticians will run classes during lunch hour or immediately after work, offer advice to employees and weigh them every week. Mads Ryder, senior vice president of Weight Watchers UK, who lost 26lb on the weight-loss course last year, said he expected at least 500 organisations to sign up. 'There are a lot of companies that want to take more care of their employees and offer more than an overall package,' he said. 'For the employer it will help cut healthcare costs and cut down on the number of days staff are off sick, and I don't think employees will have a problem with taking part. 'Losing weight makes you more confident about yourself and improves your ability to do your job.' It is understood Waitrose, run by Mark Price, the self-styled 'chubby grocer' who has started his own 'notsochubby' blog about his battle to shed a few pounds, is among those to have expressed an interest. Mr Ryder said his company would promise confidentiality to prevent colleagues finding out each other's weights and that the scheme would offer staff a support network to prevent them slipping back into bad habits. He said he also hoped it would cut staff absence from the workplace, which is thought to cost businesses more than £13billion a year, with an average of 6.7 days lost per employee. 'We are about changing attitudes to food,' he added. 'Unfortunately the UK is one of the leading countries in terms of a growing obesity problem.' 03 September 2008 (Source: Mail Online; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Traffic-light food labelling

Implications for public health

Almost two thirds of adults and a third of children are either overweight or obese,1 and it is estimated that without clear action these figures will rise to almost nine in ten adults and two-thirds of children by 2050.2 Dietary surveys indicate that average intakes of total fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt among the UK population clearly exceed recommended intakes, and that some population groups are eating more than twice the amounts recommended for a healthy diet.3 Clear nutrition signposting on the front of food packaging is an important tool to help people make healthier food choices. It is estimated that most shoppers spend just four to ten seconds choosing each product. Repeated consumer surveys show that people want a single, trusted system of nutritional labeling that uses a consistent approach, wherever they shop, whatever the brand. The cross-government strategy to tackle obesity in England, points to the responsibility of the food industry to provide consumers with clear and consistent information about the food and drink they consume, and supports the adoption of 'traffic-light' nutritional labelling by retailers and manufacturers. August 2008 (Source: Faculty of Public Health, 4 St Andrew’s Place, London NW1 4LB • t: 020 7935 3115 • e: policy@fph.org.uk •w: www.fph.org.uk • Registered charity no: 263894; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Does a physical activity referral scheme improve the physical activity among routine primary health care patients?

Physical activity referral (PAR) schemes or concepts occur in varying forms. Because few physical activity intervention studies have been carried out in routine health care settings, it is difficult to translate research findings into daily practice. The aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of a PAR scheme implemented in routine primary health care. The study did not include a control group and was based on the ordinary staff's work efforts and follow-up measures. During a 2-year period, 6300 PARs were issued. Effectiveness was measured by an increase in self-reported physical activity. Half of the patients reached reported increased physical activity both at 3 months (49%) and at 12 months (52%). The proportion of inactive patients decreased from 33% at baseline to 17% at 3 months and 20% at 12 months. The proportion of patients who were physically active on a regular basis increased from 22% at baseline to 33% at 3 months and 32% at 12 months. Neither the patient's age nor the profession of the prescriber was associated with differences in effectiveness. The patient's activity level at baseline, the type of physical activity as well as the reason for the prescription were associated with increased physical activity. PMID: 18627557 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Source: Leijon ME, Bendtsen P, Nilsen P, Festin K, Ståhle A. 18 June 2008 (Source: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Social Medicine and Public Health Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Tackling Childhood Obesity [06-10-2008]

Lessons from New York City. Dr Bob Aylett, Deputy Vice Chancellor, invites you to an evening of lecture and debate to launch collaboration between London Metropolitan University and City University of New York. Wednesday 15th October 6pm Numbers Limited - Booking Required Free of charge ... (source: HOPE Network of Network Co-Ordinators; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Experts Say Insufficient Exercise Recommended For Children

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, UK, have carried out research that suggests the one hour of moderate exercise a day recommended to children from health experts may not be enough to tackle the rising problem of childhood obesity. Their research has been published in the most recent issue of the journal Archives of Diseases in Childhood. The results come from the EarlyBird study, which has followed the development of over 200 children in Plymouth born in 1995 and 1996. Researchers found that when these children were aged between five and eight, 42 per cent of boys and only 11 per cent of girls met the government recommended daily exercise level of one hour of moderate exercise. The study also found that exercise alone had no positive effect on weight control over time, although the research team were keen to stress that this does not mean that exercise has no health benefits for children. Indeed, when compared with peers who took less exercise, children who met the recommended activity levels fared better for blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin resistance, which is a recognised precursor to type 2 diabetes later in life. However the researchers did believe that improving children's diets, which they claim to have "changed markedly" over the last two decades, would be likely to have a greater impact on their overall health and weight. Dr. Brad Metcalf, researcher in the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Peninsula Medical School, commented: " We are keen to stress that children should be encouraged to be active, because our study showed that regular exercise improved metabolic health even without improving BMI." The research team worked with 212 children from 54 schools in Plymouth and followed them for four years. Once a year the children were tested by wearing small monitors that recorded their exercise levels. The amount of physical activity achieved by children each day varied considerably - some only managed 10 minutes of moderate exercise, while others went over 90 minutes. Said Dr. Metcalf: "The results for girls are in line with past research that shows that young girls do not exercise as much as boys. To some degree any child's activity level can be affected by biology - some children are more naturally active than others and this might explain why there is such a marked difference between boys and girls. At present it is unclear whether exercise guidelines should be adjusted for this difference, or whether girls should be encouraged to exercise more." Article adapted from original press release (Source : Medical News Today; Rachel Leach - HOPE network and network Co-Ordinators)

Finnish food export profitability up

Finland’s food exports were up 8% by value for Jan–June 2007 compared to the first half of 2006, according to statistics supplied by Finnish Customs which mirror the significant increase for the same period reported in a review issued by the Pellervo Economic Research Institute (PTT). While the export volumes of some products have in fact fallen, rising world food prices have ensured growth by value.

The changing face of the world dairy and grain markets

Beef, malt and dairy exports (excluding cheese) saw the greatest value growth among Finland’s traditional high-volume food exports, with the figure for dairy exports alone showing a rise of as much as 6.7% in the first half of the year. Sugar industry exports were unchanged and those of pork and margarines fell. Exports of alcoholic beverages continued to grow and their value rose 16% in the first half of the year. The long-term outlook for Finland’s grain export operations looks positive with a good harvest in a favourable market. Barley exports continued their vigorous growth with figures for the first half of the year exceeding the total value of the whole of 2006, and wheat was also up.

Sustainable growth through overseas expansion

The trend in Finnish food industry export profitability will probably slow as world market prices stabilise. The domestic food industry faces a limited capacity to expand domestic production and a number of companies are looking to the growing Baltic Sea markets through co-operation with local producers. 24.10.2007 (Source: Pellervo Economic Research Institute (PTT) review 3/2007)

Finnish food packaging innovations on display at PacTec 2007

Finnish R&D expertise is helping to create value added food industry packages that optimise food quality and consumption, consumer and customer satisfaction, and address environmental issues surrounding the packaging and disposal business.

UPM on guard

UPM’s Shelf Life Guard smart packages make shopping and eating easier for consumers, and facilitate more effective internal supervision for the whole food industry chain. The Shelf Life Guard label turns blue if air seeps into Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) due to damage or leakage. This allows the consumer to assess the condition of the product once opened, based on his or her own sensory judgement, and use the food well before its best before date. Freshness Guard, another UPM innovation in intelligent packaging designed for the food industry, indicates the onset of deterioration in MAP vacuum packed poultry or fish products.

Huhtamäki environmental technology

Huhtamäki Oyj has announced a completely compostable paper cup for hot and cold beverages, the first of its kind on the market in Europe. A biocoating allows the cups to be disposed of in industrial biowaste facilities. Restaurants and event organisers will be able to dispose of the packing waste together with biowaste without prior sorting. The raw material for this innovative product comes from well managed forests and can be traced back to its origin. The PacTec&FoodTec fair ran from 16–18 October at the Helsinki Fair Centre drawing more than 8,000 visitors. 24.10.2007 (Source: Finfood News Service)

Coffee drinking may offer protection from Parkinson’s disease says Finnish study

The results of a Finnish follow-up study support earlier observations on the preventative effect of coffee drinking in developing Parkinson’s disease, reports the latest issue of the Kansanterveys journal. The data are not as yet sufficient to recommend drinking more coffee in order to avert the onset of the disease, however. Participants who drank at least four cups of coffee per day had a 40 per cent smaller risk of falling victim to Parkinson’s disease than those who drank 0–3 cups of coffee daily. It was also observed that the risk decreased progressively as more coffee was consumed. The research subjects’ average consumption was around 5 cups per day.

Long-term studies few and far between

The research population comprised 6,700 men and women aged 50–79 years who participated in a Mobile Clinic Health Examination Survey in a number of different parts of Finland from 1973–1976, with a 22 year follow-up period. Only five long-term follow-up studies on the link between coffee drinking and Parkinson’s disease have been conducted to date. They have mainly focused on Americans, whose coffee culture is radically different from that of e.g. Finns. It is not yet known whether coffee drinking has a real physiological effect on developing Parkinson’s disease. A number of hypotheses are being studied to reveal the effective mechanism, with attention focused in particular on the antioxidants and caffeine found in coffee.

British study published in support

A British study published through The Finnish Medical Society Duodecim observed that the link might be explained by the characteristics of the individual concerned. Parkinson’s patients were by nature more reserved and less inclined towards risk taking than the healthy control subjects. Previous studies have indicated that people who take risks and seek adventure are more disposed to smoking and drinking, and are also more inclined to drink coffee. In theory, the observations could be explained by the dopamine system of the brain; the system influences the pleasure obtained from tobacco, alcohol and caffeine as well as the tendency to seek exciting experiences, as dopamine production increases. The presence of lower levels of dopamine is one of the key characteristics of Parkinson’s disease. Additional information: Paulig Ltd 17.10.2007 (Edited by: Finfood News Service)

Fish farmed in Finland eat GM-free feed

The Finnish Fish Farmers’ Association has confirmed that no genetically modified organisms are used in the production of ingredients contained in the feed used by Finnish fish farms. The fish feed market in Finland is dominated by Finnish company Raisio Feed Ltd and Denmark’s Biomar Group. Their combined market share exceeds 90 per cent, while Danish companies Dana Feed A/S and Aller Aqua A/S, together with Norwegian operator Ewos Group, make up the remaining 10%. The Association scrutinised all five companies and received their reassurance that Finnish fish feed is GM free. More information: Federation of Finnish Fisheries Association 17.10.2007 (Source: Finfood news service)

Valio voted Finland’s most responsible company

In reply to a survey on companies’ corporate responsibility, consumers named Valio the most responsible. Respondents focused on investing in personnel well-being and expertise, and accounting for environmental issues.

Jobs and the environment

The top ten companies were listed as Veikkaus, SOK, Nokia, Kesko, Finnair, Tapiola, UPM Kymmene, Neste Oil and SanomaWSOY. Aiming to keep jobs in Finland and minimising the environmental load resulting from a company’s operations were considered key factors. More than a third of respondents said that corporate responsibility is also significant in making a buying decision. Commissioned by the top Finnish broadsheet Helsingin Sanomat and conducted by international market research organisation TNS Gallup, the results of the study were published at a seminar arranged in co-operation with human rights organisation Suomen Plan on 2nd October 2007. www.valio.fi 17.10.2007 (Source: Helsingin Sanomat, 3 October 2007.)

Matsutake mushrooms prized by Japanese consumers grow in Finnish forests

The Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA) Parkano Research Unit has kicked off a two-year research project training people to identify the matsutake mushroom and find sites where it typically grows. Matsutake holds a special and centuries old place in Japanese hearts. Although little known in Finland, it grows on sandy pine heath in a thin layer of humus and even on patches where there are no plants. The matsutake mushroom season runs from late July to early October.

First matsutake batches shipped to Japan

Finland began exporting matsutake to Japan with a 1,000 kg shipment this autumn. The mushroom is very valuable in Japan where 95% are imported following the collapse of domestic crops. METLA has suggested that income from the matsutake mushroom might rise to a very high level. Swedish calculations have shown that in the barren pine heaths of Northern Sweden, income from the mushroom could be 2–3 times that from the trees over a hundred year period. Swedish Class A matsutake yield 85 dollars per kilo in Japan, less logistics costs, and an export business was established in Sweden in 2003. The aroma of the matsutake, which is particularly valued by the Japanese, is at its best for 10 days from picking. It takes an expert, fast-moving export organisation using air cargo to get the mushrooms to the Japanese market in the freshest possible condition. METLA is currently studying where matsutake can be found in Finland. Although the mushroom appears mostly in Northern Finland, the 2007 crop was also good in the best areas in the south of the country. The primary picking season this year was mid-August to early September. In May 2006, METLA commenced a two-year EU financed project that examines where matsutake appears in the Northern Satakunta and Sata-Häme regions of Finland. Further information: METLA/Parkano, Eira-Maija Savonen, Researcher, Tel. +358 10 211 4048 and Tytti Sarjala, Researcher, Tel. +358 10 211 4064 www.metla.fi 11.10.2007 (Source: Finfood)

Functional Finnish chewing gum fights cholesterol

Plant sterols and stanols to lower cholesterol in the body are already added to a number of Finnish functional foods, mainly margarines, yoghurts, beverages, and even bread. Now Finnish company Fennobon Oy, which develops, manufactures and markets multifunctional chewing gums and candies, has launched a new chewing gum containing plant sterols and stanols.

Multiple value added

XyliDent PRO Reducol chewing gum contains the same plant sterol and stanol ingredient used in many other cholesterol lowering foods. And with xylitol it’s naturally good for teeth, too. One piece of the gum contains 75 milligrams of the ingredient, and the full cholesterol lowering effect is obtained from an 1800 mg daily dose of plant sterol. “It should be remembered that plant sterols and stanols are just one tool for cholesterol management. Dietary and lifestyle changes are usually necessary, too, where high cholesterol values are concerned,” says Miska Kuusela, Managing Director of Fennobon Oy. (Source: Finfood)

Probiotics may protect against allergies through inflammation

A low-grade inflammation caused by probiotics may explain their efficacy in the prevention and treatment of allergies, reveals a newly published doctoral dissertation. The inflammation is an indication of the activation of the immune system. Emma Marschan, Licentiate of Medicine, raised the possibility in her thesis that probiotics may cause a low-grade inflammation resembling helminth infection in the body. In populations where helminth diseases occur, there are significantly fewer allergies compared with other populations. The study revealed that the grade of eczema in atopic children with milk allergy improved more in those who received probiotic Lactobacillus GG (LGG®) compared with those receiving placebo.

Identifying individuals who benefit most from probiotics

“It’s still too early to recommend the extensive use of probiotics specifically for the treatment and prevention of allergies. We need more precise information about the effects of different bacterial strains and better methods for identifying the individuals who would genuinely benefit from these products,” Ms Marschan wrote in the latest issue of the Kansanterveys journal. Her thesis has its public defence on 12th October. The study analysed the qualities of cord blood cells and their link to allergy at the age of two years – the allergic reaction was already visible in the cord blood. Cord blood is an attractive area for future research regarding indicators that predict allergies.

Probiotic combinations

Ms Marschan’s research is part of an extensive treatment and prevention study. At the prevention stage, pregnant women received either a product containing four different probiotic bacteria (Valio Ltd) or placebo, for a month before they were due to give birth. The babies then received the same products as their mother for six months. Two different probiotic products were used in the study. One contained LGG® alone, the other four different probiotic bacteria, and the effects were different. The individual’s own immune system also seems to impact the immunological response. 11.10.2007 (Source: Finfood)

Nordic food industry companies on show in St. Petersburg

Nordic Food Week in St. Petersburg ran from 17–21 September 2007 and included presentations made by Nordic food industry players. St. Petersburg has become the Nordic food industry’s gateway to Russia and many Finnish producers hold a market leading position in the area. Nordic producers have an excellent reputation in St. Petersburg and market their goods under the banner “European products”. Elsewhere in Russia, the European tag is not necessarily as good a marketing approach, especially for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) such as basic food products. “Valio’s positions in the regions are strengthening,” says Mika Koskinen, Managing Director of ZAO Valio St Petersburg. Valio produces consumer butter sold under some local private label brands, as well as the original Valio Butter brand – the top seller in the Russian butter market. Valio is also the premium category market leader in processed cheese and imported hard cheeses. Mr Koskinen notes that the situation with regard to selling new product items, such as yoghurts and desserts, is more challenging, because many competitors are spending a lot to create high market visibility.

Findus finds new niche

Swedish company Findus found a virgin niche in the Russian food markets: frozen ready-to-eat meals. “We launched the first microwave foods at the beginning of last year in St.Petersburg and as the products were totally something new, a local competitor introduced similar kind of products in the following autumn” says Taija Felt, Export Director. Operations were then hampered by an import ban on Swedish beef imposed in May 2006 that has yet to be lifted. Findus made later on a subcontracting agreement with a Finnish meat producer and launched Finnish meatballs in the Russian shops. Additionally, Findus has a range of wok meals, as well as chicken and fish meals available in shops both in St.Petersburg and in Moscow.

Russians drink instant coffee

Coffee is a luxury product in Russia with a great deal of potential. Just some 40 per cent of the urban population drink one cup of coffee a day at present. Paulig has entered the market in strength, even recoloured its visual image from green to brown specifically for Russia, and produced smaller packages to make it easier for consumers to try the product out. Azaliya Sungatullina, Brand Manager, says that Paulig is Russia’s biggest foreign importer of ground coffee and coffee beans, but the market is still small compared with the Nordics. Russians typically drink instant coffee and total consumption is low by Nordic standards. A market survey conducted by Paulig indicates that Finns drink on average as much as 12 kilos of coffee per year while Russians consume just one kilo.

The Myllyn Paras tiger

Finnish company Myllyn Paras has developed an instant porridge in single dose bags for the Russian market. The packages are decorated with a playful tiger that has been found to appeal to adults as well as children. The single dose bags make an ideal snack to take to work.

Nordic co-operation made for a good food week

The main organisers of the Nordic Food Week were the Secretariat for Nordic Cooperation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Nordic Council of Ministers, Finfood and Viexpo. The Nordic food industry companies’ exhibition raised the profile of small and medium-sized Nordic food companies in particular, aiming to help put them in touch with potential local customers. 03.10.2007 (Source: Finfood news)

Half of school milk is fat free in Finland

Fat free milk accounts for almost 51 per cent of all milk consumed in Finnish schools, Finland’s Dairy Nutrition Council has revealed (figures for Jan-June 2007), which is five percentage points up on the same period last year. Low fat milk makes up 37 per cent of the total, “ykkösmaito” (1% fat) another 9 per cent, and at a figure that has remained constant in recent years, full fat milk came in with 3 per cent.

Milk is served as part of a free school meal

More than 600,000 free school meals are served to pupils on school days in Finland and a survey has indicated that well over half of 10–14 year-old Finns drink milk with their school lunch. Generally speaking, all Finns of that age group eat school lunch. Milk is promoted as an important part of the Finnish school lunch with the greatest emphasis placed on the need to ensure a sufficient intake of calcium and vitamin D at that age.

Recognising the value of milk

World School Milk Day is co-ordinated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and had its 8th outing on 26th September. The goal is to remind us how important a part milk should play in nutrition for school age children in different parts of the world. Further information: www.maitojaterveys.fi www.valio.fi 03.10.2007 (Source: Finfood news)

Fazer has operated in Russia for 10 years

Finnish food service, bakery and confectionary business Fazer Group has operated in the bakery sector in Russia for ten years now. Business has grown on average by around 40 per cent a year in each of the last three, and now accounts for 14 per cent of Group turnover. Fazer made its debut in Russia in 1997 via co-operation with the St Petersburg based Hlebnyi Dom bakery. In 2002, Fazer acquired the Murinski bakery and in 2003 Vasileostrovski. Fazer now has an approximately 80 per cent holding in Hlebnyi Dom, and a 30 per cent market share in and around St. Petersburg. In 2005, Fazer acquired the Zvjozdnyi bakery in Moscow, one of the biggest producers of frozen pizza and dough in Russia. The latest acquisition is Volzhky pekar, the leading producer of fresh bread and pastries in the Tver region. Fazer has invested some € 130 million in its Russian operations in the last ten years, and the Group’s four bakeries in Russia employ 3,500 people. According to Fazer President, Berndt Brunow, Russia is one of Fazer’s key growth areas and the goal is to continue that growth, both organically and through acquisitions, and double turnover in five years. 03.10.2007 (Source: Finfood news)

Researching the environmental effects of chicken production

Industrial processes are eco-efficient

A recent study shows that the environmental effects stemming from industrial processes in chicken production are relatively minor. The greatest environmental burden lies in the early stages of the production chain, where the management of environmental effects is difficult. HK Ruokatalo Oy opened its chicken production chain to examination in the first study of its kind in Finland. No similar studies have been reported anywhere else in the world. The research project on HK Ruokatalo and its contract farms poultry business was coordinated by MTT Agrifood Research Finland, and also involved Biolan Oy, Huhtamäki Oyj, Ruokakesko Oy, Raisio plc, Suomen Rehu Oy and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).

