Lowering of food standards in UK a result from any trans-Atlantic deal?

On Tuesday, The Guardian reported concern in the UK about any US-UK free trade deal. Several practices, outlawed in the EU are accepted in the US. These are listed as

1. Chlorine-washed chicken (banned in the EU). 
2. Hormone-treated beef (banned in the EU). 
3. Ractopamine in pork (banned in the EU). 
4. Chicken litter as animal feed (banned in the EU). Includes the birds' faeces. 
5. Atrazine-treated crops (banned in the EU). Atrazine is a herbicide used on 90% of sugar cane, which can enter into the water supply and interfere with wildlife. 
6. Genetically modified foods (banned in the EU). 
7.  Brominated vegetable oil (banned in the EU). BVO is used in citrus drinks; Coca-Cola announced it would stop using BVO in 2004. 
8. Potassium bromate (banned in the EU). A dough conditioner also banned in China, Brazil and Canada, in tests on rats it has been found to be a possible carcinogen. 
9. Azodicarbonamide. A bleaching agent for flour, it has been linked to an increase in tumours in rats. 
10. Food colourants (banned in the UK, regulated in the EU). Can lead to hyperactivity in children. 

Campaigners are concerned that food safety standards will be sacrificed in the pursuit of a post-Brexit deal as British farmers would be required to drop standards to remain competitive. Find the report here.

Find relevant chapters like Biotechnology, Organic farming and Exporting in The Agri Handbook.

Global workshop closes with commitment to enabling environment for new research on fish for nourishment

(December 15, 2017) Participants at the Global Workshop on Nutrition-sensitive Fish Agri-food Systems which closed 8 December in Siem Reap, Cambodia agreed that while evidence is mounting that fish is a solid investment choice, in particular for reducing global undernutrition, more needs to be done to build the case.

The workshop also saw an announcement that WorldFish has become an official member of the Scaling UP Nutrition (SUN) movement. SUN is a global push for action to improve nutrition of all —especially women and children.

Incoming WorldFish Director General, Gareth Johnstone: “It’s clear that a more compelling case to better understand how fish production and consumption can impact the lives of the poor needs to be made. At WorldFish, I commit to creating an enabling environment for better research and better research collaborations that will make a clearer link between fish agri-food systems and development outcomes including livelihoods and food and nutrition security.”

Shakuntala Thilsted, Research Program Leader, Value Chains and Nutrition: “Global reports on agriculture are produced that too often make marginal reference to fish and its contribution to livelihoods and food and nutrition security. Membership of SUN will allow us to gain more visibility for fish as a critical means to address nutrition and health. At this workshop, I was particularly pleased to see strong statements of support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, IFAD, JICA, USAID and the World Bank among others, in particular recognizing the importance of fish and the need to make nutrition-sensitive investments.”

The Global Workshop on Nutrition-sensitive Fish Agri-food Systems, was convened by WorldFish with support from IFAD, the European Union and the Royal Government of Cambodia and was held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, 5-8 December 2017. The event was opened by H.E. Dr. Yim Chhay Ly, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of Council for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Royal Government of Cambodia

Robert Bertram, Chief Scientist for USAID's Bureau for Food Security, emphasized the importance of fish for poorer households during the closing session: "People recognize that fish is an especially nutritious food -- this is widely understood. What is less well known is how critical fish is to the diets of the poor in many countries where we work. Using fish more comprehensively can help achieve food security that is sustainable and highly effective in advancing our nutrition goals."

The event saw 150 participants from 20 countries discussing a need to shift from fish production approaches to fish agri-food systems that are more geared to nutrition-sensitive outcomes.

Participants at the workshop, including representatives of governments, UN organizations, NGOs and research institutes reflected that fish agri-food systems were not as well researched as other areas of agriculture making informed decisions on how to invest difficult.

Through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world has committed to ending all forms of malnutrition. Reorienting food systems across all actors and levels, towards improving nutrition outcomes (nutrition-sensitive food systems) is central to achieving this goal, as was recognized in the second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) Framework for Action and further strengthened by the declaration of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016-2025. The CGIAR has also committed to improvements in food and nutrition security with specific targets for increasing dietary diversity of women and reducing micronutrient deficiencies up to 2030. Fish is uniquely placed to contribute to this goal, yet has received inadequate attention in debates on nutrition-sensitive food systems. 

Owl-inspired wisdom solves mystery

A conservation superhero has turned crime fighter, as the special owls he saves have led the way to a nest of stolen vehicles.

Early on Tuesday morning, 5 December, the manager of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) Birds of Prey Programme, Dr Gareth Tate saw that, as usual, his Ford Ranger stood safely in the driveway. Moments later, when he looked again, there was only empty space where his Ranger once stood. A trusted companion in the field for many years, the vehicle had been sponsored by the Ford Wildlife Foundation, and Gareth’s work would be crippled without it. He immediately called the police and the vehicle tracking company, Netstar, and notified the security company that guards the street.

