CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

The ethics of tobacco packaging

It’s a surreal moment when you realise that packaging is an ethical issue. Where does the packaging end up after you have consumed the product (landfill or recycled or exported to become someone else’s problem)? Did the advertising on the packaging influence your choice of one food brand over another?

The choices you made, and your government allowed, affect your environment & your health. But I’m not about to tell you about improved food labelling on packaging to combat obesity. This is the week of the World NO Tobacco Day (31st May) and this blog addresses tobacco packaging: the use of standardized packaging to further reduce consumption and address the world's leading agent of death...tobacco.

 

Despite the  WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,  taxation policies and bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, MORE needs to be done.

E-cigarettes - not healthy

I was horrified to see e-cigarettes associated with the word ‘healthy’ in a store near me recently. They are not. It is undisputable that nicotine is highly addictive and that there is a risk of poisoning with its use. The question is does this harm outweigh the benefits if e-cigarettes reduce smoking? The evidence that e-cigarettes do lead to a long term reduction in smoking and lung cancer and not to an increase in nicotine addiction and in smoking has yet to be seen so we can't say at this stage. Because of their hazardous and addictive content, E-cigarettes regulations should make sure that the product is properly labelled and packaged to protect children and other vulnerable groups.

(Photo- Nicotine molecule, Credit: Fuse809 at English Wikipedia)

Stakeholders recommend solution to challenges in Ghana’s citrus industry

CABI recently attanded a workshop to avert the total collapse of the citrus industry in Ghana. Along with other organizations, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is looking for CABI to create innovation platforms to help improve the country's citrus industry. Stakeholders are most concerned about 'angular leaf spot' disease on which CABI has been asked to create guides.

Celebrating International Biodiversity Day!

22 May is International Biodiversity Day!

This year, the theme is Island Biodiversity which was chosen to coincide with the UN's International Year of Small Island Developing States.

Islands and their surrounding seas are unique. They ae often made up of many plant and animal species that are endemic—found nowhere else on Earth. The legacy of a unique evolutionary history, these ecosystems are irreplaceable treasures. They are key to the livelihood, economy, well-being and cultural identity of 600 million islanders—one-tenth of the world’s population.

CABI has a number of projects protecting the biodiversity of islands. For instance, in the Caribbean we are helping protect native biodiversity in the Insular Caribbean region, whilst in the Falklands, we are protecting the native ecosystem by controlling an invasive pest, the European earwig.

Invisible helpers: working equine animals provide vital support to women in developing countries

A report launched this month by the animal welfare organisation the Brooke highlights the extent to which women in developing countries rely on donkeys and other working equids. The report, Invisible Helpers, calls for greater recognition of the role of working equine animals in supporting women and their families, and emphasizes the importance of looking after the health and welfare of these valuable animals.

 In 2013, The Brooke initiated the Voices from Women research project to explore the role of working horses, mules and donkeys in supporting the lives of women from the perspectives of the women themselves. The Invisible Helpers report is based on discussions with focus groups and individuals in Ethiopia, Kenya, India and Pakistan.

It found that working equine animals help to lessen the burden on women’s lives, providing a ‘support system’. Over three quarters of the groups (77%), including all of those in Kenya and India, ranked donkeys, horses and mules as the most important of all their livestock. They generate income, help with household chores, give women an increased social status and help women collect food and water for other livestock.

If these animals are sick or die, the impact can be devastating on women and their families. As one of the study participants said, “It is a pain to live a single day without a donkey. That is because donkeys are the base for our life. So if we lose our donkey, we will buy another one by selling one of our calves, goats, sheep or even a heifer.” (Urgo Yassin, Gedeba, Ethiopia).

CABI announces ICM Master's programme on Swiss TV

CABI Switzerland's Andre Gassmann (left) joins Professor Ted Turlings on national television station Canal Alpha to announce the first ever Master's degree in the Swiss Canton of Jura. The degree will focus on Integrated Crop Managment (ICM) and provide an opportunity for students from around the world to study with experts while based at the Université de Neuchâtel. Watch the video (french language).

EU ban on mango imports highlights importance of phytosanitary certification

A ban on imports of mangoes from India to the EU is likely to cause dramatic losses to Indian growers and has produced an outcry amongst growers in India and retailers in the UK.
The ban on importing mangoes from India came into effect today 1 May and will continue until 31 December 2015 - possibly subject to revision before then. The ban is a consequence of significant shortcomings in phytosanitary certification systems and is considered essential to protect the European produce industry. The decision was taken due to the high number of consignments of mangoes and other produce from India being intercepted at arrival in the EU with quarantine pests, mainly insects, and of findings made during audits in India. According to Fera (The Food and Environment Research Agency, UK), pests were found in 207 consignments of fruits and vegetables from India imported into the EU in 2013.
The numbers are high enough to raise concerns over the potential introduction of new pests which could pose a threat to EU horticulture. Some of the intercepted pests attack salad crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers, and some carry viruses which can devastate these crops.
India is the largest single producer of mangoes, with over 70% of exports destined for the Middle East and about 12% for the UK. The most common methods for protecting consignments of mangoes from quarantine pests involve hot water treatment, irradiation (permitted by some countries) and vapour heat treatment. One of the problems, however, is the lack of facilities in India, with only a handful of approved irradiation and vapour heat treatment facilities in the country.
The ban also applies to aubergines, taro leaves and two types of gourd (bitter gourd – Momordica sp., and snake gourd – Trichosanthes sp.) imported from India.
A free text search of CAB Abstracts using the terms ‘mangoes quarantine pests’ results in over 200 records, which include studies on the effects of hot water treatment, irradiation and vapour heat treatment on fruit quality as well as effects on the quarantine pests.