Nutrients from silage farming and ammonia from manure constitute the greatest burden

The study was conducted specifically on the production of Kariniemi brand chicken fillet strips in honey marinade. The chain included rearing the mother hens and chickens, feed production, slaughter, the manufacture of the final product, marinade and packages, and transportation and retail. One way to calculate the environmental effects of food production is to compare them with those of everyday products. For example, the total environmental effect related to a daily portion of the chicken product in question is equivalent to one-third that of a daily portion of cheese, and double that of a day’s rye bread.

A good result

The food, feed and package industry processes proved to be relatively eco-efficient. “The environmental effects caused by industrial processes are small compared with the rest of the production chain. Packages account for two per cent of the effects, which is as much as the chicken slaughter and final product manufacture put together,” says Juha-Matti Katajajuuri, Project Manager at MTT. Logistics account for around four per cent of the total environmental impact across the whole chain. “The biggest environmental factors in the chicken production chain are nutrient loading from silage farming and ammonia that evaporates from chicken manure. Energy consumption is highest at the poultry farms, where heating is increasingly provided from Finnish energy sources. The environmental effects such as discharges that cause eutrophication are however much more difficult to manage in farming exposed to the weather than in industrial processes,” Mr Katajajuuri explains. Further information: Juha-Matti Katajajuuri, Project Manger, Senior Researcher, MTT, Tel. +358 50 3599 772, firstname.lastname@mtt.fi Jari Leija, Senior Vice President, Poultry Business, HK Ruokatalo Oy, Tel. +358 10 570 5201, firstname.lastname@hk-ruokatalo.fi 24.09.2007 (Source: Finfood)

Cycling for local food in Finland

A bicycle relay was staged from 27–31 August to highlight the value and importance of Finnish food produced close to the consumer. Seven teams cycled some 700 kilometres south to Helsinki from Rovaniemi on the Finnish Arctic Circle. The relay legs varied from 25–60 km and over 200 fans of Finnish food took part. The teams were made up of farmers, chefs, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers in the public domain. The goal was to remind consumers, food industry professionals, and indeed each and every one of us about the importance, taste and freshness of locally produced food. At the closing event on 31st August, arranged to take place after all the teams had completed the relay, a common call for local food was submitted to Jari Leppä, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Committee of Agriculture and Forestry. The end of the relay marked the beginning of nationwide local food weeks running to the end of September. The President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, is patron of both the relay and the local food weeks. 24.09.2007 (Source: Finfood news)

Linkosuo bakery granted ISO 22000 quality certificate

In a tremendous achievement, Linkosuo is the first Finnish bakery operation to be granted a quality certificate based on the ISO 22000 standard. The company had commenced overall quality development when it won a major production contract at the beginning of the 00’s and its methods of operation were evolving. ISO 22000 is an enterprise resource planning system focusing on food safety. Its purpose is to manage product safety and develop the whole company’s operations in a systematic fashion. The introduction of the system at Linkosuo involved training for personnel, stakeholders and subcontractors. A pre-audit was conducted by Foodwest Oy, and the audit performed by Bureau Veritas evaluated the operations of the bakery in terms of documentation, departmental operation, production and personnel hygiene, and quality goals and policy. Successful certification requires a zero-deviation quality system. Linkosuo is planning to export rye cripsbread to the Nordic countries, the Baltic States, Russia and Central Europe, and believes that the certificate will be of significant value in its international trade. Linkosuo is Finland’s third largest bakery group. Founded in 1936, it comprises Linkosuo Oy, Linkosuon Leipomo Oy and Linkosuon Kahvila Oy. Linkosuo’s bakery in Kangasala and the company’s eight cafés employ a total of around 240 people and Group turnover for 2006 stood at €º22 million. Further information: www.foodwest.fi www.linkosuo.fi 24.09.2007 (Source: Finfood news)

Food from Finland russian web site opened

The Finnish food information service is now also available in Russian on the website of Finfood - Finnish Food Information. The Russian version of the Food from Finland service was launched in conjunction with the Nordic Food Week in St. Petersburg on the 18th of September 2007. The website features news from the Finnish food industry, company presentations as well as a catalogue of export products for Russian media and buyers. The service strives to improve the availability of information about the food industry and to facilitate the networking between Russian and Finnish entrepreneurs. 19.09.2007 (Source: Finfood)

Finnish food product quality is based on superior raw materials

CThe concept of quality in food products is understood in different ways in different parts of the world, in terms for instance of measurable, sensory or technical factors. Production methods are also seen as a key contributor to quality. The factors that promote the high quality of Finnish food were analysed in a recent report produced by the Pellervo Economic Research Institute under the heading of Adding competitiveness to the food chain (Kilpailukykyä elintarvikeketjuun).

Decades of experience in quality work

The report acknowledges first and foremost the decades-long goal-oriented quality work inherent in Finnish food industry practices. The entire production chain comprising primary producers, food industry processors, logistics, the retail trade, the Food Service business, together with R&D, supervisory activities and information providers work day and night to ensure that Finnish food is of the highest possible quality.

Clean ingredients

The strengths of Finnish primary production lie in clean ingredients and a range of know-how, the report continues. Milk is the single most important agricultural product in Finland, and measured by bacteria and cell count, Finnish milk is the cleanest in the EU. Dairy research reaches the highest standards on the international stage and combined expertise in production and research ensures success. A good stock of animals in excellent health underpins Finnish beef, pork, poultry and lamb production. The absence of dangerous animal diseases in Finland means high quality meat that contains no drug residues. Strict salmonella control is applied in poultry production and the bacteria have no significant presence in Finnish food and farming. The strengths of Finnish crop husbandry lie in a clean farming environment. Pesticides are used very sparingly, and food produced in Finland contains little or no pesticide or heavy metal residues.

Quality-oriented thinking guides Finnish farms

Looking at the farms themselves, the goal of Finnish agricultural quality work is to improve the farms’ operations and products, enhance producer expertise and increase environmental awareness. Quality thinking breeds and benefits efficiency on Finnish farms, which in turn generates a competitive advantage for the whole Finnish food industry. The Pellervo report emphasises that ultimately Finnish quality work is all about fulfilling customer and consumer needs and expectations. Consumers are demanding to know more about the origin, traceability and safety of their food, and the Finnish food industry’s mission must be to satisfy those demands and maintain quality for the end user. Source report: “Adding competitiveness to the food chain”; Pellervo Economic Research Institute PTT. For further information visit www.ptt.fi Kilpailukykyä elintarvikeketjuun; Pellervon taloudellinen tutkimuslaitos (PTT); PTT-katsaus 2/2007 16.09.2007 (Source: Finfood)

Swan Flag verifies the origin and high quality of Finnish foods

The Food from Finland Swan Flag denotes the Finnish origin of packaged and processed foods.

Swan Flag influences consumer buying decisions

When it comes to food, Finns value purity, quality and safety above all else. More than 80% of Finnish consumers consider products carrying the Swan Flag safer than those that do not, while seven out of ten believe the products’ quality to be higher than that of others. The Alkuperämerkit (indication of origin) study conducted at the end of 2006 examined attitudes and buying behaviour.

Strictest criteria applied

Food products bearing the Swan Flag must be made in Finland with no less than 75% Finnish ingredients, while all meat, milk, fish and eggs used in the product must be 100% Finnish. The Finfood – Finnish Food Information organisation has granted around 10,000 Finnish food products the right to carry the Swan Flag symbol, which can be found on an increasing number of foods produced in Finland for both the domestic and export markets. Further information: Finfood – Finnish Food Information; Esa Anttila, Marketing Director, tel. +358 40 586 8009, esa.anttila[a]finfood.fi Food from Finland, Carita Vastinesluoma, Marketing Coordinator, tel. +358 40 035 9569, carita.vastinesluoma[a]finfood.fi 16.09.2007 (Source: Finfood)

Finnish coeliac knowhow presented in Slovenia

Coeliac specialists convene in Maribor, Slovenia

Finland is very widely represented at this year's annual congress of the Association of European Coeliac Societies (AOECS). The scientific congress is held in Maribor, Slovenia, 13–16 September 2007, and the associated exhibition will feature enterprises and their competencies and products. The Coeliac Cluster that operates under Sitra’s Food and Nutrition Programme (ERA) has further improved collaboration between researchers, the industry and the Finnish Coeliac Society. The special goal for the cluster’s activities is to increase the export of Finnish coeliac competence into global markets. The Finnish achievements showcased at the exhibition are Finland’s treatment practice, the Finnish Coeliac Society, the Coeliac Rapid Test, gluten-free beer and cereal, pure oat and chocolate products, all of which are the fruits of consistent long-term cooperation. Professor Markku Mäki, a leading Finnish coeliac researcher from the University of Tampere, says that the Coeliac Rapid Test is a good example of Finnish high-level know-how, cooperation and dedication. The test is unique in the world and it enables the diagnosis of the disease, which is difficult to detect, in a couple of minutes in the comfort of one’s own home. “We began intensive collaboration with the Finnish Coeliac Society over twenty years ago. We were also able to involve commercial companies in the project. Now we are seeing the commercial results of this persistent collaboration,” Mäki says. He and three other Finnish coeliac researchers will present papers at the scientific conference in Maribor. The test was created through a product development and commercialisation process in which the scientific research was carried out by Professor Markku Mäki and Dr. Ilma Korponay-Szabo. The commercialisation phase was contributed to by Finn-Medi Research Ltd, while Ani Biotech Oy developed and licensed the Rapid Test that it is now being exported to 20 different countries.

The Finnish Coeliac Society as an umbrella

The Finnish Coeliac Society has been functioning for over 30 years. It is a significant player in gathering together[or “in compiling”] Finnish coeliac know-how. Most Finns suffering from coeliac disease are members of the Society, which serves as an important support for them. “Our decision to invest in exporting coeliac know-how was based on the large amount of expertise on the matter“that had clearly accumulated in Finland. The highly motivated and cooperative Finnish Coeliac Society and a number of active, internationally focused SMEs were also a positive factor," says Markku Mikola, Project Manager for Sitra’s ERA Programme. The aim of the Coeliac Cluster is to gather together players in the field and to jointly produce materials and opportunities to present Finnish know-how globally. The joint campaign at Maribor, involving many enterprises, is one example of this. “Increasingly stronger cooperation will benefit research, companies and all coeliac disease sufferers. Such cooperation increases the knowledge and know-how of each party involved and gives an impetus to the development work, which will ultimately always be to the advantage of coeliac disease sufferers,” says Leila Kekkonen, the President of the Finnish Coeliac Society, and inviting all those present at the Maribor event also to participate the next upcoming major coeliac event. “All are welcome to the Keliakia 2007 fair in Tampere 30 November – 1 December 2007!” Further information: Finnish Coeliac Story >>> Markku Mikola, Project Manager, Food and Nutrition Programme (ERA) Tel. +358 9 6189 9235 or +358 40 771 8030, firstname.lastname@sitra.fi Markku Mäki, Professor, University of Tampere, tel. +358 50 3656668. firstname.lastname@uta.fi Leila Kekkonen, President, Finnish Coeliac Society Tel. +358 3 2541 321, firstname.lastname@keliakialiitto.fi Further information on the enterprises involved: www.sitra.fi www.keliakialiitto.fi www.anibiotech.fi www.dammenberg.fi www.moilas.fi www.raisio.com www.koff.fi 13.09.2007 (Source: Finfood)

Finnish seed potatoes have great export potential

The International Potato Center (CIP) endorses the export potential of Finnish seed potatoes, announced the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Dr Pamela Anderson, Director General of CIP, considers Finnish potato research to be of the highest quality and believes that Finnish potato farmers have a sound basis from which to increase seed potato exports. China and India recently included the promotion of potato farming in their national development programmes aiming to help secure their food supply. This action will create a potential 2.5 billion new consumers for potatoes and so increase demand for seed potatoes on the world market. Director General Anderson visited Finland on 5–6 September, and MTT Agrifood Research Finland has invited the International Potato Center to co-operate in an international research programme, Sustainability of the Food Chain, which aims to contribute to securing the sustainable development of the food supply. Funding is also expected from the European Union. 11.09.2007 (Source: Finfood news)

Probiotic oat drink balances bowel movements in elderly people

In a joint study conducted in Finland by the Functional Foods Forum at the University of Turku, the University of Helsinki, and Bioferme Oy in Kaarina, Finland, a fermented probiotic oat drink was found to promote bowel movement in the elderly. The randomised double-blind study was conducted on 209 elderly people in Helsinki who consumed fermented oat drinks daily for a seven month period. The study was carried out in two nursing homes for the elderly in a total of 12 wards. The wards were randomised to receive fermented oat drink that contained either Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium lactis, or no live bacteria. Both of the oat drinks containing bifidobacteria clearly promoted bowel movement in the elderly subjects, who also said that they enjoyed the drinks. The study was published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, and clinical studies continue to reveal more precise information regarding efficacy. Read more about Finnish oat Find Finnish oat product manufacturers 3F Trade Directory 11.09.2007 (Source: K.H. Pitkälä, T.E. Srandberg, U.H. Finne-Soveri, A.C. Ouwehand, T. Poussa, S. Salminen: Fermented cereal with specific bifidobacteria normalizes bowel movements in elderly nursing home residents. The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging 2007;11(4))

Finnish developed quick test for coeliac disease proves an international success

Biocard™ Celiac Test developed by Finnish biotech company Ani Biotech Oy is a quick test for coeliac disease based on the work of the Celiac Disease Study Group at the University of Tampere, Finland. This Finnish innovation has already been exported to around 20 countries in Europe, the Nordic countries and the Middle East. Registration, clinical tests for registration, and marketing are underway in a number of other countries. The quick test is a fast way to get a beat on coeliac disease, to indicate the presence or otherwise of the disease in patients with symptoms, and screen for it in symptom-free patients with family members confirmed to have the disease.

The quick test can be done at home

The Biocard™ Celiac Test is intended to speed up diagnosis. A drop of blood from the tip of a finger will show in just a few minutes whether there are coeliac antibodies in a person’s blood. The test can be employed by physicians, research institutes and members of the public.

Coeliac disease may cause a surprising number of symptoms

Coeliac disease may be behind e.g. undefined stomach symptoms. Conditions such as infertility, problems in the peripheral and the central nervous system, in the liver and teeth, and osteoporosis, may all be linked to coeliac disease. The basic mechanism of the disease is that the protein gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye, causes an inflammation on the mucous membrane of the small intestine in people with an inherited predisposition.

Research collaboration

The Celiac Disease Study Group collaborates in joint research projects with for instance the Department of Tissue Typing of the FRC Blood Service in Helsinki, the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Helsinki, and the University of Debrecen and the Heim Pal Hospital, in Budapest. Read more about coeliac disease Read about Finnish gluten-free products http://www.celiacresearch.eu/cdstudy/ http://www.anibiotech.fi/new_products.html 11.09.2007 (Source: Finfood news)

Finns are adopting European eating habits

Finns still value family mealtimes and enjoy cooking. 84 per cent say they consider mealtimes the most important occasion for spending time with family and friends, up from 79 per cent in 2003 according to the RISC Monitor study of food-related values and attitudes. “Finns’ eating habits have become more European, with almost one third also enjoying a glass of wine with their weekday meals,” says Tarja Pentilä, RISC Monitor Research Manager. The wine drinkers are comprised in particular of men over the age of 45 living in the Helsinki Metropolitan area.

Hybrid consumers trying different foods

Finns are also experimenting with what they consider new foods, a fact borne out by the greater volume of international food products to be found in shops. The trend is being led by people with an inquisitive and open-minded approach to trying something different, but more traditional, plainer foods are still valued. “Finns might eat more homely food during the week and try something special at the weekend,” Ms Pentilä explains. The division between weekday and weekend eating styles also shows up in the use of ready-to-eat meals. “Hybrid consumers choose both what and when they eat to fit their circumstances. On weekdays that often means something quick and easy, while there’s more time to cook at the weekend,” says Ms Pentilä.

Snacks taken between meals

The study’s respondents revealed that they replace fewer meals with snacks. The findings in fact indicate the possibility that people no longer replace meals with snacks, but snack in addition to meals. And different people have different ideas of what constitutes a snack. Some for example eat six small meals a day. Ms Pentilä comments that the decline in the snack culture also reflects the value accorded to traditional mealtimes. The study found that the 15–24 age group also appreciate regular meals. The RISC Monitor study was conducted in February–April 2007, initiated by telephone followed with a posted questionnaire. The sample comprised 4,000 Finns aged from 15–75 years. 05.09.2007 (Source: Finfood news)

Finnish farmers satisfied with farm controls

Most Finnish farmers are satisfied with farm control measures that aim to make sure the correct subsidies are paid and that no invalid support claims are made. They also agree with the way national officials handle control visits to farms. Approximately 2 100 farmers replied to a questionnaire by the Agricultural Ministry of Finland last year. The conclusions of the study will be used to improve Finland's national farm control system. Farmers feel that control visits to farms are necessary, matter-of-fact and done in a professional manner. If the same farm was targeted with a second control visit, over half would welcome the same official to carry it out. The vast majority believe that the national farm control system is tighter in Finland than in other EU member states. Four out of five farmers were afraid of making a mistake in their applications due to unclear support schemes. Most thought the national control staff have an unrewarding job.

Satisfactory explanations

The worst grades to control officials were given by farmers who, as a result of the visit, suffered a significant cut in the amount of different types of agricultural support they could claim. However, two thirds of those did say they got a satisfactory explanation as to why the cuts were made. Still, over 90 percent of the farmers who lost support money felt the cut was unreasonable. Over half of those, whose support sum was trimmed only slightly, felt the result was fair. (Finfood) Source: Toimittaja:Laura Lounasheimo 31/01/2001 (source: finfood)

At Time of Food Crisis, New Rice Varieties Boost Africa's Rice Production

On Eve of TICAD, Experts Warn Current Dependence on Rice Imports Is `Recipe for Disaster' for Africa; Production Still Lags Far Behind Consumption As African governments and tens of millions of poor African consumers faced a dangerous rice crisis in 2007, new rice varieties adapted to African conditions helped achieve a 6 percent increase in the continent's output. Though this represents a major advance, it is still far short of meeting demand, according to a report released today in advance of a key international conference in Japan on Africa's development. The new rice varieties, which are suited to drylands, were distributed and sown on more than 200,000 hectares during the last five years in several African countries, notably Guinea, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, and Uganda, according to the Africa Rice Center report. The results of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA®) Project, which is funded by the African Development Bank, the Japanese government and United Nations Development Programme, will be discussed next week at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, where world leaders and development experts are meeting for three days, starting May 28, to talk about pressing development issues in Africa. The gains from the new rice varieties came against a worrisome backdrop of rapidly increasing consumption of rice in Africa, which imports 40 percent of its rice. Africa Rice Trends, a report released earlier this year by the Africa Rice Center, notes that rice production in West Africa – the continent's main rice belt – increased 5.1 percent annually from 2001 to 2005, while consumption increased 6.5 percent annually during the same period. Africa imports more than one-third of the rice traded in the world; in 2006, when prices were much lower, the region's rice imports cost US$2 billion. "Relying so much on rice from other countries is a recipe for disaster for this continent,'' said Dr. Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Director General of the Africa Rice Center, one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). "Unless government leaders take strong action now, the economic recovery experienced in so many parts of Africa will evaporate. We need short- and long-term solutions that boost domestic rice production." The Center's African Rice Initiative is managing the $35 million, five-year project, which started in 2005. In less than three years, the project has shown tangible impact in seven countries – Benin, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Guinea achieved a record harvest of 1.4 million tonnes in 2007 – 5 percent higher than in 2006 and the highest in its history, largely because of the government's massive support for NERICA® dissemination. Domestic rice production now covers about 70 percent of consumption. In Nigeria, the government announced that the country's rice imports had declined from 2 million tonnes in 2003/04 to less than 1 million tonnes in 2005/06. And officials in Uganda reported that the country had reduced its rice importation from 60,000 tonnes in 2005 to 35,000 tonnes in 2007, saving Ugandans roughly $30 million. The initiative has helped disseminate improved rice varieties in about 30 African countries, including post-conflict countries. Overall, since 2005, the project has produced more than 10,000 tonnes of improved rice seed. Experts from the African Rice Center estimate that 1 tonne of that seed is enough to plant 20 hectares of land. The project has trained 6,500 farmers, more than half of them women, to produce high-quality seed. In addition, the initiative has helped train 1,225 technicians. At the TICAD meeting, Africa Rice Center experts will discuss the importance of boosting the continent's agricultural production to increase food self-sufficiency and reduce reliance on imported food staples and food aid. Researchers said that while people around the world have been feeling the impact of the soaring prices of key staples like rice and maize, no one has been hurt more than Africans. Over the last several months, food riots have broken out in several rice-importing countries in Africa. According to the Africa Rice Center, the best option for Africa is to combine emergency responses in the short term with measures that favor sustainable expansion of the continent's rice supply in the longer term. Short-term measures include reduction of customs duties and taxes on imported rice and setting up mechanisms to avoid speculation in rice markets. At the same time, governments must avoid undermining incentives for domestic rice production. In the medium- and long-term, taxes on all critical inputs, cost-saving agricultural machinery and equipment as well as post-harvest technologies need to be reduced. Governments should also facilitate access to financial services and credit for stakeholders in the domestic rice sector; increase investment in water-control technologies; expand rice areas under irrigation; increase investment in regional research capacity to support the development of rice varieties resistant to major pests and diseases and sufficiently robust to withstand drought and climate change-induced shocks; and boost investment in rural infrastructure to enhance rice farmers' access to markets and capacity to respond to market signals. Already, concerns about food import dependency in the region have led to a mobilization of resources for the rice sector in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and several other countries, which are planning to step up their domestic production by scaling up the use of improved technologies. Africa has proven capable of significantly increasing rice production before. From1985 to 2005, production in West Africa more than doubled, from 2.76 million tonnes to 5.75 million. "We're convinced that the future for rice farming lies in Africa," Dr. Seck said. "This continent has more potential than any other area of the world because of its land and water resources. Our studies have found that local rice production under irrigated conditions can be as competitive as in Asia and much cheaper than in the USA." Prior to the meeting in Japan, the Chair of the Council of Ministers that has oversight responsibility for the Africa Rice Center signed a declaration commending Japan's long-term investment in science and technology toward sustainable development in Africa. In particular, the Council noted not only the current investment in high-yielding rice varieties, but also said that Japan has sent hundreds of agricultural scientists to Africa over the last few decades and contributed a total of $593 million to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) since its inception in 1971. 22 May 2008 (Source: CGIAR)