CCTV footage showed a car pulling up next to the EWT vehicle, and less than ten minutes later the Ranger was driven off. To follow the strong signal from the two tracking devices in the vehicle, a team was sent to intercept the stolen car, but the devices were soon found discarded from the vehicle. It was now officially off the grid.

Or was it? As it happened, there was a solar powered GPS/GSM tracking device in the vehicle, which was intended to be attached to a threatened African Grass-owl as part of an EWT research project on the movement ecology of the species on the highveld coal belt. The team had planned to head out the evening before to deploy it on one of these mysterious birds, but this trip had been cancelled due to heavy rain.

The owl tracking device uses cellular networks to download and send GPS locations or fixes at set intervals. Gareth immediately uploaded new settings to the device that was due to come online at 14:00 that afternoon. The new settings would make the device come online and send a location every 10 minutes, as opposed to only every 20 hours.

At 14:00, Gareth logged in to see if the device had powered up, but to his disappointment, it had not come back online and it was feared that this tracking device too had been destroyed.

After checking on the device on an hourly basis for the next few days with no success, it seemed as if all hope was lost. However, a final attempt to check up on the logger on Sunday 10 December proved successful, as it was not only online but was giving strong GPS fixes. The police were contacted, as was Netstar, and both mobilised their teams. Gareth also contacted Mark Notelvitz, the director of CORTAC tactical security services in Johannesburg, whom he also informed about the owl tracking unit coming online and Mark immediately got his teams into the area, despite the EWT not being their client.

With the help of SAPS, CORTAC and Netstar searched a number of premises in close proximity to the last GPS location, but were unable to locate either the vehicle or tracker. On Monday morning (11 December 2017), Gareth again logged in and noticed the tracker had come online again. Due to poor cellular reception and waning battery life, there was some error in the accuracy of each GPS fix, which usually varies from 0-100m, making the exact location of the device difficult to distinguish. But after conducting in-depth analysis on the data, based on similar work done when trying to locate vulture nests from GPS-tagged individuals, Gareth was able to determine a more accurate location of the stolen device. He again contacted the SAPS, Netstar, and CORTAC with the updated address and coordinates for the device. This led to the discovery of the stolen EWT Ford Ranger along with two other stolen vehicles. A number of individuals were also apprehended and a large amount of criminal activity was uncovered in the premises. The EWT’s little owl tracker not only saves owls’ lives but was instrumental in bringing down a criminal syndicate and recovering stolen vehicles.

This remarkable story demonstrates how teamwork, relentless perseverance and conservation in action not only saves wildlife but saves the day!

Special thanks must go to all those involved, including SAPS, CORTAC, Netstar, and Ford Wildlife Foundation, for helping to return this vehicle to the EWT, keeping our birds of prey in the sky and our Ranger on the road! - Endangered Wildlife Fund press release.

Read about the EWT and owls in the "Birds and farming" chapter. 

Good news to South Africa from Agriculture

For the second quarter in a row, agriculture posts growth that does wonders for the South African economy, contributing significantly to a 2% growth.

Find the Farmer's Weekly article "Second consecutive quarter of agricultural growth for SA" here.

View our website which gives overviews of every link that contributes to this success at www.agribook.co.za. 

Famous Brands Cheese company and Coega Dairy empower communities with cash for cows

Famous Brands Cheese Company (FBCC) and Coega Dairy will collectively contribute R3 million to five black-owned community dairy farms in the Eastern Cape to finance the purchase of more than 300 dairy cows. The funds will be disbursed over a three year period, with FBCC and Coega Dairy each contributing R1.5 million.

L Collet (Coega Dairy), Mr. L Kente Ncora (Dairy Trust), Ms. L Maso (Seven Stars Dairy Trust), Mr. C Jantjies (Middeldrift Dairy Trust), L Mavhungu (Fort Hare Dairy Trust), Ms. F Ngqakayi (Shilo Dairy Trust), Mr. J Every (Amadlelo Agri), Ms. L Nthla (Famous Brands)

In 2016, Amadlelo Agri, a black empowerment agricultural business which manages the five community owned farms, approached Coega Dairy and FBCC to assist local community farmers to attain ownership of their own dairy herds.

Andrew Mundell, Famous Brands’ COO Enterprise Development, says, “At present, a large number of the cows on the community farms are leased from commercial dairy farmers. By investing in this project we will assist the community farmers to gain increased access, participation and ownership in the value chain.”

He adds, “Ensuring security of supply of raw milk is critical to FBCC and Coega Dairy, and this investment will achieve that. The farms currently deliver approximately 25% of FBCC’s total milk intake. It is projected that the cows and their future offspring will produce in excess of 10 million litres of milk over a five year period.”

