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Hannah Jaenicke says Good-bye
Dear friends and colleagues,
After 4.5 years at the helm of ICUC, now CFF, it is now time to say good-bye to the many friends and supporters of underutilized crops and the organisation itself. Over the past years, we have been able to raise the profile of underutilized crops worldwide considerably, although a lot more remains to be done. The most important achievement of the past years is the creation of Crops for the Future from a merger of the International Centre for Underutilized Crops and the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species. This new entity will assist in further increasing the profile of underutilized crops for food security, nutrition and health and environmental sustainability. It will be in good and experienced hands with Dr Michael Hermann, the incoming Global Coordinator of Crops for the Future. With the changes in leadership comes also a change in location. From 1 April 2010 onwards, Crops for the Future will be hosted by Bioversity International, at their Regional Office for Asia, the Pacific and Oceania, in Serdang, Malaysia. I wish to take this opportunity to explicitly thank the International Water Management Institute for their cordial hosting of ICUC/Crops for the Future for the past 5 years in Sri Lanka. I also wish to thank the members of the Scientific Advisory Board of ICUC and later CFF Board of Directors: Prof. George Rothschild, Dr Ruth Oniang’o, Dr N.G. Hegde, Mr John Palmer, Prof. Frank Rijsberman and Dr Colin Chartres, for their guidance and support. Last but not least, we could not have managed to achieve what we have without the support of the many research and development partners around the world to whom I say an especially warm thank you.
With best wishes,
Dr Hannah Jaenicke
The new coordinates of Crops for the Future are:
2nd International Symposium on Underutilised Plant Species
We are delighted to announce the 2nd International Symposium on Underutilised Plant Species entitled “Crops for the Future – Beyond Food Security” to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 27th June – 1st July 2011.
Here you can find the first circular with preliminary information about the symposium. Further information including registration, keynote speakers, venue and accommodation will follow shortly.
The Symposium website will be live shortly.
FOR ENQUIRIES AND CORRESPONDENCE
Secretariat: Underutilised Plants Symposium 2011
Crops for the Future – beyond food security
The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
Tel: +6 (03) 8924 8218
Fax: +6 (03) 8924 8018
Email: email hidden; JavaScript is required
or email hidden; JavaScript is required
Defining underutilized species included in the “nutrition indicators for biodiversity”
FAO and Bioversity International have developed two nutrition indicators for biodiversity useful to measure biodiversity-related food composition and food consumption of underutilized species (www.fao.org/infoods/biodiversity/index_en.stm).
More information can be found in the document “Specific definition of underutilized species for human consumption”
While reporting upon these indicators, difficulties were encountered in defining underutilized foods. Therefore, FAO and Crops for the Future have developed specific criteria in order to establish the reference list for underutilized foods counting for the nutritional indicators for biodiversity:
Of the following criteria, the first one is compulsory, and several of the others should be met for a species to be included in this list:
- The food was/is/could be used for human consumption.
- May have great potential for contributing to food security and nutrition.
- Mainly local and traditional crops/animals (including insects, amphibians and reptiles) whose distribution, biology, cultivation and uses are poorly documented.
- Receive little attention from research, farmers, policy and decision makers, technology providers and consumers.
- Have weak or no formal seed/animal germplasm supply systems.
- Farmed, reared, gathered or caught in small scale.
- The species must be grown/raised in the country/region where it is underutilized.
Species that are imported do not count as underutilized in that region.
Furthermore, information on country/region of origin should be given.
These criteria, only intended to be used to report on the two nutrition indicators for biodiversity, should not replace the broad criteria that has been defined for categorizing underutilized species as such (www.underutilized-species.org/spotlight/what_are_underutilized_species.asp).
The integration of these specific criteria and the reference list of underutilized foods counting for food biodiversity will be uploaded on the websites of the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species at www.underutilized-species.org/species/about_species.asp and of the INFOODS at www.fao.org/infoods/biodiversity/index_en.stm.
We would appreciate receiving your comments by email (email hidden; JavaScript is required) within the 20th March 2010 on both the criteria and the list before publishing them on the websites.