One stop shop for information on crop wild relatives

A Global Portal that offers a wealth of information on wild relatives of crops will be launched on 20 May in Bonn, Germany at the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. By making such information widely accessible the Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) Global Portal will contribute to more effective conservation and sustainable use of wild relatives through better-informed decision making by policymakers, researchers and conservationists. The portal is part of a five-year project with five countries -- Armenia, Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan -- implemented by Bioversity International with funding provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implementation support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Crop wild relatives are a vital weapon in the fight for global food security. Wild relatives of plants such as potato and wheat contain genes that confer resistance to devastating pests and diseases or permit them to survive extreme drought and temperatures. These traits can be bred into crops to confer those essential characteristics as well and others such as enhanced nutritional quality. Crop wild relatives will be an increasingly important line of defence in helping adapt crops to changing climatic conditions. "Climate change, increasing demand for food and increasing prices for fossil fuels make it more urgent that we conserve crop wild relatives, especially in situ, under natural conditions to ensure that the evolutionary processes that result in their many beneficial traits are able to continue," said Danny Hunter, Global Coordinator of the project. "We are launching the Global Portal at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity precisely because it is a landmark event in the conservation of biological diversity," said Hunter. "Natural populations of crop wild relatives are at great risk, primarily from habitat loss but increasingly from climate change. To ensure their availability to enhance future agricultural yields, we must strive for effective conservation of crop wild relatives, but that is a challenge because the information about them is not readily available. The Global Portal is an important step in addressing this challenge." The range of information available through the CWR Global Portal covers ex situ conservation, taxonomy, conservation status and distribution, relevant contacts, literature sources, latest news and photos. Information sources include the project's country partners, international partners (BGCI, FAO, IUCN, and UNEP-WCMC), and data from other countries, accessible via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). "The five country partners in the project have carried out significant in situ conservation and management actions focusing on 36 genera of crop wild relatives. Establishing effective partnerships and collaborations between relevant groups and stakeholders, they have been able to set priorities, undertake national surveys and develop national inventories and databases, and have been active in public awareness and integrating material on wild relatives into national educational curricula," said Hunter. "These countries are committed to sharing this information with the international community in the hope that it increases awareness and understanding of crop wild relatives, demonstrates how to ensure their effective conservation and encourages other countries to do likewise." 18 May 2008 (Source: CGIAR)

Global Response Needed to Rising Food Prices

Investments in agriculture, improved bio-energy and trade policies, and programs that target vulnerable people would reduce the threat of hunger The world’s poorest people will be hardest hit by the global rise in food prices. Poor people in developing countries typically spend more than half of their overall budget on food. For the 160 million people worldwide who survive on less than fifty cents a days, food price inflation can spell disaster. This global food crisis is a complex problem that cannot be solved with simplistic approaches. More effective and coherent action is needed now to help the most vulnerable populations cope with the drastic hikes in their food bills and to assist developing countries with strategies to increase agricultural productivity. We call for a short term “emergency package” to stem the tide of the humanitarian crisis. We also call for a “resilience package” to strengthen the capacity of poor people and developing countries to meet their own needs in the long run.

Emergency Package

Enhance food assistance. Donor governments need to provide increased support for poor people’s food and nutrition security. The focus should be on the most vulnerable, including children.

Improve biofuels policies. Governments should revoke biofuel subsidies and excessive blending quotas (such as the requirement to use a certain percentage of ethanol in gasoline). Political leaders should consider a range of additional measures, including freezing biofuel production at current levels, reducing production, or enacting a moratorium on the use of grains and oil seeds for biofuels. At the same time, there needs to be support for development of bio-energy technologies that do not rely on food crops. A moratorium on grain-based biofuels would quickly unlock these commodities for use as food. This measure might bring corn prices down globally by about 20 percent and, as a consequence, decrease wheat prices by about 10 percent.

Stop export bans. A country that enacts measures such as agricultural export bans, high export tariffs, and price controls may reduce its risks of food shortages in the short-term. However, these measures are likely to backfire by making the international market smaller and more volatile. Export restrictions have harmful effects on import-dependent trading partners. For example, export restrictions on rice in India affect Bangladeshi consumers adversely and also dampen the incentives for rice farmers in India to invest in agriculture. Price controls reduce farmers’ incentives to produce more food. On the other hand, the elimination of export bans would stabilize grain prices fluctuations, reduce price levels by as much as 30 percent, and enhance the efficiency of agricultural production.

Empower small-scale farmers. Providing improved seeds, fertilizer, credit, and other resources for small-scale farmers in developing countries would quickly improve production, increase incomes, and lower prices.

Resilience package

Invest in people. For longer term impact, developing countries need to invest in social protection measures, such as cash transfer programs, pension systems and employment programs. Preventative health and nutrition programs targeted to vulnerable groups (e.g. mothers, young children, and people living with HIV/AIDS) should be scaled up to ensure universal coverage. In addition, school feeding programs can play an important role in increasing school enrollment and in retaining children in school and enhancing their academic achievement. These programs would reduce the vulnerability of poor people and enhance their long-term productive capacity.

Reduce market volatility. Improving grain stocks and enacting regulatory measures to curb excessive speculation in agricultural commodities would help to stabilize markets in times of crisis.

Complete Doha round. World leaders need to complete the Doha Development Round, so that we have a global system that promotes agricultural trade on a fair and equitable basis.

Support agriculture. Long term relief from rising food prices can only be possible with increased agricultural production. Industrialized nations should revitalize their support for research, innovation, and extension to transform small farm agriculture. African heads of state need to deliver on their commitment to allocate 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture. These investments not only have high returns in terms of agricultural growth, but also have a major impact in reducing poverty. Implementation of both the short-term emergency response and the long-term solutions must begin now. Together, action in these areas would go a long way to stem the tide of rising food prices and reduce the threat of hunger and poverty. Source: Joachim von Braun, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute 16 May 2008 (Source: CGIAR, ifpri)

Side Event at the Ninth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Bonn, Germany. May 22, 2008

The Bigger Picture Of Forest Conservation: What Is The Demand For Landscape Approaches?

Summary:

In response to the increasing challenges of conserving forest biodiversity in tropical, developing countries, landscape- and ecosystem-level approaches that are inclusive of, but broader than, protected areas have been presented as potential, adaptive solutions to mediating the trade-offs between conservation and livelihoods. However, for who, when and where are these approaches needed? What should research on landscapes address, and what type of information and for whom? And, what should an ideal, flexible “landscape approach” look like? Through a series of presentations and panel discussion, representatives from international research centres and conservation agencies will address these questions with the aim of working towards an account of best practice in landscape approaches and outlining a consensus on the future direction of landscape approaches to forest conservation.

Main Speakers:

- Jeff Sayer (chairperson) Science Advisor to the IUCN Forest Conservation Program - Meine van Noordwijk Global science advisor to the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) - Alain Billand Head of Research, Forest Resources and Policies Department, CIRAD

Additional panelists:

Gill Shepherd (Overseas Development Institute and Commission for Ecosystem Management, IUCN), Robert Nasi (CIFOR), Andre Kamden Toham (WWF Central African Regional Programme Office), Jürgen Blaser (Intercooperation) Date and Time: 22 May 13.15 – 14.45, Room S1 / S2, Stresemann (GSI) Food and refreshments provided. Organised by the Center for International Forestry Research and the CIFOR-ICRAF Joint Biodiversity Platform. 16 May 2008 (Source: CGIAR, cifor)

Rice growers will promote a “technological revolution” to confront the world’s food crisis

The Latin American rice sector is committed to joining efforts to confront the current world food crisis. It will promote a technological revolution as the only viable solution for meeting regional demand for rice over the long term and for contributing towards supplying the world with one of humanity’s staple grains. The announcement was made in Guayaquil, Ecuador, during the XXIII Meeting of the Administrative Committee of the Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR, its Spanish acronym). The Fund brings together 22 public and private institutions of 15 countries, and their strategic partner, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT, its Spanish acronym). In the meetings that led to the so-called “Declaration of Guayaquil”, the rice growers analyzed the global and regional situation, discussed causes, and proposed three immediate actions for confronting the crisis. The first is to promote a technological revolution in the rice sector. The second is to join efforts, thereby achieving significant impact through full commitment and dedicating FLAR’s broad and inclusive institutional and scientific platforms to achieve that technological revolution. The third action would be to sustain the revolution by encouraging national and regional systems, both public and private, to substantially increase their investments in research and technology transfer. Such promotion would be achieved by fostering strategic partnerships between the public and private sectors. The Declaration points out that, for experts, a determining but little emphasized factor in the food crisis is “a technological lag, which has occurred in recent years, especially in developing countries, generating a growing gap between supply and demand”. A major cause of this deterioration in Latin America and the Caribbean has been the drastic reduction of investment in research and development by multilateral donors and local governments in the region. Rice experts are sure that the Latin American and Caribbean region comprises “one of the few in the world with the capacity for expanding rice production on a large scale, given the extensive availability of land, solar radiation, and water, and the existence of commercial agricultural systems and human resources in the areas of science and business with a capacity for rapid response.” This region would not only supply regional demand but would also export surpluses to rice-deficient regions of the world, indicates the Declaration. With respect to scientific research, FLAR has a key partner in CIAT, located in Palmira, Colombia. This partner has already served as a vital support for the Latin American rice sector over the last 4 decades. “We have a solid research platform; we have new rice varieties that, with adequate crop management, could increase production by 1 or 2 tons per hectare. With that alone, we would be responding to the problem”, says Dr César Martínez, geneticist and leader of CIAT’s Rice Project. However, he points out that more action is needed from the countries involved, FLAR’s partners, and the donors to close the technological gap that exists among the growers themselves. “In Colombia, for example, some growers are highly advanced, producing 1 or 2 tons more than the average; others are average, and a third group are below average”, explains the researcher. “The same occurs in other countries. Hence, we need to close this gap through technology transfer and the adoption of best farming practices. Thus, we will improve efficiency and be more competitive”, he concluded. 15 May 2008 (Source: CGIAR)

Sweet Sorghum: A New Smart Biofuel Crop that Ensures Food Security

In these days of soaring food prices worldwide , imagine a crop that provides food, livestock feed and biofuel. It grows in dry conditions, tolerates heat, salt and waterlogging, and provides steady income for poor farmers. Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], a plant that grows to a height of 8 to 12 feet and looks like corn but with the grain on top rather than on the side of the plant, has all these qualities. “Sweet sorghum provides an opportunity for developing countries to re-direct oil money that used to go overseas back into their own rural economies,” says Dr. William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), one of the 15 allied centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). “We consider sweet sorghum an ideal ‘smart crop’ because it produces food as well as fuel,” Dr. Dar adds. “With proper management, smallholder farmers can improve their incomes by 20% compared to alternative crops in dry areas in India.” In partnership with Rusni Distilleries and some 791 farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India, ICRISAT helped to build and operate the world’s first commercial bioethanol plant, which began operations in June 2007. Locally produced sweet sorghum is used as feedstock. The process is simple. To produce ethanol, the sorghum stalks are crushed yielding sweet juice that is fermented and distilled to obtain bioethanol, a clean burning fuel with a high octane rating. The grain can be used for food, chicken or cattle feed. Yet if it has been damaged by disease, no problem – it can also be used to make bioethanol, protecting farm incomes that would otherwise be lost. The crushed stalks, called bagasse, can be burned to provide energy for the distillery. However research by ICRISAT’s sister center, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), has found that the bagasse value can be doubled if it is compacted in nutritious blocks and fed to cattle.“ Similar public-private-farmer partnership projects with ICRISAT, local industries and farmers are also underway in the Philippines, Mexico, Mozambique and Kenya, as countries search for alternative fuels. India intends to use a 10% ethanol blend to save an estimated 80 million liters (21 million gallons) of gasoline each year to ease the country’s growing need for gasoline and to reduce carbon emissions.

Sweet Sorghum’s Advantages

Sweet sorghum in India costs $1.74 to produce a gallon of ethanol, compared with $2.19 for sugarcane and $2.12 for corn. It has high positive energy balance, producing about 8 units of energy for every unit of energy invested in its cultivation and production, roughly equivalent to sugarcane but four times more than for corn. Only 0.8 unit of energy is produced in fossil fuel production for every unit invested. In the United States, the diversion of corn to bioethanol uses has contributed to increasing food prices. Since food-quality grain of sweet sorghum is not used in ethanol production, and is not in high demand in the global food market, it has little impact on food prices and food security. Sweet sorghum hybrids have almost equal yields of grain as from grain sorghum hybrids and significantly higher stalk yields, so “food production would not be forfeited by switching from regular sorghum to sweet sorghum,” says ICRISAT sorghum breeder Dr. BVS Reddy. Improved sweet sorghum technology could even raise sorghum grain production significantly. It is also easier and cheaper to grow sweet sorghum than other biofuel crops in India. Sweet sorghum grows on “free” rainwater, whereas sugarcane requires costly irrigation. Sweet sorghum is also more water-efficient: sugarcane consumes two and a half units of water to produce one unit of ethanol, whereas sweet sorghum produces one unit of ethanol from one unit of water. Some recent reports have raised concerns that the cultivation of certain biofuel crops produces more greenhouse gases than is being saved. This is less likely to be the case for sweet sorghum, although research is needed to assess this carefully. Sweet sorghum is grown on already-farmed drylands that are low in carbon storage capacity, so the issue of clearing rainforest, of great concern for oil palm and sugarcane, does not apply. Sweet sorghum will not replace sugarcane in parts of the developing world where those crops are well established, emphasizes Dr. Reddy. However, the need for irrigation and high rainfall makes it difficult to expand sugarcane production without moving into ecologically sensitive areas like rainforests.

Fifth largest grain crop

Sorghum is the world’s fifth largest grain crop—behind rice, corn, wheat and barley. It is grown on more than 42 million hectares (107 million acres) in 99 countries. United States, Nigeria, India, China, Mexico, Sudan and Argentina are the leading producers. According to ICRISAT scientists, an estimated 50% of the grain sorghum area -- 5.1 million hectares (12.9 million acres) in Asia and 12.64 million hectares (32.0 million acres) in sub-Saharan Africa, could be sown with sweet sorghum.

Improved varieties for greater yield

Scientists from ICRISAT and from India’s National Research Centre for Sorghum (NRCS) have developed varieties of sweet sorghum that would contribute to a reliable and steady supply of sweet juice for ethanol production. Until recently, lack of steady sorghum feedstock throughout the year has constrained India’s efforts to expand ethanol production. ICRISAT`s current efforts are to help provide a consistent supply by developing photoperiod and temperature-insensitive hybrids (flowering and maturity less influenced by day length and temperature changes) that can be planted any time during the year.

More Commercial Capability

The Rusni Distillery at the Mohammed Shahpur Village in the Medak district of Andhra Pradesh, India, now produces about 40 kiloliters (10,568 gallons) of ethanol every day from locally grown sweet sorghum and some other feedstocks. Money that formerly went to overseas oil suppliers now stays at home to benefit the poor. Harvesting and processing the stalks provides about 40,000 person-days of labor per year at the distillery. Sweet sorghum was planted last year on about 1370 acres (540 ha) in the region with planned expansion to 2,000 acres to provide feedstock for the prototype distillery. In addition to Rusni Distilleries, TATA Chemicals, a unit of one of India’s largest multinational enterprises joined the ICRISAT-Private Sector Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Research Consortium in late 2007. Under the agreement, ICRISAT will supply seeds for sweet sorghum varieties and hybrids along with technical support to farmers. TATA will contract local farmers to produce sweet sorghum on nearly 10,000 acres in Maharashtra State and will build a plant capable of producing up to 30 kiloliters (7,926 gallons) of ethanol per day. The Jade Grupo Cooperativo, Mexicano, Mexico, and Praj Industries, Pune, India have also joined the consortium. The India experience is also serving as a model for other parts of the developing world. ICRISAT and five private companies in the Philippines have developed a memorandum of understanding to form a sweet sorghum consortium, and similar consortia are being formed in Uganda, Nigeria, Mozambique and South Africa. In the public-private-farmer partnership model developed by ICRISAT, scientists develop sweet sorghum hybrids and test new cultivars with smallholder farmers. Distilleries provide farmers with improved seed and technical advice, offer a guaranteed price for the feedstock, and transport the harvested stalks for processing. Distilleries are developing decentralized stalk crushing stations to reduce transportation and handling costs, and to make it easier for farmers to retain the bagasse for animal feed. The goal is to develop a competitive biofuel industry that benefits the rural poor and is environmentally sustainable while not cutting into the food supply chain. Interest in sweet sorghum’s ethanol potential is not confined to the developing world. With growing concern about the use of corn grain for bioethanol, the US Government is exploring the potential of sweet sorghum, as are several university and private sector groups. An International Conference on Sorghum for Biofuel, sponsored by the Office of International Research Programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Texas A&M, will be held in Houston, Texas in August 2008. Amidst today’s soaring food and oil prices, sweet sorghum is indeed a smart crop that contributes to household food security and helps livelihoods of the rural poor in the semi-arid tropics, now populated by about a billion people—the poorest of the poor. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a non-profit, non-political organization that does innovative agricultural research and capacity building for sustainable development with a wide array of partners across the globe. ICRISAT's mission is to help empower 600 million poor people to overcome hunger, poverty and a degraded environment in the dry tropics through better agriculture. ICRISAT belongs to the Alliance of Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Working in 55 countries, ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru ( Hyderabad), Andhra Pradesh, India and maintains regional hubs and country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. Much of ICRISAT’s research focuses on “smart crops” and production systems that increase incomes of poor dry land farmers without compromising their need for food and feed or harming the environment. 12 May 2008 (Source: CGIAR, icrisat)