The five community farms which will benefit from the R3 million investment are: Fort Hare Dairy Trust, Middledrift Dairy Trust, Keiskammahoek Dairy, Shiloh Dairy Trust and Ncora Dairy Trust.

Coega Dairy was founded in 2011, and is a processor of dairy products and one of the largest long life milk producers in the country. This unique business was established through the partnership of existing commercial farmers with previously disadvantaged communities. The Dairy procures milk from producers in the Eastern Cape and processes UHT milk and butter at its modern facility in the Coega Industrial Development Zone in Port Elizabeth. The Dairy’s products are sold nationally through retailers and wholesalers.

FBCC was established in 2012 when Famous Brands entered into a ground-breaking joint-venture partnership with Coega Dairy, which is co-owned by local farmers, and factory and farm employees, to supply cheese products to the Group. FBCC is co-owned by Famous Brands (51%) and Coega Dairy (49%). The shareholders in Coega Dairy are milk producers (62%) and the Coega Empowerment Trust (38%). The beneficiaries of the Empowerment Trust are the five black-owned community farms (40%), factory workers (40%) and farm workers (20%).

 FBCC comprises a state-of-the-art cheese manufacturing plant, situated adjacent to Coega Dairy’s facility. FBCC procures its milk requirements from Coega Dairy which it then processes to produce Mozzarella, cheese slices, cheese spread and cream cheese for the Group’s franchise network. The plant processes nine million kilograms of cheese products per year. Together the businesses employ 275 people.

Mundell comments, “We established FBCC to further our strategy to build the Group’s manufacturing capability and leverage opportunities in the supply chain. The business has been a tremendous success. Over the past five years the intake of raw milk at Coega Dairy has increased by 14% per annum while milk intake for cheese at FBCC has increased by more than 20% over the past four years.”

Victor Korsten, Chief Executive of Coega Dairy, says, “Coega Dairy and FBCC are committed to the development of this primary production of milk from community farms and this locally focused empowerment investment will make an important difference in a particularly needy province.”

He adds, “All the necessary operational, technical and statutory support will be provided to ensure the sustainability and good governance of the project.”

Mundell concludes, “We are excited about the opportunities this investment will create for local community suppliers, while ensuring we continue to meet our franchise network’s growing demand for this strategic menu item.”

Written by Instinctif Partners Africa.

Find the Dairy (cattle) and Dairy processing chapters in the Agri Handbook. 

Going, going ...

We came across an infographic by TuskPhoto recently: a list of 10 endangered African species.

Some of these species are covered in the “Wildlife on farms” and “Birds and farming” chapters, and are central to programmes run by groups like the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Included here are the riverine rabbit (less than 250 adults left), the cheetah and the African white-backed vulture.

White and black rhino are on the list. Since the 70’s they have been intensively poached. Northern white rhinos were declared “extinct in the wild” in 2011, and only three individuals are left on the planet. Rhino horns are used in Chinese medicine to treat a variety of health issues. Other countries that buy rhino horns are South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. While the governments of these countries do not take action the poaching will continue.

Other animals on the list are the Ethiopian wolf (only wolf species found in Africa), the African elephant, the Mountain Gorilla, the African Penguin and the African Wild Dog.

The infographic contains pictures of these ten species along with short notes on the reasons for their dwindling numbers in the wild.

TuskPhoto run wildlife photography tours and safaris.

The importance of feeding on rotting meat

It is with great sadness that we read about 45 vultures being poisoned this week, ironically the week after International Vulture Awareness Day. That it happened in neighbouring Mozambique is immaterial. The sun shines, rivers run and vultures fly as they have for centuries. Nature does not recognise the compromise of the geo-political boundaries that we have drawn.

Of course, borders and the right protocol around them are important in as far as biosecurity goes. It is vital to keep in check the pests and diseases that rise like shadows from the way we live and farm. Biosecurity guarantees economic sectors, livelihoods and interlocking economies, and is necessary, it goes without saying. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations lists issues like transboundary pests and diseases, exacerbated by our changing weather patterns, as trends that the planet will have to face while its farmers produce food for its 7 billion plus humans (find its The future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges, released this month here).

Vultures are listed as one of the beneficial birds in our "Birds and farming" chapter. Their digestive systems mean that they can absorb cholera, rabies and prevent disease from spreading, and play a critical role in maintaining the ecological health of the planet.Unfortunately they are one of the fastest declining groups of animals in the world. 

In the end, the poisoning of these vultures this week is part of a wider problem. Would that there had been other ways for the human beings who laid out the poisoned meat to have been earning their keep! While we stumble forward and look for solutions, allow me to remember the 45 vultures for whom any enlightenment will have arrived too late.