News brief

UK pledges more funds for development

The UK is to commit an extra £20 million/year to research, to increase the research programme spending under DFID to at least £100 million in 2006/7. This was announced by the Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, at the Foundation for Science and Technology in May. "There is no greater challenge facing us today than the fight against poverty," he said. "DFID is determined to back science that can make a real difference to poor people's lives." Last year the Central Research Department spent £80 million, including £30 million on agriculture, £26 million on health, and £10 million on infrastructure. Mr Benn announced that in the increased spending would be an extra £30 million over three years to fund the work of the CGIAR.

Despite these increases for DFID, global charities are urging the UK government to increase aid further to 0.7% of national income. Currently, overall UK aid is £3.83 billion, which is equivalent to 0.34% of national income.

DFID has also entered a new six-year agreement with the UK's leading independent think-tank on international development, the Overseas Development Institute, to work together to promote research for improved policy in areas such as aid, trade and poverty reduction.
pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk

Killed by contaminated maize

The deaths of over 80 people in Kenya from consuming maize contaminated by aflatoxin highlight both the risks of poor storage of crop produce in hot, moist conditions, and the vulnerability of people in food-scarce areas, who have little choice but to eat whatever is available. The Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki, declared a state of national disaster and action was taken to seize and destroy suspect grain to avoid further consumption and deaths. In addition to the deaths, nearly 200 people have been hospitalised with liver damage. Aflatoxins are produced by several species of fungus on a wide variety of crops, including wheat, rice, cassava and groundnuts, when they are poorly stored. As well as acute poisoning due to large quantities of the toxin in food, long-term ingestion of small amounts is a serious health hazard in many parts of Africa, but usually goes unrecognised.

Climate change prejudices Oz agriculture

Temperature rise in Australia is jeopardising the country's agriculture. Increased evaporation is affecting what is arguably the most productive region, the Murray-Darling river basin straddling New South Wales and Victoria, making the million square kilometres of previously well-watered crop and pastoral land more prone to drought and to devastating bush fires. Australia is used to droughts but 1982, 1994 and 2002 were the hottest and worst drought years on record, costing the country billions of dollars in lost production. Climate change models have predicted that there will be even more droughts, triggered by the seemingly inexorable increase in greenhouse gases. Ironically Australia is one of the countries, with the US, that has not ratified Kyoto.

Café or decafé?

Decaffeinated coffee straight from the bush is now a possibility. Presently, coffee that has been decaffeinated using solvents is both more expensive, due to the extra processing, and less flavoursome. With the demand for decaffeinated coffee strong in increasingly health-conscious Western nations in particular, the discovery by a Brazilian team of naturally occurring decaffeinated varieties of arabica coffee is welcome. Arabica coffee accounts for 75 per cent of coffee traded worldwide and the head of the Brazilian discovery team reports in Nature that he believes that the newly discovered plants lack a key enzyme, caffeine synthase, which is responsible for making caffeine from the theobrimine present in coffee leaves. So far, naturally occurring caffeine-free coffees have been species from Madagascar, and not easy to breed from. But now, believes Prof. Pablo Mazzafera of the University of Campinas, newly bred decaffeinated varieties could be commercially available within five years.
See Nature, vol 429, p826.

Right way-wrong way?

One third of Africans questioned feel worse off than last year, and half of them feel that the world is going in the wrong direction. The survey was conducted by Globescan, a global public opinion research organisation, and the results reinforce the impression of a continent beset with crime, corruption, war, poor economies, and HIV/Aids. Africans clearly do not believe that their countries are run by the will of the people, and appear to have more trust in churches and religious leaders. Yet they hold their governments responsible for solving important national problems, including Aids. Sentiments are gloomiest in Nigeria and Zimbabwe, with more optimism in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. The survey was conducted in Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Improving nutrition with low-cost food mix

credit: Univ. of Greenwich

Nutritious but low-cost foods are being developed by the University of Greenwich, UK, that could be of great benefit to vulnerable groups such as pregnant women, those breast-feeding, and people with HIV. Tests have shown that the Greenwich diets have greater nutritional benefit than the high-energy foods supplied by relief programmes, and they could also have a role in humanitarian emergencies. The Greenwich team has concentrated its work on the traditional foods of developing countries to develop low-cost, enriched food mixes. Rather than adding nutrients and vitamins, the usual route to enrichment, this research combines components from several different foods to achieve a maximum nutritional value. One hundred grams of the enriched food, providing half the daily nutritional requirements of a child, can be produced for as little as 15-25 cents.
C.A.Cherry@gre.ac.uk

Leaf miner attack on Uganda's groundnut crop

Leaf Miner (Aproaerema modicella deventer), an insect pest which can cause up to 100 per cent loss of yield, has attacked the groundnut crop in many parts of Uganda. Latest surveillance reports indicate that the pest is now in northeast, eastern and northwest Uganda. Teams of agricultural extension workers have been instructed to sensitize peasants and farmers about how the pest spreads and how to control it, and a programme training farmers on trapping the moths is being conducted in five districts in the east of the country. Serere Agricultural and Animal production Research Institute (SAARI) has acquired pheromone traps with the help of the UK Natural Resources Institute for trapping the miner moths. Farmers have been advised to plant during the short rains when the miner population is low, and to plant the Engola - 1 variety, which has relative resistance to the insect.

