CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

Pilgrimage and Peace-building

 by Ian McIntosh

It was Aboriginal Australia and the spiritual traditions of the first peoples that introduced me to the world of religious pilgrimage. Over many years, beginning in the early 1980s, I would join the Aborigines of northern Australia on journeys to sacred sites to learn about their timeless mysteries through song, dance, folklore and art. It was this experience that was also my entry point to peace studies, and in particular, the study of truth and reconciliation - making amends for historical injustices.

Unmanned aerial vehicles – Agriculture’s “game of drones”

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s), more commonly referred to as drones, are not new technology.  They have been used commercially since the early 1980’s, but in recent year’s practical application of this technology has grown rapidly across a number of industries, with agriculture playing a key role in this expansion. With the global population expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, it is anticipated that agricultural productivity will need to increase by approximately 70% over the same time period, in order to meet demand.  With this in mind, agricultural producers are looking at ways to produce food and increase productivity in a sustainable manner.  Drones are increasingly being considered part of the solution.  So how can UAV’s be beneficial for the agricultural industry and how do they differ from existing methods?

Taking back control of opioid prescription drugs

Addiction is, by its very nature, about loss of control. The more I’ve been in this job and the longer I’ve lived, the more substances seem to be added to the addictive list. 

In the past few weeks, my early morning news on the radio has featured addiction to alcohol, to food, to gambling, to smart phones, to illegal psychoactive substances, and, the inspiration for this blog, to opioid prescription painkillers. Sadly yet more deaths and lives destroyed. 

Agro-tourism on agenda at Mekong Agriculture Ministers Meeting

Planting rice at Siem Reap

At the second Greater Mekong Subregion Agriculture Ministers Meeting, which opened yesterday in Siem Reap province in Cambodia, ministers from the six GMS countries – Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – are discussing the most important issues in agricultural sectors of the sub-region. The main topics in the meeting focus on increasing productivity in the agriculture sectors of the sub-region countries and also potential markets for agricultural products, and included in this is developing agrotourism. Linkages between agriculture and tourism can be beneficial to both industries, and tourism is also seen as a way of boosting rural employment and economies. CABI, which is involved in both agricultural and tourism development, is represented at the event by Dr Qiaoqiao Zhang, Memberships Director & Secretary to CABI Executive Council.