International Dialogue on Timber Trade, Forest Law Compliance & Governance

Delegates from all over the world will meet today to discuss issues surrounding timber trade, forest law compliance and governance. The dialogue will be held as part of Asia Pacific Forestry Week, currently being staged in Hanoi. Forests in Asia account for over half a billion hectares, around one percent of which is being cleared per year (FAO, 2006). Recent concerns about the importance of forests to climate change have added to already intense debate around forest law enforcement, industrial wood demand and other complex dynamics that impact on logging, both legal and illegal. "The future of Asia's forests is no longer just the concern of scientists and NGOs fighting for the survival of these vital ecosystems and their charismatic fauna," said David Cassells, Director of The Nature Conservancy's Asia Pacific Forest Programme and the Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade (RAFT) initiative. "Forest management and use effects the lives of millions of people. It is big business and forests are high on the agenda for mainstream economic policy in a carbon constrained world. "Many of the decisions that affect forests take place far away from the forests and the millions of people who depend most directly on them," added Mr Cassells. "Historically, the decisions taken in boardrooms and government offices have led to over exploitation, forest loss and degradation. "The policies and incentives that guide the actions of the private sector must be re-aligned so that business becomes part of the solution, not an ongoing source of the problem. Businessmen, foresters, NGOs and communities must talk and work together to secure a sustainable future for Asia's forests. This is why an event like this one is so important." The dialogue will provide a platform for participants to advance policy solutions, industry incentives and practical on-the-ground initiatives. Issues to be addressed will include trends affecting regional and international timber trade, sustainability and legality standards, and timber procurement policies. "Many people think we could halt deforestation if we just stopped illegal logging," said Frances Seymour, Director General, the Center for International Forestry Research. "But there are a number of complex factors that drive forest law, many of which originate outside of the forestry sector, and we have to be careful that law enforcement efforts do not harm the millions of people who rely on forests for their livelihoods," added Ms Seymour. "Solving the problems will require cooperation across national boundaries and the involvement of a large number of stakeholders. Dialogues such as this one can help build a consensus among these many actors about what needs to be done." So, sustainable management of forest resources is not just an environmental issue, but a social, political and economic one too. And sustainable management of forests in Asia is not just the responsibility of countries in Asia, but for developed countries whose seemingly insatiable demand for timber products often drives illegal logging. "This demand impacts heavily on the economies of developing countries and the livelihoods of their rural communities," said Hugh Speechly, from the Department for International Development's (DfID) Forest Governance and Trade Programme. "Timber-producing nations lose more than $US15 billion a year due to uncollected royalties, and trade in illegally procured timber is estimated to depress world prices by up to 16%, making it difficult for legal operators to compete. "The UK's Forest Governance and Trade Programme is confronting this problem by harnessing market leverage in timber consuming countries to encourage governance reform in producing countries. We see this dialogue as an important part of these efforts," added Mr Speechly. The Dialogue will be introduced by Dr. Boen Purnama, Secretary General, Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia, and will be moderated by Mr. Rico Hizon, BBC Asia Business and Finance Correspondent. A selection of presentations will be followed by an open forum. A media conference will also be held during a half hour interval (10:00 - 10:30am), providing local and international media with the opportunity to question a diverse panel. The event will be hosted by the Asia Forest Partnership (AFP), a multi-stakeholder alliance to facilitate and promote discussion, information exchange, and collaborative action for the sustainable management of forests in the Asia-Pacific region. AFP was launched in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. It has been organised by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), the Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Department for International Development (DfID) and the Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia (MoF). 24 April 2008 (Source: CGIAR)

New US$10.1 million IFAD loan to help Zambian smallholders to keep healthier cattle and produce more food

A major drive to control cattle disease through vaccination programmes and to restore access to draught animal power will be the focus of a new seven-year project supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Zambia. As many as 210,000 rural households will benefit from the Smallholder Livestock Investment Project. Poor farming families that have lost cattle to disease will receive local livestock together with training and the government’s capacity to control cattle diseases will be strengthened. The total project cost of US$15 million will be partly financed by a US$10.1 million loan from IFAD. The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters by the President of IFAD Lennart Båge and Zambia’s Ambassador to Italy, Lucy Mungoma Mungoma. “Most of Zambia’s smallholders depend on animal power for ploughing their land. Repeated outbreaks of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia and East Coast Fever have killed a large proportion of smallholders’ cattle and forced many people to resort to the hand hoe,” says Ides de Willebois, IFAD’s regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa. “The project will drive the two main cattle-killing diseases back to manageable levels. In areas where disease prevalence rates have been reduced to manageable levels, communities who have lost most of their cattle will receive cattle for onward distribution of offspring, enabling a major expansion of the area under plough, and improved food security and income.” A Disease Control Sub-Unit will be established within the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to plan and implement disease control measures. Field teams will carry out pre-vaccination surveys and vaccination campaigns against East Coast Fever in the affected provinces. The strain prevalent in the Central and Copperbelt Provinces will be identified as a basis for developing a vaccine and initiating vaccination campaigns there. A programme to control Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia will be designed and implemented in accordance with best practice. In areas where the two diseases have been brought under control, contracted private companies and NGOs will identify concentrations of communities that have lost cattle. Private-sector service providers will train recipient communities in the areas of crops, livestock and family health. A principal contractor will be responsible for purchasing local cattle and distributing them to the communities in coordination with training. The project will provide finance to establish and resource a temporary Project Coordination Unit within the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to manage day-to-day operations. Since it started operations in 1978, IFAD has provided loans totalling US$135 million to help finance 10 programmes and projects in Zambia. Press release number: IFAD 33/06, Rome, 20 June 2006 (Source IFAD)

IFAD loan to fight poverty in Albania’s mountain areas

A private rural commercial bank providing financial services that promote economic growth will be set up as part of a new development programme supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The programme aims to improve the lives of poor Albanian men and women living in remote mountain areas of the country. The bank is an innovation in Albania. It will be created through the conversion of the already-existing Mountain Areas Finance Fund as part of IFAD’s Programme for Sustainable Development in Rural Mountain Areas. It is expected that by 2010 the bank will provide computerized services through 40 branches in rural areas, catering for around 20,000 clients with savings accounts. About 10,000 borrowers will be able to expand their rural businesses through bank loans. The new bank will have a total loan portfolio of US$40 million. The five-year programme will cost US$24 million and will be partly financed by a loan of US$8 million from IFAD. The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD’s Rome headquarters by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the chargé d’affaires, Embassy of the Republic of Albania in Rome, Ilir Tepelena. Cofinancing is provided by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development and private investors. The programme will also strengthen support to the IFAD-financed Mountain Areas Development Agency, a specialized regional agency that is a key source of knowledge, brokerage and information. It will be assisted to promote investment at local level, devise new approaches to economic development in mountain areas, and support new small businesses that will boost household incomes. ''This programme will support the growth of rural enterprises and help them become more profitable, generating employment opportunities for rural inhabitants,” says Henning Pedersen, IFAD’s Country Programme Manager for Albania. “This will engender a profitable economic development spiral.” Albania is a mostly mountainous country and more than half the population lives in rural areas. Poverty persists despite recent years of economic improvement because of low employment levels, particularly in mountain areas, the consequent low income levels and an unequal pattern of economic growth. Livestock production is a major part of the country’s agricultural sector, especially extensively-grazed goats and sheep in mountain areas. However, urban buyers are becoming more discerning, which means that marketing fresh and processed animal products has become more difficult. New initiatives are needed to enable people to lift themselves permanently out of poverty, such as support for improved supply chain management. The new programme will focus on underemployed and unemployed rural men and women, small and medium-sized farms, and rural entrepreneurs in an area with a total of 1.7 million people. Substantial resources will be mobilized in mountain areas and local institutions and organizations will be strengthened to influence and support private and public-sector investment. This is the fourth initiative IFAD has supported in Albania with loans totalling US$42.3 million. Press release number: IFAD 32/06, Rome, 20 June, 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$26.4 million IFAD loan to reconstruct families’ livelihoods after Pakistan earthquake

Eight thousand families left destitute by last October’s earthquake will receive financial and technical support to rebuild their houses and buy livestock through a new project in northern Pakistan. The US$29.6 million Project for the Restoration of Earthquake-Affected Communities and Households (REACH) will be financed almost entirely by a US$26.4 million loan from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). The loan agreement will be signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the Ambassador of Pakistan to Italy, Mirza Quamar Beg. About 80 per cent of families lost their houses in the project area of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and in the North-West Frontier Province. Most of the REACH funds, more than US$20 million, will be invested in restoring houses or rebuilding new ones. “There is an urgent need to follow up on the massive relief effort with major investments to rebuild poor people’s livelihoods,” said Båge. “Many villages that were already poor before the earthquake are now extremely vulnerable. REACH is key to enable rural communities to re-establish the basis for productive lives.” About US$3 million of the project funds will be allocated to help families buy livestock. Many buffaloes and cows, normally a major source of income in poor rural communities, were killed by falling buildings. In addition, roads and bridges will be rebuilt in the remote mountainous areas to restore access to services and markets. In November 2005 donors pledged over US$5 billion in support of the survivors of the earthquake. The estimated death toll is 80,000. IFAD was one of the few major donors with significant ongoing community-based development projects in the disaster area prior to the earthquake. Following the earthquake, IFAD projects, in particular the Community Development Programme in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, were a source of information and logistical support to the relief operations. The REACH project is likely to generate positive economic benefits by increasing household incomes and re-starting economic activity in affected communities. With this project, IFAD will have participated in financing 21 loans to Pakistan for a total investment of US$387 million. Press release number: IFAD 31/06, Rome, 14 June 2006 (Source IFAD)

How to boost fertilizer use by African smallholders:

The Africa Fertilizer Summit is a high-level regional initiative with a historic aim - to boost fertilizer use across the continent and trigger a Green Revolution in Africa. The summit will be held from 9 13 June in Abuja, Nigeria. The President of IFAD, Lennart Båge is expected to attend. The African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) called for the summit, which will be organized with the assistance of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), hosted by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and chaired by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria. IFAD is one of the major sponsors of the summit, together with partners like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom. IFAD is also working with farmers’ organizations in the region to ensure that their common position and perspectives are clearly articulated in the outcomes of the summit. Africa’s soils are the poorest in the world. Decades of soil nutrient mining, where frequent cropping and erosion by wind and water take vital nutrients out of the soil, have created what is now acknowledged to be a soil fertility crisis. It is estimated that the continent loses the equivalent of over US$4 billion worth of soil nutrients each year. More than 204 million people in Africa suffer from hunger and malnutrition, and over the past 30 years the situation has deteriorated as the amount of food produced per person in the continent has fallen. The summit’s key message is that a move toward reducing hunger in Africa must begin by addressing its severely depleted soils. No region in the world has been able to boost agricultural production without increasing fertilizer use, as part of a package that also includes improved seeds and irrigation. In parts of Asia and Latin America, where the Green Revolution boosted crop yields in the 1960s and 1970s, farmers now use an annual average of 140 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare of crops. In sub-Saharan Africa, farmers apply an average of 8 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare per year - less than 10 per cent of the global average. Even modest increases in the use of fertilizers, in combination with the efficient use of other farm inputs, could trigger an African Green Revolution, according to NEPAD. This would contribute to Africa’s ability to meet the first Millennium Development Goal of reducing hunger and extreme poverty by half by 2015.

IFAD’s work with smallholders

IFAD’s mission is to enable rural poor people to overcome poverty. It has been working with small farmers worldwide for more than 25 years to help them sustainably increase the amount of food they produce. The vast majority of African farmers are smallholders. IFAD is taking part in the Africa Fertilizer Summit with the explicit aim of ensuring that the needs of African smallholders, particularly the poorest, are taken into account when regional and national action plans are drawn up to boost fertilizer use. IFAD will underline the economic and environmental benefits of using organic and inorganic fertilizers to safeguard the environment and farmers’ livelihood base, while sustainably boosting food production. Improving small farmers’ access to financial resources and markets is key to increasing fertilizer use in Africa. Transporting fertilizers from an African seaport to a farm 100 kilometres inland can cost more than shipping the same fertilizers from North America to the African seaport. As a result, African smallholders pay two to four times the average world price for fertilizer. Contract farmers may be able to get credit from buyers to cover fertilizer costs, but other sources of credit for small farmers are very limited. IFAD supports the use of smart subsidies for the African fertilizer sector in certain situations, to enable the poorest farmers to access fertilizers. The subsidies must be effectively targeted to ensure that they benefit the right people, avoid resource capture by powerful interests and stimulate, rather than undermine, private sector market development for fertilizers. Subsidies must also have effective exit plans to ensure that they don’t become an unsustainable burden to the governments providing them. In order to boost fertilizer use and smallholder production, it is vital to empower small farmers and the groups that represent them to enable them to improve their access to fertilizers. Groups of farmers can negotiate with fertilizer suppliers as bulk orders bring down transaction and transport costs. Farmers’ groups also enable smallholders to learn how to use organic and inorganic fertilizers profitably and sustainably. At Farmers’ Field Schools for example, smallholders conduct their own field trials and find out for themselves which fertilizers work best for their crops and farming systems, when they are best applied and in what quantities.

Farmers’ side-event

A side-event will be held at the summit where farmers’ organizations will present the pivotal role of family smallholdings and mixed farming systems in African agriculture. The role small farmers play in managing soil fertility will be stressed, together with their struggle for sustainable agriculture and food security. IFAD will take part in their panel discussion.

IFAD in Africa

Since IFAD was established in 1977, African countries have received around US$4 billion in loans and grants to finance close to 345 programmes and projects in 51 countries.

- Nearly 50 per cent of IFAD’s programmes and projects have been devoted to African countries since the organization started work.

- In the current portfolio, 116 of the total 234 programmes and projects are in Africa.

- IFAD’s current loans to Africa are worth US$1.68 billion, out of a total current portfolio of US$3.69 billion.

- Nearly 170 million people, rural poor men, women and children, have been reached by IFAD’s operations in Africa. 7 June 2006 (Source IFAD)

Project to improve roads in Yemen will help 300,000 highland people

A new development project in Yemen will focus on upgrading 215 kilometres of dirt roads in isolated highland areas of the country. The roads reach the most disadvantaged villages in the highlands and their upgrading will lead to better links to markets, health facilities and schools for over 300,000 people. A further 100,000 people will have improved access to drinking water. The Pilot Community-Based Rural Infrastructure Project for Highland Areas will cost US$10.4 million and is partly financed by a loan of US$9 million and a grant of US$400,000, both from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Financing Agreement was signed at IFAD’s headquarters in Rome on 1 June by the Assistant President of IFAD, James Carruthers, and the Ambassador to Italy for the Republic of Yemen, Shaya Mohsin Zindani. About 75 per cent of Yemen’s population live in over 100,000 small isolated rural villages and settlements. Most of these people are in remote mountain areas with poor access to drinking water, roads, public health services or basic education. Women spend up to seven hours a day collecting water and the sources they use are frequently polluted. This contributes to disease and to the high child mortality rate in rural areas. In addition, the burden on women negatively affects family income and the education of girls who help collect water. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and the lack of basic social and economic activities and services is an obstacle to any attempts to reduce the poverty there. The country has about 60,000 kilometres of dirt tracks and trails, mainly constructed by communities in the 1970s and 1980s, but now in a poor state. Travelling these roads is slow and costly and this limits peoples’ ability to visit clinics, take produce to market or attend school. “Highland areas are very difficult to service and economic opportunities are not good,” says Abdalla Rahman, IFAD’s country programme manager for Yemen. “This project will link poorer communities with the road network to give them better access to services and markets and improve their economic opportunities. However, the project design is flexible and will allow the project to respond to what communities need and in some areas the priority may be upgrading the drinking water supply.” A community-led approach will involve the local people in all decisions, and in the construction and maintenance work. This will strengthen community involvement in dealing with infrastructure problems. The water supply scheme will be demand-driven and will depend on the needs of communities as well as their ability to run services. As with the road improvements, drinking water supply schemes will be planned, implemented and managed by the communities themselves. Over the 27 years since it was established, IFAD has financed 18 initiatives in Yemen, with loans and grants totalling US$170 million. Press release number: IFAD 30/06, Rome, 7 June 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$11.9 million IFAD grant supports sustainable growth in northern Mali’s fragile river ecosystem

A large number of Mali’s population living in the Niger River Inner Delta will benefit from additional resources within the Sahelian Development Fund to address rural poverty and environmental degradation. The US$20.5 million project for Biodiversity Conservation and Participatory Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Inner Niger Delta and its Transition Area, Mopti Region, will be financed by a US$11.9 million grant from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) within the framework of the Sahelian Development Fund. The grant agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the Ambassador of Mali in Rome, Ibrahim Bocar Daga. “The signing of this grant agreement the day after World Environment Day is symbolic because the resources mobilized in partnership with the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) will go a long way to restore and manage the ecosystems and biodiversity in the delta of the Niger River, which is one of the rare inland deltas in the world,” said Lennart Båge. “It is even more symbolic as it is IFAD’s first grant agreement as an executing agency for GEF.” “The project will focus on an area of 30,000 square kilometres in the Mopti region, which is flooded for several months every year. The population of 622,000 is predominantly rural. Most are farmers producing millet, sorghum, rice and cotton. There are also fisherfolk, whose skills are highly regarded in the West African region. These communities will be deeply involved in the decision-making and financing of the project’s activities. With this project, IFAD and its main partner, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), will work on restoring the agro-pastoral and fishing potential of the Inner Niger Delta, while preserving its unique ecosystem. The project will improve the processing and marketing of products, particularly fishery products, derived from the delta. It will also develop alternative activities capable of generating income, which will reduce pressure on natural resources. To support income-generating activities, funding will be provided for environmental protection, including the establishment of a monitoring system on the state of biodiversity in the delta. The area’s environment has been degraded as a result of recurrent droughts and irregular rain patterns, and human factors such as uncontrolled clear cutting for firewood and timber or cropland, overgrazing and bush fires. During the dry season, the whole delta is subject to intense wind erosion and desertification. Rural people, who are highly dependent on natural resources for food and income, are severely affected. This area is one of the rare large inner deltas in the world. It is characterized by complex ecosystems and constitutes a unique refuge zone for a large number of migratory birds and other wildlife, including endangered species such as manatees or hippopotamuses. With this project, IFAD will have financed ten rural development programmes and projects in Mali for a total investment of US$129.5 million. Press release number: IFAD 29/06, Rome, 6 June 2006 (Source IFAD)

IFAD launches report on women and desertification

The impact of desertification on women around the world and their role in dealing with the problem is examined in a report to be launched today at a conference in Beijing. The report, entitled “Gender and Desertification: Expanding roles for women to restore drylands”, has been prepared by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). It examines the way in which women in particular are affected by desertification and highlights the role they play in the management of natural resources and drylands, as well as the constraints they face. Experiences are presented from several IFAD-supported initiatives that address women as natural resource users and managers in dryland areas. The report also highlights some of the approaches used to involve and empower women. Over the years, IFAD has provided financial and technical support to projects and programmes that specifically support women’s participation in the management of drylands. The report examines some of the lessons from these initiatives and makes recommendations for expanding women’s roles in restoring dryland areas. Desertification is a process of land degradation in dryland areas, caused by poverty, unsustainable land management and climate change. It affects women and men differently due to their strictly gendered division of labour. Through their daily work, women have acquired extensive knowledge on managing natural resources and drylands, which would enable them to play a crucial role in combating desertification. However, women often do not have decision-making authority, property rights, or access to resources, and are excluded from being involved in dryland development projects. “We need to have a long-term focus on women affected by desertification, extending beyond this International Year of Deserts and Desertification,” said Sheila Mwanundu, IFAD’s Senior Technical Adviser, Environment and Natural Resource Management. “Women need to be empowered to take control of their own lives and their own development, especially women who live in such harsh areas.” The report will be launched at the Beijing Conference on Women and Desertification, one of a number of thematic conferences being held during 2006 to mark the United Nation’s International Year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD). One third of the earth’s land surface, about 4 billion hectares, is threatened by desertification, and 24 billion tons of fertile soil disappears annually. Over 250 million people are directly affected by this global phenomenon and more than 1.2 billion in 110 countries, mainly in the developing world, are at risk. Over the past 23 years, IFAD has committed over US$3.5 billion to support dryland development and combat land degradation in developing countries. About 70 per cent of IFAD-supported projects assist pastoralists and small farmers in ecologically fragile and marginal environments. Press release number IFAD 28/06. Rome, 29 May, 2006 (Source IFAD)

IFAD President will visit China for talks with senior government officials: China increases its contribution to IFAD’s resources

The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Lennart Båge, will visit Beijing at the invitation of the Government of the People’s Republic of China from 29 May to June 1. Båge is expected to meet China’s Vice Premier Hui Liang Yu, and the Vice Minister of Finance, Li Yong. China is an important partner for IFAD. The Government has recently announced it will contribute US$16 million to the Seventh Replenishment of IFAD’s resources, which represents a substantial increase over its US$10.5 million contribution to the Sixth Replenishment. Since 1981, when it became one of the first international financial institutions to operate in China, IFAD has provided US$473 million in loans for 19 rural development projects in the country, which are worth a total of just under US$1.3 billion. Båge’s visit to the country will coincide with the Beijing Conference on Women and Desertification, one of a number of thematic conferences being held during 2006 to mark the United Nation’s International Year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD). During the conference, IFAD will host a seminar entitled “Empowering rural poor women to combat desertification”. Recognizing that women are most affected by environmental degradation, this event will also be a platform for the launch of an IFAD report on “Gender and desertification: Expanding roles for women to restore dryland areas”. The conference will bring together 120 international experts on gender issues and sustainable development, representatives of civil society, as well as 50 participants from China. Over the past 23 years, IFAD has committed over US$3.5 billion to support dryland development and combat land degradation in developing countries. Of IFAD-supported projects, 70% assist pastoralists and small farmers in ecologically fragile and marginal environments. IFAD has provided financial and technical support to initiatives that specifically target women’s active participation in the implementation of dryland management. Lessons from IFAD-supported projects show that both women and men benefit from a gender approach that reinforces their joint participation in restoring the productivity of degraded land. The joint IFAD-World Food Programme Wulin Mountains Minority-Areas Development Project focused on one of the steeper, less fertile, less accessible and less developed mountainous areas of China. The project was successful in rebuilding soil productivity thanks to environmentally friendly farming and in reducing women’s workloads by two to three hours per day due to improved drinking water supply systems and the introduction of labour- and time-saving technologies. Press release number: IFAD 27/06, Beijing and Rome- 26 May 2006 (Source IFAD)

