The Lubin Files

Slovak-Croatian Glass Art Exhibition at DLML

During the 38th Session of FAO Conference to be held on 15-22 June, The David Lubin Memorial Library will be hosting an event:

Slovak-Croatian Glass Art Exhibition inspired by Nature by Artist Gordana Turuk

Grand opening on Monday 17 June 2013 13:30-14:30

Venue: FAO David Lubin Memorial Library

Sponsored by: Embassy of Slovak Republic in Italy                        

                        Embassy of the Croatia in Italy

 

 

Thailand's 'Got Milk' campaign aims to make citizens taller

Thailand announced its national "Got Milk" campaign on the most appropriate day possible-- June 1:  the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization's World Milk Day.

The Thai government intends to persuade its citizens to drink at least one glass of cow's milk a day. Here is an interesting article on how this campaign hopes to influence the growth and life expectancy of Thai citizens over the course of ten years if successful...

"Super-fly" threatens "Rambo" cassava, food security

What are whiteflies? Scientists call them a “super-fly” -- a tiny, rapidly breeding cyanide-munching insect. The Bemisia tabaci is one of several whitefly species that carries the lethal viruses that cause cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic disease (CMD).

Apparently the two cassava diseases and the flies have a mutually beneficial relationship-- each helping the spread of the other-- and all are affected by climate change. Here is an interesting article on whiteflies and the part they play in the spread of two diseases that are threatening the food security of millions of people across Africa.

Achachairú production figures

We recently received a question from a researcher in Puerto Rico who was trying to locate production figures in the FAOSTAT database for the fruit known as achachairú.

Our colleagues in the statistics division gave us the following answer:

This commodity is included in FAO classification scheme under Item: 603 Fruit, tropical (fresh) nes.  This category includes achacairù as well as other tropical fresh fruit that are not identified separately because of their minor relevance at the international level. In some countries mangoes, avocados, pineapples, dates and papayas are reported under this general category.

Cassava brown streak disease

Last week, I blogged about the alarming spread of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD)in Africa.  I mentioned a 2011 video interview of FAO Agricultural Officer Jan Helsen speaking about it.

Jan was kind enough to provide us with powerpoint slides of the talk he made last week about the implications of CBSD and Cassava Mosaic Disease in the South Sudan.

Rinderpest samples a threat to global security?

Rinderpest was an infectious disease infecting cattle, wildebeest and and other cloven-hoofed animals.  It was officially eradicated in 2011, due to the joint efforts of FAO, OIE and other partners.  This is only the second time in modern history that an infectious disease has been completely eradicated from the face of the earth. (The first was smallpox, eradicated in 1979).

Today, May 29, 2013, the OIE launched a digital media campaign urging all OIE member countries to destroy their samples of the virus, or to store their samples safely in facilities that have been approved by FAO and OIE.

The existence of virus samples in the laboratories that still have it poses a threat to global security in the form of an accidental or deliberate release of it into the environment.

You can view the video here, on YouTube.  It will be shown on digital media in different regions of the world in English, French, Spanish and Russian during a period of four weeks.

See also these videos produced by FAO's Global Rinderpest Eradication Program.

Book review - Mammals of Africa- I

Following is a book review written by James Santigie Kanu, former official of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and currently Associate Editor of African Prospects Journal.

Mammals of Africa
Eds: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Tomas Butynski, Micheal Hoffmann, Meredith Happold and Jan Kaliman

Books and field guides on mammals in Africa have been written before, but many of these mainly focused on a few larger mammal species in some regions in Africa. For the first time ever, a group of scientists, comprising 356 authors and editors, who worked for more than a decade in the compilation of a handbook and inventory of the mammalian fauna of the continent of Africa, have published Mammals of Africa. The book is a magnificent treasure trove consisting of a series of six volumes written in lucid prose and describing in detail, every extant species of African land mammal that was recognized at the time the profiles were written.

The volumes contain the very latest information and detailed discussion of the morphology, distribution, biology, and evolution, (including reference to fossil and molecular data) of every currently recognized species of African land mammal. The reader will learn from Mammals in Africa, that Africa has the greatest diversity and abundance of mammals in the world, totaling more than 1160 species and 16-18 orders. The reasons for this and the mechanisms behind their evolution are thoroughly explored in Mammals of Africa.

Among its many attributes, Mammals of Africa has become the most authoritative database for conservation policy makers. The authors convince us of the need to know more about land mammals in Africa, mainly because “humans in Africa and most of their primate ancestors have been an integral part of these communities for many millions of years.”   “We are African mammals,” the authors declare. The authors point out that:

An ancient lack of awareness of Africa, certainly of evolution in Africa, once deprived people of any possibility of correctly answering central puzzles of human existence: ‘where do we come from?’ ‘where is our ancestral home?’ ‘from what natural communities did we emerge?’ and ‘what is our place in the natural communities of the future?’

Mammals of Africa, opens the way in our search for answers to these tantalizing questions.

Read the rest of this book review here

Let them eat...

Many of the responses that I have seen to the release of the FAO report on eating insects have  been along the lines of, "The price of food is rising, and millions of people don't have enough to eat.  And those guys over at the UN are saying, Let them eat insects..."

I just came across this article from the US press that includes the experience of one journalist who not only tried crispy fried grasshopper tacos, but also includes a list of where in the United States one might freely enjoy a tasty entomological snack.

Cassava plants are dying?

Cassava is a staple food for millions of people across the developing world.  What is this disease I read about in the New York Times that is spreading from East Africa to as far as Nigeria and Angola, and is decimating this essential food crop?

Strange that the NYTimes doesn't name the disease. But I found other articles that identify the disease as a new and particularly virulent strain of "cassava brown streak disease." FAO reported on the danger of the outbreak in November of 2011. Visit this article from the FAO newsroom to access a video of FAO Agricultural Officer Jan Helson, as he speaks about the disease.

The UN and FAO continue to make the case for eating insects.

United States National Public Radio recently reported on the use of insects as food and the obstacles to making large scale consumption and use of insects a reality.  Wealthier nations battle a disgust factor that may greatly affect investment in insect farming, but also have laws that make the use of insects as food difficult.  FAO and the UN are working to clarify laws that would clear the way for greater use of insects as food in developed nations.  If you would like to learn more, you can read the entire article here.

Also have a look at the publication Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security, which was launched by FAO last Monday, 13 May, in conjunction with the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition.