CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

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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

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.

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.

Dr Rob Reeder goes 'bananas' about pests and diseases on the Urban Farm Podcast

Plant pathologist Dr Rob Reeder has this week spoken to Greg Peterson of the US-based Urban Farm Podcast about how the global supply of bananas (particularly the Cavendish variety) could be put at risk from a three-pronged attack of pests and diseases.

In the podcast, Dr Reeder reveals the reasons why the fungus known as Panama disease tropical race 4 (TR4), together with the Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) and the Banana Skipper butterfly (Erionota spp), could destroy banana plantations across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As part of the solution to the problem, which could cost the global banana industry $35 billion as highlighted by CABI in a story publicised in December, Dr Reeder underlines the work of the Plantwise programme including how it helps farmers in developing countries diagnose and manage pests and diseases at its plant clinics.

How Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Enter the Food Chain in non-GMO Producing Countries

The use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in livestock and crops, as well as trade and consumption of GMOs are highly controversial topics.

Proponents of genetic engineering argue that GMOs represent the only viable solution to food shortages in an ever-growing global population. They claim that the use of GMOs in agriculture and their consumption have caused no harm to livestock or humans so far. Heated debate also persists over GMO food labelling, with food manufacturers in the USA arguing that mandatory GMO labelling hinders the development of agricultural biotechnology, and may also "exacerbate the misconception” that GMOs endanger human health.

Animals: GMO or non-GMO?

However, opponents of GMOs are far from convinced, and they are concerned about the potentially negative impact of GMOs on the environment, livestock and humans. The inevitability of GMO-contamination to some level has been widely recognised in non-GMO producing countries, but many countries, including EU countries, seek to control its spread. Opponents of GMOs are also concerned about the lack of data on the long-term effects of GMO use. These concerns have been effective in limiting GMO acceptance by the public.

Our guest blogger, Dr Tatjana Brankov of University of Novi Sad, Serbia, in her opinion piece below, describes how GMOs find their way to the daily diet of livestock, and subsequently to human diet, in different geographical regions of the world, including non-GMO producing countries.

To find out what this means for customers who want to avoid GMOs in their diet, or to farmers who want to keep their farms GMO-free, read on…

 

How Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) enter the food chain in non-GMO producing countries

by Tatjana Brankov, Faculty of Economics, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.

Edited by M Djuric, CAB International, Wallingford, UK 

A superficial review of the legislation on transgenic foods and feeds indicates that consumers in non-GMO producing countries consume GMO-free food. However, less attention is paid to the fact that GMOs can enter the food chain through the import of transgenic foodstuff and feedstuff or by contamination.

Crops: GMO or non-GMO?

In some countries, transgenic food production is fully equal to conventional production. The concept of substantial equivalence, developed by the OECD and further elaborated by FAO/WHO “embodies the concept that if a new food or food component is found to be substantially equivalent to an existing food or food component, it can be treated in the same manner with respect to safety, i.e. the food or food component can be concluded to be as safe as the conventional food or food component” (FAO/WHO 1996). Such a situation exists in a number of countries, including the USA, where it has been estimated that up to 75% of processed foods on supermarket shelves, from soda to soup, and from crackers to condiments contain GMO ingredients (Center for Food Safety 2017).

On the other side, EU countries apply the precautionary principle as a guiding approach for trans-border movement of GMOs (Myhr and Traavik, 2002). As the EUR-Lex glossary explains, this principle “relates to an approach to risk management whereby, if there is the possibility that a given policy or action might cause harm to the public or the environment and if there is still no scientific consensus on the issue, the policy or action in question should not be pursued.”

Building capacity for greater food security in Pakistan

Around 30-40% of crops around the world are lost to insect pests thereby affecting the ability of the 500 million small-scale farmers around the world to contribute towards the goal of achieiving zero hunger and ending poverty. Reducing losses by just 1% could feed millions more people but many countries in the Developing World need support to implement biological control programmes to reduce food losses.

As part of CABI’s mission to help farmers grow more and lose less, we have been funded by USAID – via the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – to help Pakistan improve its sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems and therefore open up its fruit and vegetables to more high-end global markets that were previously untapped. Currently these products only contribute 13% of the country’s export but improvements to its SPS capabilities could see this number rise significantly.

Capitalising on Africa’s agriculture to achieve ‘zero hunger’

 

 

It’s a sobering fact that, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), nearly 233 million children, women and men in Africa went to bed each night hungry in 2014-16.

CABI Board Member and 2017 Africa Food Prize winner Professor Ruth Oniang’o has devoted her career helping farmers grow nutritious and healthy crops, to not only help reduce hunger but to achieve sustainable and profitable livelihoods.

Clear water ahead

Last month the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reported that an international measure that aims to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species had come into force (see the full article on the IISD website).

The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) addresses aquatic invasive species by requiring ships to implement a ballast water management plan, among other actions. 

Building a climate-smart value chain: The role of research, development and technology

This is the second of a two-part blog series following my visit to Africa supported by CABI’s development bursary

The first blog in this series described the Africa Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI) and how it aims to improve cassava agronomy to increase production and productivity, as well as how ACAI partnerships could build a climate-smart cassava value chain. This second blog is about the role research, development and technology in building the resilience of the cassava value chain. It talks about how agricultural diversification can help farmers and other cassava value chain actors adapt to the uncertainties of climate change through intercropping and sustainably intensifying cassava production.