Japan increases its contribution to IFAD resources

The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Lennart Båge, will visit Kyoto to attend the annual Tidewater meeting in Japan from 27 May to 29 May. The meeting is convened by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and presents an opportunity for development co-operation ministers and heads of development agencies to have informal discussions on key issues and challenges. Among these are working together with emerging donors and strengthening support for ODA. Japan is an important partner for IFAD. The Government has recently announced it will contribute US$33 million to the Seventh Replenishment of IFAD’s resources, an increase over its US$30 million contribution to the Sixth Replenishment. In the past, Japan has pledged and paid US$279.8 million to IFAD’s regular resources and has contributed US$21.5 million to the special Programme for Sub-Saharan African Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification. It has also provided US$7.5 million for activities not included in IFAD’s regular programme of work and budget. Japan also hosts the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). Last year Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged to double Japan’s aid to Africa. One outcome of this conference is that IFAD and Japan have co-operated in the New Rice for Africa (NECRIA) initiative to research and develop a rice variety that combines the hardiness of African rice species with the high productivity of Asian rice. About 30,000 farmers in 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are using NERICA, many of them women. Press release number: IFAD 26/06 , Rome, 26 May 2006 (Source IFAD)

US$8.4 million IFAD loan for project to rehabilitate poor areas of the Congo

Better seed distribution, disease-resistant plant cuttings, stronger markets and better financial services are some of the proposed benefits from a new development project to help rehabilitate some of the poorest rural areas of the Congo. The Rural Development Project in the Departments of Niari, Bouenza and Lékoumou will be funded partly by a loan of US$8.4 million from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by Lennart Båge, the President of IFAD and Her Excellency Mrs Jeanne Dambendjet, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Congo. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) is providing cofinancing of US$7.5 million to the project. The Congo is rich in natural resources - mainly oil, water, forests and arable land, but poor management in the 1980s and conflict in the 1990s led to a steady decline in the country's prospects. Since the end of the war in 1999, economic recovery has been slow. Although the Congo is Africa's third largest oil exporter, there is vast inequality in the distribution of income from oil and severe poverty is widespread, especially in rural areas. Smallholders produce more than 90 per cent of the Congo's food using traditional methods. Despite this, agricultural development has been neglected and production does not meet demand. Much of the country's potential is also not realized, with less than 2 per cent of arable land cultivated at present. The people in Niari, Bouenza and Lékoumou are primarily subsistence farmers with little access to markets and financial resources. Women and young people are particularly vulnerable. The project will support the rehabilitation of roads and improve access to markets. Distribution of better quality seeds and planting material will be promoted, in particular disease-resistant cuttings for cassava. The project will also work with farmers' groups to boost their management and negotiating skills. The project will take a participatory approach to planning and implementation, with special attention being given to enabling vulnerable and marginalized groups to express their needs. About 160,000 people will benefit from improved infrastructure and empowerment, and about 15,000 households will benefit by participating directly in project activities. This is IFAD's fifth loan to the Congo. In total, the organization has made loans of US$37.6 million to the country. Press release number: IFAD 25/06 , Rome, 22 May 2006 (Source IFAD)

Land reform in Madagascar to be strengthened by new project

Madagascar's land reform programme will be strengthened by a new development project that aims to improve security of land tenure for rural poor people. The project will also promote social stability, reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth. The US$23 million Project to Support Development in the Menabe and Melaky Regions will be financed partly by a US$13.1 million loan and a US$365 000 grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The loan agreement will be signed on 19 May by the Assistant President of IFAD, Ana Knopf, and the Ambassador for the Republic of Madagascar in Rome, Auguste Richard Paraina. Menabe and Melaky, in western Madagascar, have high levels of poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy. The populations in both regions are made particularly vulnerable by insecure land rights and the high incidence of natural disasters. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world and this project will specifically help small farmers with little or no land, who face severe malnutrition during the year. About 200,000 people are expected to benefit directly from the eight-year project. The agriculture sector is the backbone of the economy with 85 per cent of people living in the countryside. Most rural people farm on plots averaging 1.2 hectares and poverty is strongly related to low productivity, poor transport services and insecure land rights. The primary goal of the project is to establish a strong environment in the agricultural sector, particularly with respect to land tenure and agricultural services. It will promote sustainable development through training and services for rural people, as well as through conservation and management of land and watersheds, controlling erosion and maintaining soil fertility. Household income-generating activities will also be supported. The Government of Madagascar started to improve its land titling administration in 2004 with its National Land Policy Programme. In 2005, IFAD supported the drafting of the new policy and the successful experimentation with delivery of land certificates, which secure property and land use rights. In Menabe and Melaky, support will be given to set up 10 local land administration offices (guichets fanciers) to speed up the registration and recording of land rights. The rights of people who do not own land they use will also be addressed. Women, who are often deprived of the right to own land, will receive particular support. IFAD has financed 10 development projects in Madagascar since 1979 with loans totalling US$106.2 million. Press release number: IFAD 24/06 , Rome, 19 May 2006 (Source IFAD)

Republic of Korea contributes US$3 million to reducing rural poverty

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has welcomed the Republic of Korea's pledge of US$3 million to the Seventh Replenishment of IFAD's resources for the period 2007-2009. The pledge is a 20 per cent increase in the Republic of Korea's contribution of US$2.5 million to the Sixth Replenishment and continues the trend of steadily increasing amounts pledged by that country. The money will contribute to the achievement of the first Millennium Development Goal to halve extreme poverty in the world by 2015. The President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, is currently in the Republic of Korea to address the 37th World Farmers' Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP). He is also to meet with senior government officials. Improving the livelihoods of rural women, men and children, is the focus of IFAD's work. The vast majority of poor and hungry people around the world are small-scale family farmers and landless rural workers. IFAD works to increase their food production, raise their incomes and improve their lives on a sustainable basis. The Republic of Korea is committed to participating in the international effort to reduce poverty and hunger. The Government's recent announcement that it will increase aid to Africa by US$200 million makes it potentially an even more significant partner for IFAD, which has historically allocated the major part of its lending programme to African. With international support, the Republic of Korea has become the world's 11th largest economy and to date it has pledged more than US$15 million to IFAD. Press release number: IFAD 23/06 , Rome, 17 May 2006 (Source IFAD)

Tanzania's poorest livestock farmers to be helped by new development programme

Tanzanians who are very poor and depend heavily on farming animals for their livelihoods will be supported to increase their incomes through improved production and better access to markets and livestock services when a new US$39 million development programme gets underway. The Agriculture Sector Development Programme - Livestock: Support for Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Development will be partly funded by a US$20.0 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and cofinanced by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Belgian Survival Fund. The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD's headquarters in Rome by the Vice-President of IFAD, Cyril Enweze, and Tanzania's Ambassador to Belgium, Simon U.R. Mlay. Implemented under the Agricultural Sector Development Programme, it will target the poorest pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in 11 regions and will launch a wide range of initiatives that will boost animal production and broaden opportunities for people to improve their livelihoods, especially women, young people and marginalized groups. About 213,000 people will benefit directly from investments in community infrastructure, improved veterinary services and an empowerment process that will build their capacity to take decisions that affect their lives. There will be a focus on agro-pastoralists and very poor farmers, who generally do not own cattle and who, in cases of extreme poverty, do not own even chickens. The core of this small-stock development initiative will be pilot livestock farmer field schools, initially for poultry and later for goats, sheep, rabbits and pigs. Given the Tanzanian Government's commitment to a demand-driven and decentralized approach to agricultural development, the new programme will give priority to empowerment of farmers and livestock keepers, especially by supporting the formation and strengthening of their representative groups, and networks of these groups and associations. It will also help farmers and livestock keepers build their knowledge and their capacity to make decisions. Pastoralists will be supported by the development of an adaptive strategy to maintain sufficient mobility and to involve them in participatory, equitable land-use planning and range management, driven by local needs. The Belgian Survival Fund will provide Euro 3.97 million to support development of community-based health services and better approaches to water management and use, in a limited number of districts. With this programme, IFAD will have invested a total of US$172.9 million in 12 programmes and projects in Tanzania. Press release number: IFAD 22/06 , Rome, 8 May 2006 (Source IFAD)

US$25 million IFAD loan to build market opportunities in coastal Bangladesh

Over 85,000 poor families living in remote and vulnerable villages will directly benefit from a new development project in Southern Bangladesh. The project will strengthen the capacity of food producers and traders to build market opportunities in poorly connected rural areas. The US$43.9 million Market Infrastructure Development Project in Charland Regions will be financed by a US$25.0 million loan from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Italy, Fazlul Karim. The considerable efforts made by the Government of Bangladesh and development partners to build rural infrastructure have so far been concentrated in high-potential regions of the country. Charlands are areas of active river basins subjected to severe annual inundations and extensive erosion. They remain poorly connected to regional and national markets. Isolation is a serious constraint to their development. “With economic modernization, new market opportunities are emerging even in remote areas of Bangladesh”, says Nigel Brett, IFAD's Country Programme Manager for Bangladesh. “The important thing is to equip poor rural producers in these remote areas with the skills to exploit market opportunities as and when they arise.” There will be substantial infrastructure development during the seven year project. Sixty local and assembly markets will be rebuilt and their streets paved. Their surface will be raised above flood level, and drains, toilets and waste collection points will be built. Some 360 kilometres of roads and 40 landing piers for boats will also be built to facilitate transport from the production areas. Poor food producers, fishermen, small traders and women labourers will all benefit from this project in the districts of Noakhali, Lakshmirpur, Bhola, Barisal and Patuakhali. They will receive training that will help them increase the quality of their crops and find more efficient ways to sell their produce at markets, as well as to develop their technical and management skills. Access to micro-credit will help to eliminate dependence on moneylenders. The project will support the country's National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction. Three quarters of the country's population and 85 per cent of poor people live in rural areas, making agriculture and rural development top priorities. With this loan, IFAD will have financed 23 loans to Bangladesh for a total of US$388.0 million, since 1978. Press release number: IFAD 21/06 , Rome, 3 May 2006 (Source IFAD)

United States supports targeted efforts by IFAD to assist poor farmers in developing countries

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) welcomed the pledge by the United States to contribute US$54.0 million to the Seventh Replenishment of its resources for the period 2007-2009. The contribution will benefit poor people who live in rural areas of developing countries and who depend on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. "The US recognizes that creating economic opportunities in poor countries helps create a safer, more productive, healthier world," said IFAD President Lennart Båge. “Through its support for IFAD, the US can reach some of the poorest and most remote areas of developing countries." "With contributions from the US and other member states, IFAD is helping rural poor people find new ways to increase their productivity, strengthen their economic leverage and join together to promote their interests," Mr. Båge said. About 1.1 billion people live on less than one dollar a day, of whom 800 million, or 75 per cent, live in rural areas. IFAD works to increase poor rural people's food production, raise their incomes and thus improve their health, nutrition, and general well-being on a sustainable basis. A specialized agency of the United Nations, it is the only UN entity dedicated exclusively to overcoming rural poverty. "The US is the leading contributor to IFAD and an important advocate for approaches that demonstrate greater benefits for rural poor people," said Mr. Båge, who is in Washington to participate in the spring meeting of the World Bank's Development Committee. The United States was instrumental in IFAD's founding in 1977. Since then it has contributed nearly US$700 million to IFAD's operations. Press release number: IFAD 19/06 , Rome, 23 April 2006 (Source IFAD)

US$150.5 million to combat rural poverty

The 87th session of IFAD's Executive Board approved US$145.6 million in loans to support rural development programmes and projects in nine countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, the Congo, India, Madagascar, Maldives, Mozambique, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Board also approved US$4.9 million in grants to support rural poor people, in particular women and small livestock keepers.

US$61.5 million in loans for Asia and the Pacific

Pakistan: rebuilding from the rubble

The US$29.6 million Project for the Restoration of Earthquake-Affected Communities and Households will be financed by a US$26.4 million loan from IFAD. The earthquake that struck northern Pakistan in October 2005 claimed more than 73,000 lives, decimated crops and livestock and destroyed infrastructure. Up to 80 per cent of families in poor mountain villages lost their homes in the quake. Households that suffered partial or complete loss of basic livelihoods will participate in the project. Priority will be given to the poorest and most vulnerable, including households headed by women, the elderly and those with little or no access to remittance income. Community infrastructure such as drinking water systems, roads and bridges will be rebuilt and damaged homes will be repaired. Livestock lost in the earthquake will be replaced to give rural families the means to rebuild their livelihoods. The milk produced by a single buffalo is frequently the most reliable source of cash income for a poor family, as well as a crucial part of their diet. The project will be implemented through grass-roots organizations and NGOs.

Additional loans approved for post-tsunami programmes

The Executive Board also approved additional loans for post-tsunami programmes for a total of US$35.1 million. Programmes approved in 2005 for India, Maldives and Sri Lanka to help rural poor people rebuild their livelihoods after the December 2004 tsunami, will receive the additional funding to cover financing gaps.

US$33.1 million in loans and a US$365,000 grant for Eastern and Southern Africa

Madagascar: gaining land and gaining rights

IFAD will provide a US$13.1 million loan and a US$365,000 grant to help finance the US$23.4 million Project to Support Development in the Menabe and Melaky Regions in Madagascar. About 200,000 rural poor people will benefit from the project. They include farming families with little or no land who experience acute food shortages every year and suffer from severe malnutrition. The project will support the recently launched National Land Policy Programme, strengthening the land administration system and securing land rights in order to reduce poverty, promote social stability and stimulate economic growth. Information on land policies and literacy programmes will enable rural poor people to better understand land tenure processes and to exercise their rights. Financing will also be provided for the development of irrigation schemes and the construction of rural roads so that farmers can gain better access to markets. New technology will be made available to farmers so they can increase agricultural production and protect the environment from further degradation.

Mozambique: raising agricultural production and incomes

More than 140,000 smallholders will benefit directly from the US$50.8 million Agricultural Support Programme in Mozambique. The programme is an important part of the Government's National Programme for Agricultural Development and will reform the public extension service including expanding the roles of the private sector and NGOs as service providers. The programme will empower new farmer groups and existing groups and associations, enabling them to articulate their requirements and link with local government to solicit funding and other support from private-sector partners and NGOs. A US$20 million loan from IFAD will help to finance the programme.

A US$30 million loan and a US$500,000 grant for Latin America and the Caribbean

Brazil: moving from subsistence to profit

The US$60.5 million Rural Communities Development Project in the Poorest Areas of the State of Bahia will directly benefit 35,000 poor and landless families living in the semi-arid region of the State of Bahia, where rural poverty and a harsh drought-prone environment form a vicious circle. The project will increase participants' incomes by working with them to transform their subsistence economic activities into market-oriented rural businesses. At the same time, it will ensure the conservation and sustainable use of the natural resources that rural poor people depend on for their livelihoods. Project participants will take part in the planning and management of territorial development activities, a process that will gradually empower rural poor people and their organizations. The project will offer support services for potential young entrepreneurs and provide skills training for young men and women. It will also finance a pilot programme to produce crude oil from castor beans and supply the country's biodiesel market. Small rural producers will run the pilot. IFAD will support the project with a US$30 million loan and a US$500,000 grant.

A US$12.6 million loan for Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States

Bosnia and Herzegovina: assisting rural communities

The US$24.5 million Rural Enterprise Enhancement Project will assist 10,000 rural households in some of Bosnia and Herzegovina's poorest municipalities. About 20 per cent of the country's population lives below the poverty line. Poor dairy farmers, fruit producers, small-scale rural entrepreneurs and casual labourers will participate in the project. Financial resources and services will be made available so that farmers can expand their agricultural activities and invest in non-farm related rural enterprises to generate more income. Through the development of producers' associations, the project will enable dairy farmers and fruit producers to gain greater access to markets and to advocate for policy changes. Infrastructure such as storage facilities, feeder roads, water supply systems and rural markets will be reconstructed. The project will also support the establishment of a dairy industry development council to act as an industry advocate for poor dairy farmers and processors. IFAD will provide a US$12.6 million loan to help finance the project.

US$8.4 million in loans for Western and Central Africa

Congo: working with smallholders to bring produce to market

The US$20.8 million Rural Development Project in the Departments of Niari, Bouenza and Lékoumou in the Congo will work with poor rural communities to boost their access to markets, improved agricultural inputs and financial resources. Subsistence farmers who depend on rainfed crops and forest products for their livelihoods will participate in the project and the involvement of women and young people will be a priority. About 30,000 households in general will benefit directly or indirectly from the project, representing half the total population of the target departments. Because transport costs and inefficient markets are the main constraints facing smallholders, the project will work to improve rural infrastructure such as feeder roads to give better access to markets. It will strengthen producers' organizations so that they can negotiate group sale of produce and identify market openings. The project will also support the development of existing rural financial systems so that they can provide appropriate financial services to rural poor people. Better quality inputs will be widely distributed, in particular disease-resistant cuttings for cassava. IFAD will support the project with a loan of approximately US$8.4 million.

US$4.08 million in grants to support rural associations, rural development training programmes and services

The Executive Board approved four grants under IFAD's global/regional grants window. A US$900,000 grant was approved for the Regional Programme for Rural Development Training (PROCASUR) to support the Learning Routes Training Programme in Latin America. The programme will help develop and disseminate effective and innovative rural development practices and ideas in projects in the region. It will contribute to building an efficient regional market for technical assistance services. The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) will receive a US$1.08 million grant to help finance the Programme for Rehabilitation of Agricultural Livelihoods of Women in Marginal Post-Conflict Areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The programme aims to increase the skills of rural women in marginal and post-conflict areas by improving access to and use of improved knowledge on raising dairy goats. The programme will build on local and traditional knowledge. A US$500,000 grant for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will help finance the Support Programme to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Process in Western and Central Africa. The programme will foster policy dialogue among the various stakeholders by promoting investments and budget priorities based on poverty reduction strategy papers to respond to the needs of rural poor people. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) will receive a US$1.6 million grant to support the Programme for Enhancing Livelihoods of Poor Livestock Keepers through Increased Use of Fodder. The programme will work with partners and farmers to enable poor smallholders in Ethiopia, the Syrian Arab Republic and Viet Nam to adopt innovative fodder-based technologies that will help improve the feed security of their livestock. Press release number: IFAD 18/06 , Rome, 21 April 2006 (Source IFAD)

Guatemala's indigenous people to get US$30 million support from UN IFAD for development programme

Guatemala's indigenous Mayan people, who have often been marginalized, will now play a role in planning, managing and supervising their own development activities. The first phase of the National Rural Development Programme worth US$38 million is partly financed by a US$30 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). More than 300,000 Guatemalan people, about 50 per cent of them from indigenous groups, are expected to benefit from the first phase of the programme. The loan agreement was signed on Tuesday 11 April at IFAD headquarters in Rome by IFAD's Vice-President, Cyril Enweze and the Republic of Guatemala's Ambassador in Rome, Francisco Bonifaz Rodríguez. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is also providing a loan of US$10 million. The programme will focus on five areas in the west of Guatemala, where 60 per cent of the country's indigenous people live. For many years, discrimination and exclusion have contributed to the poverty and inequality of Mayan people. Poverty among the Mayan people is also linked to poor access to natural resources including land and water, as well as to technology and financial services. The civil war that ended in 1996 also left more than 100,000 widows and 250,000 orphans, resulting in a high number of women-headed households. One aim of the programme is to draw these people into the mainstream of Guatemala's social and economic progress. Improvements in basic infrastructure are planned that will help address problems experienced by all people. Health, education, communications and services will be improved through skills training and support particularly for women, rural youth, farmers and landless farmers. At present, about 40 per cent of the economically active people in rural areas do not own land. Up to 6,000 rural youth will be given skills training and 9,000 people from different groups will be trained in small business management, particularly those involving traditional handicrafts. A key idea is to involve people in planning, managing and supervising activities themselves, so that they can fully participate in the programme and express their own needs and concerns. They will be trained in how to participate in community planning councils, and mechanisms will be set up to give people the chance to express their views. With this programme, IFAD will have invested a total of US$96.2 million in seven programmes and projects in Guatemala. Since 1984, IFAD has supported projects in Guatemala to reduce poverty in areas seriously affected by the war and, more recently, to address the extreme poverty and poor social conditions of vulnerable groups in the country. Press release number: IFAD 17/06 , Rome, 20 April 2006 (Source IFAD)

Japanese Parliamentarians pay tribute to IFAD-supported rural income diversification project in Vietnam

