CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

We're moving!

We’re moving!

After almost 12 years, the CABI blog is migrating to a new platform and a new URL: https://blog.cabi.org/ Our new blog will be built on WordPress, which means it’ll look better and load faster on mobile devices and feature better social media integration. The commenting system is also more robust, and the CABI blog is now better integrated with CABI’s other blogs (on Plantwise and Invasives).

 

If you currently subscribe to the blog via RSS or email you will no longer receive updates. To keep receiving alerts whenever we post a new article, please visit https://blog.cabi.org/ and re-subscribe. Don’t worry about losing your favourite article from the last 12 years – all of our archives have been migrated as well.

 

We look forward to sharing stories about our online resources, publishing products and our work in international development in our new home!

It must be Halal, right?

The world Halal food market is valued at $700 billion. Pakistan only contributes $28 million, less than 0.5%, to this market despite having the second largest Islamic population in the world.

In Pakistan, although roughly 97% of the population follows Islam, there is not a single Halal certified food chain in the country.

A recent journal article published by CABI scientists, Dr Mazhar and Dr Bajwa, along with Dr Collins from the University of Queensland discusses some remarkable findings on the state of the Halal food chain in Pakistan.

A Halal food chain is one where all the input supplies, materials, production, processing, logistics, handling and trade in a food product, from the point of origin until the food reaches consumers, follow the permissible guidelines of Islamic law.

Only around 20% of food available in Pakistan’s major supermarkets has been Halal certified.

The reasons behind this include; very low consumer awareness of Halal certification, an increasingly complicated global food system and a lack of government legislation.

Studies have found that consumers rarely demand Halal certification for the food they buy. While a few certifying agencies are accredited by the government, most are not, instead following international guidelines which don’t necessarily cater to the local customs of Halal food preparation.

It’s not just the meat industry that needs to comply with Halal standards. Particularly in processed foods involving dairy, confectionery, and bakery products the use of enzymes, gelatine and emulsifiers is common. Suppliers and processors need to ensure that such additives are derived from Halal sources.

^{Photo credit Lars Curfs}

There is good economic reason for Pakistan to improve its certification standards. The wealthy and demanding Halal markets of Middle East and Gulf countries nearby provide a potentially lucrative new export opportunity.

Learning from other countries could help Pakistan capitalise on the regions insatiable demand for Halal.

Malaysia has the most developed Halal food industry in the Islamic world. Any food product eaten by consumers can only be certified Halal if all the operations in that supply chain follow strict guidelines. Additionally, consumer awareness programs have been launched and actively conducted to increase the demand of Halal certified food products.

The authors suggest that such changes for Pakistan are difficult or impossible to accomplish without external assistance. Typically businesses and governments rely on specialist providers in this arena. One example currently operating in Pakistan is The Food Safety Network; an online sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) distance learning course of which CABI is an implementing partner. Aspects of the course focusing on plant pest surveillance, plant pest identification systems, and plant pest inspections help bolster agricultural exports from Pakistan.

Other interventions could include shopper awareness programs, as in Malaysia, to increase understanding of Halal certified food products as well as the standardisation of slaughtering methods to meet international Halal specifications.

There is a clear need and opportunity for Pakistan to develop its domestic Halal food chains. By doing so, it may satisfy its own consumer demands and explore markets in the region to capture a greater share of the world market for Halal food.

 

Article based on Halal Food Chains - Concepts and Opportunities in Pakistan

A conversation on 'Communicating Evidence for Sustainable Development'

Last month two CABI employees, Solveig Danielsen and Paul Day, attended a conference at Wageningen University on Communicating Evidence for Sustainable Development. Sol works in the Monitoring and Evaluation team (M&E) and Paul is a communicator. The conference led to a lively conversation which we captured here.

How can we ensure safety in Events Management, Religious Festivals, and Tourism?

By Maximiliano Korstanje

One of the aspects that motivated me to write a book which focuses on Event Management Security as the main object of study was the need to understand what we, the experts in terrorism and political violence, can do in order for tourist destinations to be protected.

Although some sociologists have claimed that religion is in decline, in many parts of the world the demand for religious tourism has notably increased. Even in the Middle East, Europe and Latin America, every year thousands of pilgrims visit their sacred-destination, making religious tourism one of the largest segments of the tourism industry.

Showcasing smart agriculture in comic exhibition

Comics have long played a role in entertaining young people, and even adults, going right back to the Golden Age of Comic books in the 1930s. One only has to think of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel and many more.

But you would be forgiven for being surprised at knowing that comics can also have a very important role to play in educating teenagers and young adults about the value science and technology holds in helping farmers grow more and lose less.

Now, an exhibition of the comic book Shujaaz (which means ‘hero’) – presented by Karamel at Collage Arts, is revealing how animation and narrative knits together to tell the story of how smart agriculture, as well as issues including unemployment, corruption, youth, cost of living and infrastructure, can be raised with Kenyan and Tanzanian 15-24 year olds.

Cotton harvest picture special

 

The power of the image paints a picture that speaks a thousand words and that is certainly the case with these fantastic images taken by photographer Asim Hafeez.

Asim was commissioned by CABI to document the process of harvesting cotton in Pakistan – the country’s largest industrial sector – where more than 500,000 farmers rely on the crop for their livelihoods.

CABI is helping the country’s cotton industry reduce losses of around $350m a year by training thousands of farmers and workers about better production, transport and storage practices as part of the Better Cotton Initiative.

These photographs tell the story of how cotton farmers at five districts (Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Umer Kot, Tando Allah Yar and Matiari, of Sindh, Pakistan are learning to grow more and lose less of what they sow, thereby maintaining their livelihoods through increased profitability.

Termite workshop photo special - exploring tree-damaging termites in the tropics

CABI scientists have held a successful three-day workshop exploring how to diagnose and manage termites associated with structures and trees in the tropics.

The workshop, held at CABI’s South East Asia (SEA) office building at MARDI in Serdang, Malaysia, highlighted termites as ecologically important insects with significant roles to play as decomposers but also as pests that can cause major damage to trees and buildings.

This photo blog charts the three-day event officially opened by Dr Sivapragasam Annamalai, Regional Director of CABI SEA, and which included a welcome by CABI CEO Dr Trevor Nicholls.

Chocolate SDGs unwrapped

 

“The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.”¹

Should we prioritise chocolate in this universal call to action?

Threats to the cocoa industry including low productivity, marketing challenges, pests and disease, environmental concerns and access to education, pests and disease, environmental concerns and educational access, are predicted to cause a global supply shortage of 1 million tonnes by 2020.

Without understanding something of the lives and livelihoods producing this dietary indulgence you’d consider this issue a first world problem - so what? I’ll just have to skip that mid-afternoon choccy pick-me-up. No big deal.

Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere…what about cancer?

 

I’ve written about universal health coverage (UHC) before in the context of what’s covered under UHC in one country is not the same as another [Universal health coverage gains momentum in 2016] although there are agreed basics, the essential health services to deliver “health for all”.  The World Health Organization is focusing its efforts on supporting countries moving to UHC, and keeping the pressure on by running high profile events throughout 2018 on UHC beginning with  World Health Day, April 7^th.

Global health security, collaborating to stop epidemics

Just three little words, “global health security”, but they represent such depths of meaning. A hundred years of modern scientific enquiry into infectious diseases such as yellow fever, malaria, and now zika. The wake up call of SARS and swine flu, where viruses with dramatic results leapt the species barrier. The galvanising effect of West Africa’s Ebola epidemic on the WHO, the international NGO and donor community and on governments. The concern over emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, so many of them zoonotic in origin.