High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition launches sustainable livestock development report

ILRI news

A High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) is the science-policy interface of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), which is, at the global level, the foremost inclusive and evidence-based international and intergovernmental platform for food security and nutrition.

HLPE reports serve as a common, comprehensive, evidence-based starting point for intergovernmental and international multistakeholder policy debates in CFS. The HLPE draws its studies based on existing research and knowledge and organizes a scientific dialogue, built upon the diversity of disciplines, backgrounds, knowledge systems, diversity of its Steering Committee and Project Teams, and upon open electronic consultations.

HLPE reports are widely used as reference documents within and beyond CFS and the UN system, by the scientific community as well as by political decision-makers and stakeholders, at international, regional and national levels.

In October 2014, the CFS requested the HLPE to prepare a…

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Pandemic proofing the world: View point on tackling emerging zoonotic diseases

An Ethiopian woman breeds sheep for a living (photo credit: ILRI/Zerihun Sewunet).

On the matter of global health and tackling the looming threat of emerging infectious disease pandemics, Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) shares her views in a recent blog post, Pandemic proofing the world, published by How We Get To Next.

The post argues the case for greater attention to diseases that can be transmitted to people through livestock, better incentive structures for reporting of livestock disease outbreaks so that timely disease reporting is rewarded rather than punished, and the need to tackle the root causes and not just the symptoms of emerging zoonotic diseases.

Read the post, Pandemic proofing the world by Delia Grace, How We Get To Next, 29 June 2016

 

ILRI shares ongoing research on ensuring food safety in Vietnam at Hanoi conference

ILRI Asia

During the plenary session of the Vietnam Agricultural Outlook Conference 2016 (photo credit: ILRI/Hung Nguyen)

An agricultural conference that discussed ways to strengthen Vietnam’s integration and competitiveness in the global market, as well as the readiness of its livestock, rice and fisheries sectors for the challenges of climate change, was recently held in Hanoi.

Co-organized by the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), the Department of Economics of the Office of the National Assembly, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Australian Embassy, the ‘Vietnam Agricultural Outlook Conference 2016’ brought together scientists, economists, officials and representatives from Vietnamese government agencies, international research organizations and the private sector.

Hung Nguyen, a food safety and zoonotic diseases scientist from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and acting regional representative for ILRI East and Southeast Asia, co-chaired a session on ‘livestock commodity – global…

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Research on local technologies to improve dairy hygiene in Côte d’Ivoire presented at international conference

Safe Food, Fair Food

Man selling raw milk along the railway tracks in Abobo, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (photo credit: CSRS/ILRI/Sylvie Mireille Kouamé-Sina).

Interventions to improve food safety and nutrition may be some of the best investments for improved health of populations. Ideally, these investments should target multiple disciplines to link health and education to agricultural systems.

Fermentation of dairy products is one such intervention that helps to extend their shelf life and improve microbial safety and nutritive quality. Sylvain Traoré, a postdoctoral scientist at Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques in Côte d’Ivoire, has been continuing with research he started through the Safe Food, Fair Food project on the use of participatory methods to improve the safety of dairy products in informal markets.

Traoré recently carried out a cross-sectional study in Korhogo, northern Côte d’Ivoire to assess local dairy fermentation technologies and map the local dairy supply chain to identify areas where interventions can be…

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Zoonotic diseases featured during UNEP Science-Policy Forum

ILRI veterinary epidemiologist Delia Grace presenting at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Science-Policy Forum that preceded the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2), on 20 May 2016 (photo credit: ILRI).

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) held its first global Science-Policy Forum in Nairobi, Kenya on 19-20 May 2016 as part of the overall programme of the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2) held on 23-27 May 2016.

The forum offered a platform to the science community to engage with policymakers and civil society stakeholders on the science and knowledge needed to support informed decision-making to deliver on the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), took part in the forum as a panellist for the launch of the UNEP Frontiers 2016 report on emerging issues of environmental concern.

Her presentation on zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases focused on the global burden of zoonotic diseases (diseases that can be transmitted between animals and people), the drivers of disease (among them, land use change, environmental degradation and climate change) and how the multidisciplinary One Health approach can be used to support timely response to the threat of zoonotic diseases.

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Zoonotic diseases are also featured in a chapter in the UNEP Frontiers 2016 report, Zoonoses: Blurred lines of emergent disease and ecosystem health by Delia Grace and ILRI colleagues Bernard Bett, Hu Suk Lee and Susan MacMillan.

 

Reflections on food safety and risk perception

Bird’s-eye view of a colourful food market in Western Bengal, where 70% of people depend on agriculture (photo credit: Krishnasis Ghosh/Bioversity International).