Asian Parliamentarians' Seminar on Poverty Alleviation, 5-6 April 2006, Hanoi and Tuyen Quang, Vietnam Yoshio Yatsu, Japanese Member of Parliament and Chairman, Global Legislators for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE Japan), commended the rural income diversification schemes, supported by IFAD, that has helped improve significantly the livelihood of farmers and ethnic minorities in more than 66 communes in the rural province of Tuyen Quang of Vietnam. Yatsu is a former Chair of Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD). Addressing Vietnamese officials during his visit to the province as a part of the Asian Parliamentarians' Seminar on Poverty Alleviation, organized by the AFPPD, Yatsu said that the rural income diversification scheme is a model to follow in other countries in the region. The rural income diversification project has been in place in more than 66 communes over the past 5 years in Tuyen Quang, a mountainous province about 300 km. north of Hanoi, encompassing four main components, namely food security and income diversification, gender and women's livelihood, village infrastructure development, and project management. 30 members of parliament and senior officials from Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam visited the project sites in the Xuan Van and Tan Long communes where beneficiaries and participants of the IFAD-supported project discussed how they participated in planning the project and how they are benefiting from its results. The parliamentarians visited a bamboo-chopsticks production factory, which is part of the income diversification project, at a village in Xuan Van Commune. The chopsticks have been exported to other Asian countries, including Japan and Hong Kong thus increasing the incomes of the rural poor villagers. “This is fantastic. These are high-quality bamboo chopsticks,” said Shin Sakurai, a Member of Japanese Parliament and a former Chairman of AFPPD. At a village in Tan Long Commune, the parliamentarians learned first-hand from a family about the benefits of the IFAD-supported project. Dr. Wee Ka Siong, Member of Parliament of Malaysia, said that “the Tuyen Quang income-diversification project is a replicable model for poverty alleviation and should be introduced in other countries of the region.” Over 55 members of parliament and senior officials from 10 countries in Asia gathered in Hanoi, from April 5 to 6, 2006, to participate in a one day Asian Parliamentarians' seminar on poverty alleviation which was opened by Truong Quang Duoc, chairperson of the national assembly of Vietnam. The seminar was organized by AFPPD, in cooperation with Parliament of Vietnam's Social Affairs Committee and Vietnam Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (VAPPD). Press release number: IFAD 20/06 , 10 April 2006 (Source IFAD)

US$15.5 million IFAD loan to benefit poor farmers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Poor farmers and fishers belonging to 55,000 rural households in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will benefit from a new development programme. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide a US$15.5 million loan and a US$300,000 grant to support the US$26 million Agricultural Rehabilitation Programme in Orientale Province. The Belgian Survival Fund will cofinance the programme with a Euro 5.2 million grant while the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo will contribute US$3.4 million. The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge and the Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Rome, Italy, Innocent Mokosa Mandende. Years of civil conflict and economic mismanagement have taken their toll on the country, making it one of the poorest in the world. Transportation, communication and basic infrastructure have been destroyed; in many cases lack of maintenance has also led to deterioration. Most rural households depend on agriculture for their survival. Continuous conflicts have also had a negative impact on the development of the country's agricultural sector. Despite vast natural resources, less than 2 per cent of the arable land is cultivated and the country imports a substantial amount of food to meet national demand. Low agricultural productivity and lack of access to markets and financial services have exacerbated poverty in rural areas. The new programme will enable poor farmers, fishers and livestock owners to increase their incomes and become more food secure. The programme will assist in the rehabilitation of the agricultural and fishery sectors by making financial services and new technology more accessible to poor farmers and fishers. Farmers will be provided with seeds, pesticides, fertilizers and small tools so they can plant new crops and restore agricultural production. Farmers' groups will receive technical support and funding to build infrastructure and to develop economic activities such as fish farming and processing. Some 120 kilometres of new trunk roads will be built and 300 kilometres of feeder roads re-opened, making it easier for farmers and fishers to access markets where they can trade and sell their goods. Transportation along the river will also be improved. New boats that are better adapted for the pickup and delivery of goods will help fishers and farmers to transport their goods more efficiently. ''IFAD wants to improve food security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's poor rural communities so that the country can move away from emergency assistance and concentrate on long-term development programmes. This programme will help farmers and fishers to improve their livelihoods and increase their incomes,'' says Leopold Sarr, IFAD's Country Programme Manager for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With this programme, IFAD will have financed five programmes and projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a total of US$60 million in loans and grants. Press release number: IFAD 16/06 , Rome, 29 March, 2006 (Source IFAD)

European Commission and IFAD join forces on remittances to assist rural poor people

The European Commission (EC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have launched a new initiative to alleviate rural poverty in developing countries. The two organizations have established a funding facility for innovative remittance services. They announced the initiative today at the Conference on Migration and Development in Brussels. Remittances are the sums of money that migrant workers send home to their families, which help fight rural poverty in some of the poorest parts of the world. Poor families use remittances to pay for food, housing, healthcare and education. Although the individual amounts sent are often small, remittances put money directly in the hands of rural poor people. According to the World Bank, in 2005 global migrant remittances sent by formal financial institutions totalled more than US$160 billion. The actual size of remittance flows may be as much as 50 per cent higher, if unrecorded flows through informal channels are included. Today remittances represent the second largest inflow of foreign capital to developing countries, just behind foreign direct investment. Acknowledging the UN agency's experience in bringing financial services to rural poor people, the EC has contributed Euro 4 million to IFAD. The money will be used to establish a Funding Facility on Remittances and to support the second phase of IFAD's programme to promote savings and investments in poor rural areas in Latin America and the Caribbean that receive remittances from migrants. 'The EC and IFAD recognize that in order for remittances to have the greatest impact on rural poverty, they must be easily accessible, cost effective, and whenever possible, linked to other financial services such as savings, loans and insurance. These are services that are often not readily available in rural areas,” said Henri Dommel, IFAD's Senior Technical Advisor for Rural Finance. More than 75 per cent of the 1.2 billion extremely poor people in the world live in rural areas. They have very limited access to remittance and other financial services, which are also prohibitively costly. This prevents rural poor people from managing their cash flow and from alleviating the risks associated with agricultural activities. Through a competitive process, the Funding Facility on Remittances will call for proposals and then select and finance innovative projects. Successful proposals will increase rural poor people's access to remittance services by enabling local financial institutions to provide these services, either directly or as agents of commercial banks and remittance operators. The Funding Facility will also support projects that promote the development of strategic partnerships between formal financial institutions and other institutions with experience in remittances, including NGOs, hometown associations, international money transfer organizations and credit unions. The Facility will also support initiatives that link remittances to other financial services such as savings, insurance and lending. The first call for proposals will take place before the end of 2006. Press release number: IFAD 15/06 , Rome, 16 March 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$13 million IFAD loan to boost economic development in rural areas in the Republic of Moldova

A new development programme will help rural family entrepreneurs in the Republic of Moldova gain access to financial services so they can boost their incomes. The programme will also create new enterprises and expand existing ones to increase employment opportunities. The US$20.3 million Rural Business Development Programme will be financed by a US$13 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and, the Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to IFAD, Nicolae Dudau. The five-year programme will help create new markets and jobs in the country's rural areas, and enable poor farmers to move into more productive farm and non-farm activities. It will facilitate access to medium and long-term financing and capital loans so people can invest in agriculture and off-farm projects. Business support and development services will also be available to improve business efficiency. IFAD's experience in the Republic of Moldova has shown that there is a great demand for rural financial services. The agricultural sector, including production and food processing, employs about 40 per cent of the country's labour force. But production levels are currently less than half of what they were before the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. The new programme incorporates innovative features such as an investment/business support package, which lessens the risks for both lenders and borrowers. Another important innovative approach mainstreamed in the programme is the public-private partnership. It will provide medium and long-term financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, along with access to private capital in support of national development objectives. This approach will increase synergy and improve the programme's impact on poverty. With this loan, IFAD will have financed three investment programmes in the Republic of Moldova for a total loan portfolio of US$35.5 million. Press release number: IFAD 14/06 , Rome, 21 February 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$10.0 million IFAD loan will boost non-farm activities in Benin

A new development programme will make it possible for more than 56,000 rural poor people in Benin to gain access to financial services, technology and markets, increasing their well-being and incomes. Membership in financial services associations will also increase by about 50,000. The US$14.8 million Rural Development Support Programme will be financed by a US$10 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Republic of Benin, Fatiou Akplogan. ''This programme will benefit farmers by introducing post-harvest technologies like storage facilities that protect crops from insects and pests and by linking farmers to markets through training programmes to improve the quality of products so they will more easily find a market,” said Båge. Farmers will also learn to market their products at trade fairs, and learn new non-farm income generating activities such as setting up shops or processing products so they increase in value. A major focus of the programme will be to increase access to savings and credit through the consolidation and expansion of 200 village banks called financial services associations. A network of these associations will be expanded to include about 100,000 shareholders by the end of 2010. Special attention will be paid to women and young people who are particularly vulnerable because of limited access to land, financial services, information and training. IFAD has seen from previous programmes that women are often more active than men in starting new businesses, and they pay back loans sooner than men. With this programme, IFAD will have participated in financing 9 loans to Benin for a total investment of US$226.35 million. Press release number: IFAD 13/06 , Rome, 17 February 2006 (Source IFAD)

IFAD's 29th Governing Council wraps up with theme of innovation

The Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) ended its 29th session today. The Council approved all the items on its agenda, including the membership application of the Pacific island of Niue. The Governing Council is IFAD's highest decision-making authority. It meets once a year, bringing together delegates from the organization's 165 member countries. The meeting's closing coincided with an announcement that IFAD's President, Lennart Båge, had been appointed as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's Panel on UN System-wide Coherence, created to further strengthen the management and coordination of UN operational activities. The panel is a result of the 2005 World Summit, held in New York. The panel comprises 15 members selected from UN member states, international aid organizations, multilateral UN organizations and others. It will recommend changes in the UN system to ensure that it contributes most effectively to achieving internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, with a special focus on the environment, humanitarian assistance and development. In his address to the opening session of the Governing Council, Båge highlighted IFAD's role within the United Nations system: “IFAD has a dual task before it. We must work to enhance the scale, the impact and the sustainability of the projects and programmes we fund. We must also harmonize and align these efforts, and make them fully complementary to those of our partners, other United Nations organizations, international financial institutions and bilateral development agencies.” The objective, he explained, was to multiply the impact of the entire system in partnership with the developing countries. Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, the Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture of the Kingdom of Bhutan who delivered the meeting's inaugural address, stressed the importance of listening to the needs of rural poor people to ensure they are active participants in improving their own lives. Michele Vietti, Under Secretary of State of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy, spoke on behalf of the host country and conveyed his country's support for IFAD's mission. A panel discussion entitled “Innovation challenges for the rural poor” was moderated by Mishal Husain, journalist from BBC World News. Panellists included:- Olaseinde Arigbede, Union of Small and Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria - Julio Berdegue, President of the Latin American Centre for Rural Development - Ravi Kanbur, world expert on development economics - Reema Nanavaty, Director of Economic and Rural Development for the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India - Matthew Wyatt, United Kingdom Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN organizations in Rome and Chair of the IFAD Governing Council Three round-table discussions were also held in conjunction with the Governing Council meeting: - Securing Access to Land for the Rural Poor - Strengthening Rural Institutions for the Poor: Opportunities and Constraints - Adaptive Research in Support of Pro-Poor Innovations in Rural Development Aggregate pledges to the Fund's Sixth Replenishment now represent 91 per cent of the target amount of US$560 million. The Council also welcomed the timely completion of the negotiations on the Seventh Replenishment of IFAD's Resources. The Council approved an administrative budget for IFAD for 2006 of US$61.1 million, as well as US$4.79 million to finance IFAD's independent Office of Evaluation. The theme of this year's Governing Council meeting was how innovation could help meet the challenges faced by rural poor people. The Farmers' Forum, which held a two-day meeting just prior to the Governing Council, was cited as an important innovation. The Farmers' Forum meeting brought together more than 50 leaders of farmers' organizations representing millions of small farmers and rural producers from around the world. The Farmers' Forum is a global process of consultation on rural development and poverty reduction. Press release number: IFAD 12/06 , Rome, 16 February 2005 (Source IFAD)

Strong institutions can help rural poor people overcome poverty: round-table discussion at IFAD's Governing Council looks at opportunities and constraints

Participants at the 29th Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) met today for a round-table discussion on the importance of strengthening institutions for rural poor people. ''Institutions should build coalitions of poor people, strengthen community-driven development and transfer responsibilities and resources to communities'' said Dario Pulgar, chief technical advisor to the Canadian International Development Agency's programme in Ecuador. Participants discussed the challenge of creating a policy environment that responds to the needs of rural poor people. Decentralization and strong rural institutions can help rural poor people to gain a voice in decisions affecting their lives, including public policies. Strengthening the capacity of rural poor people and their organizations is one of IFAD's strategic objectives. According to panellist John Harriss, professor at the London School of Economics, ''states can facilitate local organizations and actions on the part of poor people by creating spaces for participation.” By participating in public debate, rural poor people help make governments more accountable to their needs, explained Harris. Based on lessons it has learned in its programmes and projects, IFAD has developed instruments to enhance the resilience of community-based organizations and individuals and to support small farmers' participation in policy making and institutional change. For instance, IFAD has found that rural institutions can build the capacity to manage financial resources, providing savings and credit services to their members so they can start income generating activities. Strong institutions are especially important in post-conflict situations, where few government services may be available, making it difficult for people to rebuild their lives. In indigenous communities, IFAD has helped traditional groups to supervise land use and maintain water points. Through these activities, IFAD has confirmed that rural poor people can effectively organize themselves to identify community priorities and address local problems. This is only possible, however, if rural poor people have clear rules of the game, access to information and resources, strong capacity and financial support. Most importantly, it requires a significant shift in the development paradigm, from supply-side to demand driven interventions, and from top-down to bottom-up approaches, the roundtable participants heard. Press release number: IFAD 11/06 , Rome, 16 February 2006 (Source IFAD)

Research innovations in Africa and Asia hold promise for rural poor people

Advances in agricultural research have the potential to lift rural people out of poverty, if they are adapted to the specific needs of farmers, herders, fishers and other rural producers. ''Science and technology generate knowledge but knowledge doesn't necessarily create innovation. It must be appropriate and be part of an effective innovation system, said Rodney Cooke, director of the Technical Advisory Division at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as he opened a round-table discussion at IFAD's annual Governing Council meeting today. Panellists at the discussion shared examples of innovations that were improving production, increasing incomes and conserving natural resources in the rural areas of the world. The IFAD-supported Mashreq and Maghreb Project is exploring innovative ways of improving crop-livestock production systems in the fragile drylands of Central and Western Asia and North Africa. The project has discovered that a relatively small change in cropping practice can yield significant improvements. ''By rotating barley with forage legumes farmers reduce erosion and add fertility to soil through nitrogen fixation, explained Abdel El-Beltagy, Director-General of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas. In West Africa, agricultural research has led to the introduction of new rice varieties referred to as New Rice for Africa, or NERICA, combining the ruggedness of African varieties and the high yields of modern Asian ones. Through participatory approaches, farmers are learning about these new varieties and passing the knowledge on to others. About 30,000 farmers in 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are using NERICA, many of them women who spend many hours planting, weeding and harvesting rice. ''NERICA has higher yields, and it's also higher in protein and reduces drudgery, meaning increased income and well-being for families, says Shellemiah Keya, Assistant Director General of research and development for the Africa Rice Center (WARDA). But according to Keya, the needs of rural poverty are much greater. The challenge now for WARDA, IFAD and other partners supporting the programme is to scale up the use of NERICA even further, especially in eastern and southern Africa. This will also require improvements in seed production and distribution. Innovations in poverty reduction sometimes come in the form of protecting natural resources. David Kaimowitz, Director-General of the Center for International Forestry Research in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre is looking at novel ways of encouraging farmers to protect the environment - by rewarding them. ''Farmers told us they were willing to plant trees, conserve soil and provide other services that would benefit the environment, but they wanted to be compensated, said Kaimowitz. An IFAD-supported consortium is working on finding ways to provide farmers with payment for environmental services. Sometimes the rewards can be financial. For example, communities in Indonesia and the Philippines are negotiating with a hydro-electric plant to receive profits in return for watershed management practices that conserve soil and water resources. ''But there are also other rewards like providing secure land tenure, giving access to credit or building organizations that allow rural poor people to negotiate their rights, said Kaimowitz. These innovations are at an early stage, cautions Kaimowitz, and like all innovations, they hold a certain amount of risk. But they have a real potential to grow, he believes, especially considering increasing concerns about global warming. Press release number: IFAD 10/06 , Rome, 16 February 2006 (Source IFAD)

Land issues deliberated at IFAD Governing Council: secure access is key to improving livelihoods

Access to land lies at the heart of the fight to overcome rural poverty. The issues relating to owning, controlling and using land, and the question of how to achieve a more equitable distribution of land, were discussed today at a round-table held at the 29th session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The round-table brought together government delegates and representatives of farmers' organizations and social movements. It highlighted the complexity of land tenure issues and the many challenges faced in the implementation of agrarian reform. Issues such as the rights of rural women and indigenous peoples to land, the legal and economic implications of land distribution or restitution, and the need to accompany land reform with appropriate rural development interventions were central to the debate. Participants particularly emphasized the need for governments to work in partnership with stakeholders in planning and implementing agrarian reform. It was generally agreed that land reform could not be successful unless it took account of the needs of rural communities and especially of vulnerable groups. ''Millions of people are asking for solutions'', said Nemesia Achacollo of the Bolivian Federation of Women Farmers. ''There can be no real change in the incidence of poverty and hunger unless we set up a dialogue between states and international organizations and those who represent all the actors.'' While equitable land ownership is still a distant goal, some progress has already been made. Representatives of governments and civil society groups from Brazil, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, the Philippines and Zambia spoke of the positive achievements of agrarian reform made in their respective countries. The round-table also provided a forum for focusing debate on these issues in preparation for the upcoming International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICAARD), to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil during March 2006. Press release number: IFAD 09/06 , Rome, 16 February 2006 (Source IFAD)

Innovation is key to rural poverty reduction: panellists at UN IFAD's Governing Council discuss how to support creativity and risk-taking

Poor people are innovators for life,'' stated Olaseinde Arigbede of the Union of Small and Medium Scale Farmers of Nigeria. Arigbede was speaking at a high-level panel discussion at the annual Governing Council meeting of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) yesterday in Rome. The key question, he continued, is: ''How can the developed world better support the everyday creativity that farmers are showing?'' ''Innovation challenges for the rural poor'' was the topic of the panel discussion. Other panel members included Julio Berdegue, President of the Latin American Centre for Rural Development, Ravi Kanbur, world expert on development economics, Reema Nanavaty, Director of Economic and Rural Development for the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India, and Matthew Wyatt, United Kingdom Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN organizations in Rome and Chair of the IFAD Governing Council. ''Innovation is driven by the private sector,'' said Wyatt. ''The rural poor are less likely to benefit and most likely to suffer the negative consequences of innovation,'' he warned, ''IFAD's role is in helping poor people rise to the innovation challenges that they face.'' With funding from the United Kingdom, IFAD is currently managing a three-year initiative to expand its capacities for innovation &ndash the Initiative for Mainstreaming Innovation (IMI). ''IMI has created space for IFAD to be creative,'' Wyatt said. ''It is necessary to create space for risk-taking and accept that a degree of failure will come with that.'' Kanbur spoke about organizational innovation, warning that ''institutions often have rules that stifle innovation.'' He recommended ''ring fencing'' &ndash setting aside small amounts of funds to support innovation over the long term. ''For the poor, innovation is vital for survival,'' said Nanavaty. She told the meeting how SEWA has worked to make innovation sustainable by providing financial services for its members. ''Innovation blooms when provided with the right resources,'' she said. ''Innovations are new, different and unique, and therefore not part of bureaucratic systems,'' Nanavaty continued. She called for trust and patience on the part of donors as key to promoting innovation. Scaling up successful innovations is vital if they are to have a sustainable impact on rural poverty reduction. Governments and institutions play a key role in making scaling up possible and sustainable. Nanavaty also spoke of the importance of enabling effective local organizations such as SEWA to scale up while remaining true to their roots. SEWA's immersion programme, which takes professionals and development workers to stay with rural poor women in their homes for a few days, is one way of keeping this connection alive. Networking is also important to scale up innovations. ''Significant innovation processes require networks that include the rural poor but go beyond them,'' said Berdegue. He spoke of networks that include small farmers, large farmers and multinationals. Lennart Båge, the President of IFAD closed the panel noting that supporting and promoting innovation had been identified as a key characteristic of IFAD. ''We are not the prime innovators,'' he said. ''The way that we support our partners in innovation is what is important.'' He spoke of the need for humility and respect in creating a space for innovation, and underlined the contribution that the panel discussion had made to IFAD's future work in the field. The panel discussion was moderated by Mishal Husain of BBC World News. The first Farmers' Forum held in conjunction with this session of IFAD's Governing Council was cited as an important innovation. The Forum brought together leaders from more than 50 farmers' organizations representing small farmers and rural producers worldwide for a global consultation on rural development and poverty reduction. Press release number: IFAD 08/06 , Rome, 16 February 2006 (Source IFAD)