Chronic Poverty Report

The Chronic Poverty Report 2004-05 has been published by DFID. Produced by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, an international partnership of universities, research institutes and NGOs from Bangladesh, India, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and the UK, it offers analysis and policy priorities for ameliorating the situation for between 300 and 420 million people who live in chronic poverty. Many of those who suffer from chronic poverty throughout their lives pass it on to their children. "Some poverty passes from one generation to another as if the offspring sucks it from the mother's breast" was the observation made by a group of Ugandan women. While the largest number of chronically poor live in South Asia (135-190 million), the highest incidence is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 30-40 per cent of people live on US$1/day.

The report says that action on chronic poverty needs a framework, and that chronic poverty cannot be seriously reduced without real transfers of resources and sustained, predictable finance. Also, the political indifference to meeting national and international obligations on poverty eradication needs to be challenged. The report is available at www.chronicpoverty.org

Food safety in Asia-Pacific

credit:FAO / G. Bizzarri

Food-borne diseases pose a serious threat to densely populated areas of Asia and the Pacific, particularly where animals and people live in close proximity. This warning was given jointly by FAO and WHO at the Regional Conference on Food Safety for Asia and the Pacific at the end of May. Currently, it is estimated that more than 700,000 people die annually in the region from food- and waterborne disease; there are also unacceptable pesticide residue levels in fruits and vegetables, antibiotic residues in seafood and poultry, and mycotoxins in crops. Recent scandals with life-threatening sub-standard or chemical-contaminated food are just 'the tip of the iceberg' of a widespread and growing public health problem, according to FAO and WHO. (See also Food safety portal.)
Diderik.Devleeschauwer@fao.org or csa@who.it

Containing transboundary diseases

Rapid air transport and increasing cross-border movements are leading to a significant increase of transboundary diseases of farm livestock. To provide a faster and more efficient response to outbreaks, FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) have agreed to collaborate more closely. Animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza are having a severe economic and social impact, say the agencies, and they stress that diseases that cross borders demand an immediate and effective regional or international response if they are to be contained and eliminated. Both agencies assist countries in strengthening their surveillance and early warning systems, and a new FAO/OIE agreement signed 24 May clarifies their respective areas of competence and provides opportunities for improved synergies.

Challenge - More food with less water

Food security in the region will be at risk unless countries in the Volta river basin take steps to produce more food with less water. This was made clear at a ceremony late May in Accra, which launched the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. Rapid population growth, climate change and the drive for economic development are all putting pressure on water supplies, and the Volta is one of nine river basins worldwide where Challenge Program scientists are striving to find sustainable means of producing more food while using less water. Research projects are uniting national and international scientists, NGOs and local communities.

Challenge Program scientists will help develop ways to improve water utilisation, and technologies that reduce the water demand in agriculture. These include breeding drought-tolerant crop varieties, and integrated crop-fish and poultry-fish systems that use water more productively.
www.waterforfood.org

Bitter taste but sweet result

credit:BBSRC

Taste is crucial in the enjoyment of food but the modern trend to breed varieties of crops with either a bland or a 'more acceptable' taste could prove counter-productive to health. For example, breeders developing varieties of brassicas, such as cabbage and brussels sprouts, kale and swedes, which have a sweeter taste, could be sacrificing their anti-cancer properties. Scientists at the UK's Institute of Food Research have found that the chemical responsible for the bitter taste of many 'greens' has an important role in preventing colon cancer. In laboratory tests it was found that allyl-isothiocyanate (AITC), which is released when greens are chopped, cooked and digested, inhibits the uncontrolled growth of colon cancer cells. New 'child-friendly' sweeter varieties could result in a loss of these protective compounds.

Alternatively, breeders may be able to develop varieties with higher levels of AITC. The isothiocyanate in broccoli is sulforaphane, which lacks the bitterness of other isothiocyanates. A 'super-broccoli' rich in sulforaphane has been developed at IFR, with a very acceptable flavour.
Ian.Johnson@bbsrc.ac.uk

Towards peace in Nepal

The UK will spend £80 million over the next two years to support building peace and development in Nepal by reducing poverty and social exclusion. Despite good rates of economic growth, Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in South Asia with economic benefits failing to reach the rural poor, especially in the hill districts of the mid and far west. Plans will focus on improving basic services for the poorest, who include the so-called lower castes, indigenous ethnic groups and women. Through DFID, the UK funds will support improvement of agricultural and forestry services for poor farmers, the extension of roads into rural areas, health programmes for HIV/AIDS, TB and safe motherhood, and help to improve the position of women and disadvantaged caste and ethnic groups. Issues of community justice and public financial management will also be addressed.
pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk .

Food safety portal

A new website (www.ipfsaph.org) has been launched by FAO to enable rapid and reliable searches for current food safety and quality standards, regulations and other relevant official materials. The data will be maintained by institutions such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the International Plant Protection Convention, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), FAO, WHO, and WTO. The portal currently contains 15,000 items, many translated into multiple languages and each described using a set of keywords supported by a powerful free text search. The software has been designed to be as accessible as possible using slow dial-up connections. (See also Food safety in Asia-Pacific.)
john.riddle@fao.org

1^st July 2004