In a recent blog post (11 April) published by the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, Delia Grace, a food safety expert at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), discusses food safety and the psychology of risk perception.

She notes that when it comes to food safety, what consumers perceive to be risky and what experts consider to be the most important risks are often not the same.

Citing the example of genetically modified foods, Grace says: “. . . there is remarkable consistency from scientists and expert bodies that genetically modified foods are safe to eat, and yet in many countries, most of the public are skeptical about them.”

The blog post, Healthier food supply: what you worry about and what makes you sick is not the same, acknowledges the complexity of risk perception and the difference in how experts and the general public perceive risks and food safety.

Better evidence can play a part in countering the natural tendency to misperceive risk, she says. An example of such evidence is a new policy brief on food safety, Policy Options for a Healthier Food Supply, which reviews food safety issues that are critical to poor and vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries.

 

New ILRI research brief highlights outcomes of pork safety project in Vietnam

Hmong butchers selling pig meat from the indigenous Hmong black pig, recognizable from its thick layer of fat below the skin, Bac Ha, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam (photo credit: ILRI/Jo Cadilhon).

Scientists working on a project to reduce disease risks and improve food safety in smallholder pig value chains in Vietnam have published a new research brief that highlights the key outcomes of the project in capacity building and transdisciplinary research.

The 5-year project, Reducing disease risks and improving food safety in smallholder pig value chains in Vietnam (PigRisk), was launched in 2012 and is led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in collaboration with the Hanoi School of Public Health and the Vietnam National University of Agriculture.

Among the outputs the project has achieved to date are: maps of value chain actors, assessments of production constraints of pig producers and estimates of health risks along the pork value chain.

In addition, several MSc students have been trained, publications written and presentations made to disseminate the study findings. The research team is currently developing and implementing interventions to positively influence the behaviour of value chain actors and improve food safety.

Download the brief, Changes in researcher capacity in assessing food safety risks and value chains: Insights from PigRisk team

 

ILRI pork safety project holds mid-term review in Vietnam

ILRI Asia

The PigRisk project team during the March 2016 mid-term review meeting (photo credit: ILRI/Fred Unger).

In March 2016 the PigRisk project, which focuses on food safety and pork value chains, held its mid-term review. This five-year project (2012–2017) aims to improve the livelihoods of rural and urban poor in Vietnam by creating better opportunities and incomes from pig value chains as a result of reduced risks associated with pork-borne diseases. The project is led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

The review highlighted significant achievements of the project including the development of a ‘cost of disease’ model and quantitative microbial risk assessment (QRMA) for Salmonella in consumers. This was the first time that these models had been used for food safety in Vietnam and they revealed the high economic cost to consumers from Salmonella-induced diarrheoa, whose treatment…

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ILRI scientist calls for better irrigation techniques to reduce risk of vector-borne diseases

The hidden dangers of irrigation in Kenya

By Imogen Mathers

If you are unable to listen to this audio, please update your browser or go here to download.

For farmers in Kenya, creative ways to irrigate crops can be the difference between a harvest failing or thriving. In this drought-prone country, access to reliable water sources is a daily challenge.

Few would argue with the need for better irrigation. Yet certain techniques introduced by the government to spur food production have dangerous side effects, warns Bernard Bett, a veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya.

The pools and canals that underpin flood irrigation create ideal conditions for mosquitoes to thrive, and are a draw for wildlife to gather and drink. This confluence of elements forms a perfect petri dish for zoonotic diseases such as malaria and dengue to circulate between wildlife, livestock, humans and insects.

Instead, Bett suggests exploring alternative techniques such as drip irrigation, a small change that can play a big part in keeping people safe from vector-borne diseases.

The interview was recorded on 18 March 2016 at One Health for the Real World, a symposium in the United Kingdom organised by the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa consortium and the Zoological Society of London.

This article was originally published on SciDev.Net. Read the original article.

 

MERS-CoV antibodies found in two people in eastern Kenya

ILRI news

Transmission electron micrograph of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, MERS-CoV (image credit: NIAID). MERS-CoV belongs to the coronavirus family. Human coronaviruses were first identified in the mid-1960s; MERS-CoV was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. Coronaviruses can also infect animals. Named for the crown-like spikes on their surface, coronaviruses are common in people, usually causing mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses. Two exceptions are the MERS-CoV and the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)-CoV.

A new study published in the science journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reports that two individuals in Kenya have tested positive for the presence of antibodies to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Neither person is ill or recalls having any symptoms associated with MERS.

There is no evidence of a public health threat and scientists concluded that the infections caused little or no clinical signs of illness. But they plan follow-up studies, as this is the…

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