People's participation is essential in fight against poverty says Prime Minister of Bhutan at UN IFAD's Governing Council

The importance of listening to the voices of rural poor people was the message delivered by the Prime Minister of Bhutan in his inaugural statement to the 29th session of the International Fund for Agricultural Development's (IFAD) Governing Council meeting today in Rome. Delegates from IFAD's 164 member countries are attending the session. ''We need to listen to the voices of the rural poor. And I mean listen deeply,'' said Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture of the Kingdom of Bhutan. ''Dare we ... think about rural poverty reduction without listening to the very people toiling to survive in remote villages? ... We dare not.'' He stressed that ''such listening demands humility and tolerance in everyone ... especially so in leaders and the elite who are in the position to influence or steer the change process.'' He asked delegates to be ''open to the grass-roots wisdom, and invite such wisdom to change how you think about what you do.'' The Governing Council is IFAD's highest decision-making authority. This year's session focuses on innovation as key to poverty eradication efforts worldwide. In a message read to delegates from Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General stressed that ''IFAD will continue to play a key role in the work to reach the Millennium Development Goals - agreed by all governments as a blueprint for building a better world in the 21st century''. In his opening address to the Governing Council, the President of IFAD Lennart Båge spoke of the unprecedented focus on development issues over the past year and ''on the fact that we are not reaching the MDGs - in particular in sub-Saharan Africa - and that more resources for development are needed.'' Båge also stressed the importance of IFAD's role within the United Nations system. ''Development finance is growing and UN organizations have to demonstrate that they are effective channels for these resources,'' he said. ''What IFAD does is important. But what all of us do, as a well coordinated and coherent system is what ultimately will make a difference.'' During 2005, IFAD's programme of work rose by about 10 per cent, continuing the upward trend of previous years. The organization also responded to the exceptional needs created by the tsunami and the South Asia earthquake by developing fast-track projects to restore livelihoods. At the end of last year, IFAD's member countries also completed the negotiations for the Seventh Replenishment of IFAD's Resources for 2007-2009. The key element underlying the good outcome of the negotiations is ''the strong support for the Fund by all parts of IFAD membership, both net contributing and borrowing countries,'' said Båge. ''The Seventh Replenishment negotiations reinforce IFAD's foundation as a partnership of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, other developing countries and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development,'' he said. The representative of the World Food Programme spoke of the importance of the partnership between the Rome-based UN agencies, saying that ''with concerted action and adequate resources, it is possible to achieve the MDGs''. The representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN stressed the importance of increasing financing for poverty reduction, stating that ''overcoming poverty and hunger will require investments in agriculture beyond today's level''. An application for membership by the Pacific island nation of Niue was approved by the Governing Council, bringing the total number of IFAD member countries to 165. Press release number: IFAD 06/06 , Rome, 15 February 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$16.2 million IFAD loan to empower communities in Morocco's Middle Atlas Mountains

More than 75,000 people living in remote mountain villages will benefit from a new US$34.4 million development project to improve agricultural production, strengthen basic rural infrastructures, and diversify income sources. Communities will be at the heart of the project, which will help them prepare local development plans that address their priorities for investment. The project area is Boulmane Province, one of the country's poorest regions. The Rural Development Project in the Eastern Middle Atlas Mountains will be financed by a US$16.2 million loan from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and cofinanced by the OPEC Fund and the Government of Morocco. The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD Lennart Båge and Tajeddine Baddou, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco. Project participants will be involved in formulating development plans at the village level. Training will help strengthen their ability to plan and participate in the implementation and maintenance of investment activities, access rural financial services and create micro-enterprises. ''At the moment, as in much of rural Morocco, these farmers are not equipped to face the challenges of an economy that is opening up to free market competition. Through better management of water, land and animal resources, and improved access to technical, financial and other support services, farmers will be able to increase and diversify their incomes in a sustainable manner'', says Mounif Nourallah, IFAD's country programme manager for Morocco. Small farmers, who represent 85 per cent of the area's population, generally grow cereals on very small plots, where productivity is low because of severe climatic fluctuations. Their farmland is also very fragile. Erosion increases the risk of destructive flooding and landslides in an area already remote and largely inaccessible. The eight-year project will help farmers to better manage their natural resources. They will learn techniques for terracing and stabilizing river banks, which are crucial for conserving soil and water. Irrigation infrastructures, such as gates, canals and underground systems, will be built or rehabilitated. They will help boost production of specific cash crops and fruits adapted to this region. The programme will also build or rehabilitate access tracks, enabling isolated communities to more easily reach markets and social services. Women and young people will be a special focus of the programme, in particular the unemployed and landless namely in the areas of functional literacy, income generating activities and microenterprises. With this loan, IFAD will have financed 10 programmes and projects in Morocco for a total loan portfolio of US$146.3 million. Press release number: IFAD 05/06, Rome, 14 February 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$19.75 million IFAD programme to develop the informal dairy industry in Kenya

Thousands of poor, small-scale milk producers and traders will benefit from a new development programme in Kenya. It will strengthen their ability to create and respond to market opportunities in the largely informal dairy sector. The US$19.8 million Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme will be financed by a US$17.5 million loan and a US$845,000 grant from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and the Ambassador of Kenya to Italy, Anne Belinda Nyikuli. Kenya’s dairy sector is one of the largest and most developed in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 3.5 per cent of the country’s GDP. Yet, about three quarters of traded milk is sold outside the formal processing sector. Farmers prefer to deal with informal mobile milk traders because they pay higher prices than factory processors. However, the farmers largely remain poor, with limited ability to intensify their production. There are also public health concerns due to the poor hygiene in the handling and transport of dairy products to the major cities, Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru, where urban dwellers consume 125 to 150 litres of milk per person every year. IFAD will work with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries to help dairy farmers, mobile milk traders and operators of small milk bars to become more market-oriented. Over the next six years, the programme, targeting the Nakuru central area and eight other districts in the west of the country, is expected to lead to an increase in milk production, traded products and income. Farmers and traders will get a better understanding of enterprise skills and key technical services such as feeding, artificial insemination, disease control or quality assurance. “This programme has many ‘firsts’ in the Kenyan context”, IFAD president Lennart Båge said during the signing ceremony. “A special targeting study using the Government’s detailed poverty data has been carried out to identify the geographical areas where we will operate and the type of smallholder dairy farmer to be targeted.” “Furthermore, about 65 per cent of those who benefit will be women,” Båge said. “The programme also aims to integrate smallholder dairy producers into the national milk marketing chain and has an exit strategy so that they rapidly become self-sustainable.” This is also the first programme in Kenya to benefit from an IFAD country grant aimed at supporting the national policy dialogue and reform process. It is in line with the Government Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture, initiated in 2003, which assigns the agricultural sector a central role in generating poverty-reducing economic growth. This programme will ultimately aim at improving the nutritional status and food security of the 24,000 households that will participate. With this loan IFAD will have financed 13 investments in Kenya for a total of US$158 million in loan and grants. Press release number: IFAD 04/06 , Rome, 25 January 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$19 million loan to improve harvests and increase incomes of the rural poor in Ghana

A new development programme in Ghana will benefit small farmers, traders and processors of roots and tubers. Cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, cocoyam and other roots and tubers are grown by the poorest Ghanaians and are crucial to their food security. The US$27.7 million programme will be financed partly by a US$19 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Government of Ghana will contribute US$3.9 million. Today's loan agreement was signed by Ghana's Ambassador to Italy, Kofi Dsane-Selby and the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, at IFAD headquarters in Rome. Nearly 55 per cent of all farming households in Ghana cultivate roots and tubers, which can be grown all year round. Root and tuber crops represent the mainstay of Ghanaian livelihoods, providing more than 42 percent of the staple food supply as well as sizable quantities of raw material for agro-industries. The programme will improve the lives of the farmers, traders and processors who depend on roots and tubers for their livelihoods, at least half of whom are women. It will help them participate more fully in the marketing chain for selling roots and tubers including negotiating prices and contracts and improving bartering and marketing skills. Roots and tuber production will also be improved. Through farmer-field forums, agricultural researchers and farmers will meet to exchange information on cultivation practices and share their experiences. Farmers will enhance their knowledge of new varieties of roots and tubers, soil fertility management and pest control. The programme will also promote the use of new processing means by increasing rural producers' access to improved technologies and skills training. Credit and micro-leasing will be made available so farmers and processors can upgrade their equipment and make use of new technology. Farmer organizations and private sector operators will be strengthened in order to be in a position to better shape the policies regarding roots and tubers development. ''By increasing their access to markets and new technology and building on indigenous knowledge, the programme will help Ghana's rural poor to increase their incomes and improve their livelihoods. They will be less marginalized and participate more actively in the development process,'' said Mohamed Manssouri, IFAD's Country Programme Manager for Ghana. With this loan IFAD will have financed 13 programmes and projects in Ghana for a total of US$155.73 million dollars. Press release number: IFAD 03/06 , Rome, 20 January 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$26.5 million loan to make financial services available to rural poor people in Pakistan

Rural poor people who have little access to credit and rural financial services will benefit from a new development programme in Pakistan. The US$30.5 million Microfinance Innovation and Outreach Programme will be financed by a US$26.5 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge, and Khalid Saeed, Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics of Pakistan. IFAD will work with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to help poor people, many of whom are women, gain access to resources and financial services that will enable them to undertake activities that generate income. The programme will support pilot projects to test and develop new microfinance products and services such as livestock insurance, equity partnerships, leasing arrangements, Islamic modes of financing and other innovative financing systems that reduce debt burden, minimize risk, promote asset creation and facilitate income generation. Local lending institutions will be strengthened so they can expand their outreach and provide better financial services in rural areas. Young graduates will have the opportunity to gain practical experience and training as interns, and at a later stage find employment in local microfinance institutions. At least 180,000 rural households are expected to benefit directly from the programme. IFAD is working closely with the World Bank on the programme. ''This innovative programme will ensure that Pakistan’s rural poor will be able to access a wider range of sustainable financial services and products that respond directly to their needs,'' said Nigel Brett, IFAD’s Country Programme Manager for Pakistan. With this loan IFAD will have financed 20 programmes and projects in Pakistan for a total of US$361 million dollars. Press release number: IFAD 02/06, Rome, 18 January 2006 (Source IFAD)

New US$15.5 IFAD loan to improve rural livelihoods in Tunisia

More than 15,000 rural households will benefit from a new development programme in Tunisia’s Governorate of Siliana. The US$38.9 million project will be financed by a US$15.5 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). An additional US$5 million grant will be provided by the Global Environment Facility and the Government of Tunisia will contribute US$18.5 million. The loan agreement was signed today by the President of IFAD, Lennart Båge and Tunisia’s Ambassador to Italy, Habib Mansour, at IFAD headquarters in Rome. The Integrated Agricultural Development Project in the Governorate of Siliana – Phase II will assist rural households covered under the first phase of the project and extend to all of the southern districts of the Governorate and eight subdistricts in the north. It will support the development of small and medium size agricultural and non-agricultural businesses by decentralizing and strengthening the three main regional institutions involved in agricultural, microenterprise and private sector development. Women and youth will gain better access to the labour market through vocational training and support services that provide assistance in accounting, business management and marketing. Privately operated agricultural advisory services will be established in order to boost agricultural productivity and improve the livelihoods of rural poor people. Siliana’s mountainous terrain is vulnerable to erosion and water supply is limited. The project will also support the creation of a system to monitor sustainable land management and to oversee soil and water conservation initiatives. Local institutions will be encouraged to adopt a participatory and gender sensitive planning approach in order to ensure that all members of the community participate in the development process. “This project builds upon work begun during the first phase and will continue to improve the living conditions of Tunisia’s rural poor by ensuring their participation in the development process,” says Rasha Omar, IFAD’s Country Programme Manager for Tunisia. With this loan IFAD will have financed nine programmes and projects for a total of US$281.5 million dollars in Tunisia. Press release number: IFAD 01/06, Rome, 17 January 2006 (Source IFAD)

Africa still faces challenges, says UN official

Africa is making "very good progress," but must tackle challenges in areas of transportation, infrastructure and water, a senior UN official said Friday. 10 May 2008 (source IITA)

Commission on Sustainable Development told of need to incorporate climate change strategies into Africa's bid to close gap between potential, productivity

Efforts to close the persistent gap between Africa’s potential and its current stagnant economic growth and declining agricultural productivity must incorporate sustainable strategies to address adequately the deep threats posed by climate change, the Commission for Sustainable Development was told today as it continued an in-depth dialogue on the continent. 10 May 2008 (source IITA)

Press conference on ideas for realizing African agricultural potential

Africa presented a ‘fantastic opportunity’ to complement and stabilize the global food system with small-farmer production in ways not foreseen at present, Peter Hartmann of the Nigeria-based International Institute for Tropical Agriculture said today at a Headquarters press conference. 09 May 2008 (source IITA)

UN press conference on ideas for realizing african agricultural potential

Africa presented a “fantastic opportunity” to complement and stabilize the global food system with small-farmer production in ways not foreseen at present, Peter Hartmann of the Nigeria-based International Institute for Tropical Agriculture said today at a Headquarters press conference. 09 May 2008 (source IITA)

Though making ‘very good progress,’ Africa still faces challenges, says UN official

Africa is making “very good progress,” but must tackle challenges in areas including transportation, infrastructure and water, a senior United Nations said today, as the annual Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) is under way in New York. 09 May 2008 (source IITA)

IITA leads bio-control effort against witch-weed

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and its partners have found a way to control the scourge of witchweed (Striga hermonthica) in Sub-Saharan Africa through a biocontrol agent. Striga infests some 50 million hectares of cereal crops, specifically maize, sorghum and millet, causing farmers an estimated US$ 7 billion in annual losses and affecting over 300 million people in the region. 06 May 2008 (source IITA)

High food prices: Silent tsunami of ill health in the making

The prevailing high food prices are having radically different effects across the length and breadth of the country. Most Nigerians are hard hit by the rising or risen food prices. At the household level, surging and volatile food prices are hitting families least able to afford it, where they feel it most - their pockets or wallets. Clearly, the abjectly poor and chronically food insecure are in dire straits. 05 May 2008 (source IITA)

CRS announces $21.8 million grant from Gates Foundation to help small-scale African farmers protect cassava from disease

A $21.8 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is enabling Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and its partners to help small farmers in central and east Africa protect cassava — a critical source of food and income — from two spreading pandemics that are decimating as much as 70 percent of crop yields. 02 May 2008 (source IITA)

Banana Conference 2008: Charting the future of banana in Africa

The best and the brightest minds in banana research and industry from all over Africa will converge in Kenya later this year to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap that would harmonize and guide efforts to promote the marketing and trade of the crop in the continent. 30 April 2008 (source IITA)

Kenya banana conference to link production, market

Researchers on banana and industry players in the same from all over Africa will later in the year converge in Kenya to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap that would harmonize and guide efforts to promote the marketing and trade of the crop in the continent. 29 April 2008 (source IITA)

Kenya banana conference to link production, market

Researchers on banana and industry players in the same from all over Africa will later in the year converge in Kenya to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap that would harmonize and guide efforts to promote the marketing and trade of the crop in the continent. 29 April 2008 (source IITA)

Charting the future of banana in Africa

The best and the brightest minds in banana research and industry from all over Africa will converge in Kenya later this year to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap that would harmonize and guide efforts to promote the marketing and trade of the crop in the continent. 28 April 2008 (source IITA)

International banana conference to be held in Kenya in October 2008

The International Banana Conference 2008 will be held from 5-9 October in Mombasa, Kenya. 27 April 2008 (source IITA)

Tissue culture: JKUAT steps up war to protect plantlets in the field

Three scientists from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) led by the re-known Biotechnology/Horticulturalist, and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Production and Extension Prof. Esther Murugi Kahangi have discovered a remedy to the devastating banana pests. 26 April 2008 (source IITA)

IITA to withdraw from 3 states

The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) said on Thursday that it would withdraw from three eastern states by the end of this month if their governments failed to pay the N209.8 million counterpart fund. 25 April 2008 (source IITA)

Institute develops seven hybrid yams

The National Roots Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Abia, has developed and released seven hybrid yams to farmers. 18 April 2008 (source IITA)

The Hat Man who helps Africa

A remarkable research centre is helping the lives of vast numbers of Africans - but who is the mystery man in charge? 07 April 2008 (source IITA)

Fighting the Violet Vampire

In the fields of sub-Saharan Africa, Alan Watson and McGill's Weed Research Group are battling devastating parasites—naturally 17 March 2008 (source IITA)

Applied research aids West-African farmers

Research is able to produce results that can lead to the improved livelihoods. This is what the historical cooperation between Belgium and the international research-institute IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) has proven. French version (pag. 13) Website DGDC (Directorate-General for Development Cooperation) 29 February 2008 (source IITA)

New bird flu outbreaks require strong vigilance

FAO today expressed concern about new flare-ups of avian influenza but stressed that the number of outbreaks in the first weeks of 2007 has been significantly lower than the epidemic waves of last year. 23/01/2007 (source FAO)

China to send agricultural experts to Gabon

China will send 44 agricultural experts and technicians to Gabon to help small-scale farmers there improve crop and animal production, fish farming and processing of agricultural products, under an agreement signed today between the two countries and FAO. 18/01/2007 (source FAO)

New measures to protect Mediterranean fish stocks

A group of nations whose fishing fleets regularly ply the waters of the Mediterranean have agreed upon a series of new measures aimed at conserving the region's fish stocks. 16/01/2007 (source FAO)

Women fill top posts at FAO

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf has announced the appointment of two women to top positions in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. 15/01/2007 (source FAO)

Good agricultural practices: challenge and opportunity for developing countries

Good agricultural practices can help developing countries cope with globalization while not compromising their sustainable development objectives. 10/01/2007 (source FAO)

Flare-up of Rift Valley Fever in the Horn of Africa

A Nairobi-based FAO team is working with veterinary authorities in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia to address the latest outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in the Horn of Africa. 04/01/2007 (source FAO)

FAO welcomes UN Resolution on International Year of Natural Fibres 2009

Yesterday’s UN General Assembly decision declaring 2009 the International Year of Natural Fibres will contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. 21/12/2006 (source FAO)

FAO encourages early withdrawal of highly toxic pesticides

Danish chemicals company Cheminova has submitted plans for phasing out highly toxic forms of pesticides in developing countries to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 20/12/2006 (source FAO)

FAO crisis centre experts in South Korea studying risk of avian flu spread

A team from the joint FAO/OIE Crisis Management Centre is in the Republic of Korea collecting epidemiological data from rural areas south of the capital, Seoul, where three recent outbreaks of avian influenza in domestic poultry occurred. 19/12/2006 (source FAO)

Haiti at crossroads

After several years of social and political unrest aggravated by recurrent hurricanes, floods, droughts and other natural disasters which hampered its development, Haiti is at a crossroads. 18/12/2006 (source FAO)

Agencies agree on plan for food safety, animal and plant health assistance

Five international organizations, donors and representatives of beneficiary countries have approved a new strategy for their joint efforts to help developing countries implement internationally agreed standards for food safety and animal and plant health. 18/12/2006 (source FAO)

20 percent of animal breeds are at risk of extinction

Around 20 percent of animal breeds are at risk of extinction, with one breed lost each month. 15/12/2006 (source FAO)

Global alliance needed to defend mountains

FAO calls for a global alliance to safeguard the world’s mountains as a vital source of biodiversity. 11/12/2006 (source FAO)

International donors up funding to fight H5N1 avian flu

FAO today welcomed additional funding of US$475 million from the international donor community to continue the fight against the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus. 08/12/2006 (source FAO)

Cereal prices surge to highest levels in decade

Cereal prices, particularly for wheat and maize, have reached levels not seen for a decade, according to FAO’s latest Food Outlook report. 07/12/2006 (source FAO)

Solidarity and action through national alliances to reduce hunger

Representatives of national alliances against hunger and government delegations review progress made towards reducing the number of hungry people since the 1996 World Food Summit. 07/12/2006 (source FAO)

Africa should be top priority in battle to contain bird flu

Deadly H5N1 bird flu remains a potent threat around the world – both to animals and humans, and the possibility of a human pandemic cannot be ruled out, FAO warns at a major donor conference in Bamako, Mali. 06/12/2006 (source FAO)

The majority of people with disabilities live in rural areas

The majority of world's 650 million disabled people live in developing countries, and of these, 80 percent live rural areas. 05/12/2006 (source FAO)

FAO, IFAD and WFP executive heads in joint visit to northern Ghana

The heads of the three Rome-based food and agriculture agencies demonstrated their determination to strengthen joint efforts to reduce hunger and poverty at the grassroots level by visiting Ghana’s food insecure Northern Region this week. 05/12/2006 (source FAO)

AIDS epidemic worsens in rural areas

Despite improvements in HIV prevalence rates in some countries, the epidemic is continuing to worsen in rural areas in the developing world. 01/12/2006 (source FAO)

Over $114 million needed for agricultural relief in 11 emergency situations worldwide

FAO is asking donors for over $114 million to provide agriculture relief to vulnerable rural populations in 11 emergencies worldwide. 01/12/2006 (source FAO)

Livestock a major threat to environment

The modern livestock sector is emerging as a major environmental menace, contributing significantly to global warming and to the degradation of land and water, according to a new FAO report. 29/11/2006 (source FAO)

Lebanon: damage to agriculture, fisheries and forestry estimated at around $280 million

Damage and losses to agriculture, fisheries and forestry in Lebanon as a result of last summer’s hostilities are estimated at around $280 million, FAO said today. 27/11/2006 (source FAO)

Raúl pitches in to help fight hunger in Africa

Raúl González, star of Real Madrid and captain of Spain's national soccer team, is paying a visit to Senegal today as an FAO Goodwill Ambassador in order to rally support for the UN agency's efforts to combat hunger across all of Africa. 27/11/2006 (source FAO)

Aboard shrimp trawlers, a quiet revolution

Exports of shrimp by developing countries earn them US$8 billion a year and provide employment to hundreds of thousands of people. But shrimp trawling has negative impacts on the environment. An FAO project is introducing new technologies that are helping untangle this Gordian Knot. 23/11/2006 (source FAO)

Wider cooperation between FAO and Saudi Arabia

Fourteen projects worth nearly US$60 million will help spur development of the agriculture sector in Saudi Arabia over the next five years, under a new cooperation programme approved today by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and FAO. 22/11/2006 (source FAO)

FAO partnership nets award for work on shrimp farming

A collaborative effort by FAO and a group of partner organizations to make shrimp farming more environmentally-friendly yesterday received the World Bank's 2006 "Green Award." 09/11/2006 (source FAO)

OPEC Fund to support development of Myanmar's edible oil sector

Myanmar’s edible oil crop sector will be developed over the next three years with technical assistance from FAO, supported by a loan of US$12.3 million from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). 09/11/2006 (source FAO)

H5N1 bird flu virus is changing

If reports of the spread of the new Fujian virus sublineage of H5N1 avian influenza circulating in parts of Asia are confirmed, it comes as no surprise, FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said today. 08/11/2006 (source FAO)

Climate change will affect future food availability

Climate change will directly affect future food availability and compound the difficulties of feeding the world’s rapidly growing population. 07/11/2006 (source FAO)

International agencies advise OIE animal health and welfare fund

Five international organizations met for the first time in Paris on 20 October 2006 to advise the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on funding to help developing countries meet international standards for dealing with disease outbreaks and related issues. 03/11/2006 (source FAO)

World hunger increasing

The number of hungry people in the world is currently increasing at the rate of four million a year and the "race against hunger" is in danger of being lost. 30/10/2006 (source FAO)

Will we meet the hunger goal?

Ten years after the World Food Summit, global representatives from over 120 countries will meet in Rome next week to review just how far the world has come towards meeting the 2015 goal of reducing by half the number of hungry people in the world, then estimated at 800 million. 26/10/2006 (source FAO)

World Communication Congress opens in Rome

The vital role played by communication in development will be highlighted at a three-day conference, which opened at FAO headquarters today, attended by 500 delegates including policy-makers, academics and media professionals. 25/10/2006 (source FAO)

Agricultural heritage: legacy from the past, passport for the future

Many traditional agricultural systems handed down the generations still provide food security for millions of poor rural communities worldwide. 19/10/2006 (source FAO)

World’s most important gene banks now under international plant genetic resources treaty

The most important gene bank collections of the world’s key food and forage crops today came under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. 16/10/2006 (source FAO)

World Food Day 2006 targets public and private investment

“Recently there has been a significant revival in lending for agriculture. Debt forgiveness programmes, strengthened by the G8 decision in 2005, have begun to release national resources for investment in agriculture. But much still remains to be done,” said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf today. 16/10/2006 (source FAO)

“The Right to Food: A Window on the World”

New global education project launched today to raise awareness about hunger and the right to food among children and young people around the world. 16/10/2006 (source FAO)

New Crisis Management Centre launched by FAO

FAO today inaugurated a new Crisis Management Centre (CMC) to fight Avian Influenza outbreaks and other major animal health or food health-related emergencies. 12/10/2006 (source FAO)

News live from FAO

Important events at FAO headquarters in Rome can be viewed live on the UN agency’s web site, as well as on the RAI Portal, under a pilot scheme launched by FAO and RaiNet. 11/10/2006 (source FAO)

Will the Desert Locust strike again?

Important Desert Locust infestations recently detected in northwest Mauritania have prompted the FAO Locust Group to warn several countries to increase the level of alert against a potential Desert Locust threat in West and North Africa. 11/10/2006 (source FAO)

Queen Sofia of Spain awarded the Ceres Medal

Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain was today awarded the Ceres Medal from FAO, in recognition of her efforts to raise the living standards of rural women in developing countries. 10/10/2006 (source FAO)

40 countries face food shortages worldwide

Forty countries are facing food emergencies and require external assistance, with the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan still the most pressing humanitarian problem, according to an FAO report released today. 09/10/2006 (source FAO)

Liberian forestry sector emerges after 14 years of conflict and mismanagement

Liberia passed a new forestry law last night, opening a new era for the Liberian forestry sector after a long period of mismanagement and exploitation of forest resources to fuel conflict. 05/10/2006 (source FAO)

Chrysotile asbestos to be considered for trade “watch list”

Officials from over 100 governments will meet in Geneva next week to decide whether to add chrysotile asbestos to a trade “watch list” that already contains 39 hazardous substances. 05/10/2006 (source FAO)

Governments setting example for procurement of forest products

Several governments and local authorities in Europe, North America and Japan have adopted or are developing policies that will ensure that the forest products they buy come from legal and sustainably managed sources. 05/10/2006 (source FAO)

Helping Lebanon’s recovery

FAO is currently helping Lebanon speed up the recovery of its agriculture sector, following recent hostilities, which had a devastating impact on the people and economy of the country. 03/10/2006 (source FAO)

FAO-CITES agreement promotes sustainable fish trade

Today FAO and CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) signed an agreenent formalizing a long-standing working relationship related to responsible trade of fishery products. 03/10/2006 (source FAO)

The power of information - closing the knowledge gap

Over 100 of the world’s poorest countries will now be able to access leading food and agriculture journals for little or no cost with the launch of the second phase of the Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) initiative, FAO announced today. 27/09/2006 (source FAO)

Fishing policies need to look at the big picture

With the technical cooperation and support of FAO, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Governments of Norway and Iceland have teamed up to convene a meeting of experts and policymakers to talk about how governments can do more to include environmental considerations into their fisheries management plans. 26/09/2006 (source FAO)

Global Bioenergy Partnership Secretariat up, running

Located at FAO headquarters and supported by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, the Secretariat’s mandate is to facilitate a global political forum to promote bioenergy and to encourage the production, marketing and use of “green” fuels, with particular focus on developing countries. 22/09/2006 (source FAO)

Intelsat announces seventh consecutive year of charitable involvement with TeleFood campaign

For the seventh consecutive year, Intelsat is supporting the fight against hunger by providing satellite capacity for the FAO's global solidarity concerts. 20/09/2006 (source FAO)

Global festivities to celebrate World Food Day

Among the events taking place in over 150 countries to mark this year’s World Food Day on 16 October 2006, will be a five kilometre Run-for-Food race through Rome’s historical centre. 19/09/2006 (source FAO)

Paraguay: Music against Hunger

A group of world-famous artists will be taking part in a concert in Paraguay's capital, Asunción, to draw attention to the problem of world hunger and raise funds for FAO projects. 15/09/2006 (source FAO)

Agriculture accounts for 70 percent of child labour worldwide

Some 70 percent of child labour worldwide is found in agriculture, with many children engaged in forced and hazardous activities. How to tackle the problem was on the agenda of a recent meeting at FAO headquarters. 14/09/2006 (source FAO)

FAO Director-General appeals for second Green Revolution

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf calls for a second Green Revolution to feed the world while safeguarding the environment. 13/09/2006 (source FAO)

The loss of biodiversity could undermine the achievement of the MDGs

Environmental degradation and, in particular, the loss of biodiversity could undermine the achievement of some of the Millennium Development Goals, according to FAO Assistant Director-General Alexander Müller. 13/09/2006 (source FAO)

Countries welcome new guidelines on shrimp farming

Shrimp farming is often criticized for its environmental impacts. But millions of small-scale producers in the world’s poorest countries depend on it for their livelihoods. 11/09/2006 (source FAO)

FAO Director-General presses for action on MDGs

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf told a high-level advisory committee that reducing hunger and extreme poverty was a prerequisite for achieving the MDGs. 07/09/2006 (source FAO)

Satellites help scientists track migratory birds

GPS transmitters attached to wild whooper swans are helping FAO scientists and their colleagues track the birds' journeys and shed light on how wild birds may be involved in the spread of avian influenza. 06/09/2006 (source FAO)

Record rice yields for Egypt

Using home-grown hybrid varieties developed with FAO help, Egypt has achieved record rice yields. But improved crop management may be the key for some other countries to grow more rice. 05/09/2006 (source FAO)

Deforestation causes global warming

There is a major role for developing countries to play in resolving the issue of global warming as much of it is caused by tropical deforestation. 04/09/2006 (source FAO)

Nearly half of all fish eaten today farmed, not caught

Nearly half the fish consumed as food worldwide are raised on fish farms rather than caught in the wild, says a new report from FAO. 04/09/2006 (source FAO)

Somalia: 1.8 million people still need humanitarian assistance

Around 1.8 million Somalis are still in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and livelihood support at least until the end of this year, FAO said today. 31/08/2006 (source FAO)

Helping prevent avian influenza in Latin America and the Caribbean

In order to help prevent a possible outbreak of avian flu in Latin America and the Caribbean, FAO has just published a new handbook targeted especially to the region's small-scale poultry farmers. 30/08/2006 (source FAO)

Stronger port security key to fight against illegal fishing

The future of fishing depends to no small extent on stronger port controls aimed at combatting illegal fishing, according to FAO. The UN agency is organizing a series of workshops for authorities around the world to strengthen their fishing port control strategies. 28/08/2006 (source FAO)

Higher hopes for C4 rice

The development of C4 rice or similar varieties is very much welcome, International Rice Commission Secretary Nguu Nguyen said today. 25/08/2006 (source FAO)

Caucasus, Balkans at high risk for deadly H5N1 virus

Deadly H5N1 bird flu continues to threaten people, animals and economies in a growing number of countries, despite successful efforts in some countries to contain the spread of the virus, says FAO. 21/08/2006 (source FAO)

Both endemic and new virus strains to blame for bird flu recurrence in Asia’s poultry

Laboratory confirmation points to both old and new isolates of the bird flu virus as sources of recent HPAI outbreaks in Southeast Asia, FAO said today. 17/08/2006 (source FAO)

Jackie Chan in bird flu public service announcement

World-famous actor and martial arts expert Jackie Chan warns children about the dangers of playing with sick or dead birds. 16/08/2006 (source FAO)

New focus needed for Doha Round

FAO says collapse of the Doha Round of international trade negotiations is the result of a fight for advantage in agricultural markets by large and powerful countries, corporations and lobbies. 08/08/2006 (source FAO)

International Nuclear Safety Experts Complete IAEA Peer Review of German Regulatory System

An international expert team has completed a two-week IAEA review of Germany´s nuclear regulatory system. 19 September 2008 (Source: iaea)

First South Asian Travelling Workshop on Food Legumes in India

The first South Asian Travelling Workshop on Food Legumes was jointly organized by ICARDA and ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) through the Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kanpur in India, 3-10 March. Over 30 participants from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Drs R.S. Malhotra, M. Imtiaz and A. Sarker from ICARDA participated in the workshop. The inaugural session of the workshop was held at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India. Dr K.V. Prabhu, Head of the Division of Genetics welcomed the participants. The Director of Pulses Research, Dr M. Ali spoke as a special guest. Dr P.L. Gautam, Deputy Director General-Crops, ICAR, India, who was the chief guest, lauded the role of ICARDA in pulses improvement, and said India was keen to establish linkages in other areas such as malt barley, genetic resources, rangeland management and water issues. He also emphasized the need for human resources development, particularly in biotechnology research. "The use of wild relatives of lentil and chickpea for combating biotic and abiotic stresses is also a key area of research and the exchange of genetic materials between ICAR and ICARDA is important," he said. Speaking on behalf of ICARDA’s Director General, Dr R.S. Malhotra, Consultant (Chickpea Breeder) pointed out the areas of collaboration with South Asian national programs. He noted that the establishment of ICARDA's South Asia Office in New Delhi, would further strengthen the collaboration with South Asian countries. Drs Renuka Shrestha and Mahesh Baidya from Grain Legume Improvement program, NARC Nepal; Dr M. Azizur Rahman - Director-Research, BARI, Bangladesh, Dr Jalaluddin, Leader of Pulses Improvement, Bangladesh and Dr Asghar Ali from NARC, Pakistan, represented their countries. The participants of the travelling workshop visited the lentil and chickpea experimental fields at IARI and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in New Delhi; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; G.B. Pant Agricultural University, Pantnagar; Narendra Deva Agricultural University, Faizabad and IIPR. There was intensive interaction between the participants and farmers. The key problems of lentil and chickpea were discussed, and recommendations were made. The participants also took part in the selection of advanced trial materials. On 10 March, Drs Sarker, Imtiaz , P.M. Gaur (ICRISAT) and Dr Shiv Kumar (Lentil Breeder) took part in a discussion with farmers in Ali Pur village. Dr S.K. Singh was the key person linking farmers to the improved technologies. At the concluding session, held at IIPR, country status papers were presented by leaders of each country. Drs R.S. Malhotra and A. Sarker presented papers on chickpea and lentil improvement. ICAR commended the ICARDA management for organizing the first Traveling Workshop of this kind in South Asia to identify the researchable issues on Kabuli chickpea and lentil for the region. 10 April 2008 (Source ICARDA)

10th International Barley Genetics Symposium begins in Egypt

The 10th International Barley Genetics Symposium began on April 6 at Bibilotheca Alexandrina, Egypt. Over the next five days some 200 scientists from research institutions, universities and industry from all over the world will be discussing the current trends of barley genetics research and production improvement, and deliberating on strategies for barley to contribute to combating threats posed by climate change, global warming and biofuels. The Symposium has been jointly organized by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) based in Syria, and Bibliotheca Alexandrina with the support of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Agriculture Research Center of Egypt, and OPEC Fund for International Development. Dr Jaroslav Spunar, president of the International Organizing Committee of the Symposium welcomed all the participants and briefed the audience on the history and the importance of the IBGS. The Symposium, he said, was being held for the first time on the African continent. "It is expected that the Symposium will reveal many new scientific advances that will add immeasurably to our knowledge and application in barley genetics and related areas," he said. Delivering the key note address, Dr Ismail Serageldin, Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, said in his address that feed, food and fuels had emerged as the major issuses and challenges in agriculture. Scientists, he said, should focus on genetic research to meet these challenges. He also provided perspectives for future focus of modern biotechnology and its importance to cope with major challenges facing the world. Dr Serageldin in his present capacity and as a former chairman of the CGIAR and Vice President of the World Bank, has been a strong advocate of agriculture research for development and the important role of modern biotechnology and water management to resolve world food security problems. Dr Mohamed El Nahrawy, Director Field Crop Research of the Agriculture Research Center of Egypt, said that agriculture research started 30 years ago has improved the country's self sufficiency. Over these years there has been nearly 32 percent increase in agricultural land and some 29 percent increase in the crop area. The strategic food crop production on the other hand has increased from 8.5 million tons to 20 million tons during this period. Addressing the inaugural session of the Symposium, Dr Mahmoud Solh, Director General of ICARDA, called upon the scientists to develop innovative and more effective technologies to cope with the ecological transition that was affecting lives of people in many different ways. "Today the world is facing many challenges that threaten food security, equitable development and sustainability of our natural resource based. The dry areas are particularly vulnerable to these challenges," said Dr Solh "Climate change is a serious threat to food security and to the environment. The rising temperature and its effect on hydrological cycles are an enormous threat to agriculture. The crop varieties grown today are not likely to survive in the changed climate tomorrow." Barley is a major cereal crop worldwide, grown on about 56 million hectares in a multitude of different environments. About 15 million hectares is planted in developing countries and about 1.6 million hectares in countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus. "It is the only crop option possible in very dry conditions and those with salinity problem ICARDA has developed 190 improved varieties of barley and these have been officially released in 45 countries, '' Dr Solh said. Dr Stefania Grando, Chair of the local organizing committee, said that there will be 14 sessions at the Symposium during which scientists will make presentations and hold discussions on germplasm, genetic resources, molecular breeding, barley genomics, barley and development, and uses of barley as food and malt. 8 April 2008 (Source ICARDA)

Meeting of the Genetic Resources Policy Committee

The 23rd session of the Genetic Resources Policy Committee was held at ICARDA, 18-20 March to discuss policy issues related to International Plant Genetic Resources. Dr Carlos Correa, Chair of the GRPC, welcomed the participants and outlined the agenda of the meeting. He then gave the floor to Dr Mahmoud Solh, ICARDA Director General, whose presentation highlighted ICARDA’s work on conservation of plant and animal genetic resources in dry areas . Dr Emile Frison, Director General of Bioversity International spoke about the importance of policy issues in genetic resources conservation. Dr Shakeel Bhatti, Secretary of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT-PGRFA) presented a report on the intersessional activity of the governing body, and Mr Dan Leskien, Specialist Legal Adviser to the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture presented a report on the intersessional activities of the commission. Dr Frison initiated a discussion concerning the development of the policy of the Alliance of CGIAR center on Intellectual Assets. The committee also focused on issues of using the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA), identifying materials distributed by Centers as PGRFA under Development, what should be included in the PGRFA, commercialization, options for additional conditions to be included in an ancillary document to the SMTA for PGRFA under Development, and best practices concerning information made available with SMTA. In another session the committee discussed draft guidelines for Centers' germplasm acquisition and distribution of materials for purposes other than conservation, research or training for food and agriculture. On the second day the committee visited ICARDA's Gene Bank and held discussions on draft guidelines for the acquisition and use of traditional knowledge by the CGIAR scientists, a background document on the report on Survey of practice for the acquisition and use of traditional knowledge by CGIAR scientists and comments received from Centers on the draft guidelines. The committee also deliberated on "Beyond the Genebank: Policy issues faced by Centers developing and distributing improved germplasm," which was introduced by Dr Solh and ICARDA scientists. A roundtable was held on additional genetic resources policy issues of relevance to the CGIAR, which was introduced by Dr Correa. 3 April 2008 (Source ICARDA)

Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development delegation visits

The Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) sent a high ranking delegation to ICARDA, 16-17 March, to discuss potential collaboration between ICARDA and AAAID in line with a Memorandum of Understanding that was established in previous interactions. The mission was established through an agreement between Dr Abdul Kareem Mohammad Al-Amri, President of AAAID, and Dr Mahmoud Solh, DG of ICARDA. The delegation included Dr Naufal H. Rasheed, Assistant to the President for Technical Affairs; Dr Nashwan A. Abdulrazak, Head, Division of Applied Agricultural Research; Mr Salah Hassan Abdalla, Division of Applied Agricultural Research; and Mr Abdulgader Ahmed Abdulgader, Division of Development Programs. AAAID was established in 1976 as an independent agricultural investment institution with the objective of contributing to Arab food security; developing agricultural resources in member countries; and increasing the exchange of agricultural products and inputs among member countries. There are 19 member countries with investment capital of USD 1.3 billion. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sudan, Iraq and the UAE are the biggest contributors. AAAID invests in agricultural production, implements all types of projects, conducts agricultural research and cooperates with international, regional and national organizations within their scope of agricultural investment and development. Areas of activity include plant and animal production, food processing, agricultural services, marketing and support activities such as research, technology transfer and training. Dr Nashwan Abdulrazak from AAAID and Dr Raj Gupta, Project Manager in the ICARDA Regional Office for Central Asia and the Caucasus in Tashkent, presented the experiences of both organizations in conservation agriculture. Individual meetings for the delegation were hosted by ICARDA Program Directors and there were wrap up meetings with all Program Directors, Drs van Ginkel and Dr Solh. The wrap up session touched on the following points of mutual interest, including: socio-economic studies, variety trials, water management and productivity, small ruminant production, farm mechanization, biotechnology applications, characterization studies, poverty mapping, and training. There were also discussions on specific topics for collaboration between ICARDA and AAAID, including direct linkages and feedback between the two instuitutions. 3 April 2008 (Source ICARDA)

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