We look forward and thank you!
Community and Solidarity: Grant Proposals and Award Nominations
The Paul K. Feyerabend Foundation (PKF) promotes the empowerment and well being of disadvantaged human communities. By strengthening intra and inter-community solidarity the Foundation strives to improve local capacities, promote the respect of human rights and sustain cultural and biological diversity. The Foundation was created in Switzerland in March 2006. It has an international Board of Directors including six members. Since December 2009, the Foundation has supported eleven initiatives and honored seven laureates of the PKF Award.
The deadline for submissions of PKF grant proposals and/or PKF Award nominations for 2010 is 28 February 2010. All projects supported by the Foundation deal with two main issues: community and solidarity. For more information, please consult “Views – Ideas.”
All submissions must be made by a Nominator and not directly. Thus, if interested please contact the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Secretariat for further details to develop and submit proposals. The Nominators do not write the grant proposals, instead they just receive them, evaluate them and pass them on. For the PKF Award, however, it is a different story. In these cases, the Nominators fill the form(s) themselves, and not informing the nominees, and simply direct the form(s) to the Board.
The projects may concern less favoured communities and engage them in a process of solidarity to improve their living conditions, their environment and their rights. They may also attack the social conditions which bring about or perpetuate the lack of solidarity within or between communities. Or again, these projects may concern “non-material” communities centered with solidarity around defending a common good or issue, if this action is relevant to the Foundation’s objectives.
2010 AWARD Fellowships call for applications
The CGIAR Gender and Diversity Programme calls for applications for its 2010 AWARD Fellowship scheme. The call is open to nationals from:
Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, who are working in the fields of:
Agricultural economics, Agricultural engineering, Agronomy, Animal and livestock sciences, Aquatic resources and fisheries, Biodiversity conservation, Crop sciences, Ecology, Entomology, Extension education, Food sciences and nutrition, Forestry and agroforestry, Horticulture, Molecular biology (plant/animal breeding), Natural resources management, Plant/animal virology, Soil sciences, Veterinary sciences and Water and irrigation management.
The deadline for all applications is 22 March 2010.
Details and application forms can be downloaded from: http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org/resource/award.asp
Application forms can also be obtained by writing to: email hidden; JavaScript is required
“Fruits for nutrition, poverty reduction and environment”
International Conference held at Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh 30-31 March 2010. Please find the Conference Announcement here.
Adaptive Management Course in Ghana 18 October-5 November 2010
From Nico Rozemeijer, Senior advisor Collaborative Natural Resources Management and Rural Development, Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen UR:
I would like to draw your attention to the upcoming short course on Adaptive Management in Ghana from 18 October – 5 November 2010. It seems far away but the deadline for applying for fellowships is June the first, and responding early never hurts… [Please find the course announcement with further information here.
Dr Hannah Jaenicke is moving on
Dr Hannah Jaenicke is moving on from Crops for the Future on 31 March. Statement from John Palmer and George Rothschild on behalf of interim governing body for Crops for the Future. [Read the Statement here]
International Horticultural Congress 2010
The International Horticultural Congress 2010 will take place 22-27 August 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal. The event features seminars, workshops, symposia, colloquia and other sessions. There are several events of great interest to the underutilized plant community, for example Symposium S12 on Genetic Resources, Seminar SM08 on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Symposium S07 FAV-Health, Workshop WS10 on Minor and underutilized tropical and subtropical fruits for nutritional security in the XXI century… The revised abstract submission deadline is 31 January 2010.
Please check out http://www.ihc2010.org for more information and the abstract submission tool.
Scholarships in Food Security Studies
The Food Security Centre of the University of Hohenheim, Germany (www.foodsecurity.de), is offering 29 scholarships for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers for a period of 4 to 36 months, starting April 15, 2010. The Center wishes to attract outstanding PhD students and postdoctoral fellows pursuing a career in academia or development collaboration. The scholarships aim at increasing their previously gained scientific knowledge and skills relevant to food security related issues. Furthermore, FSC aims at establishing an active, long-lasting collaboration with the supported researchers and their home institutions.
The application deadline is January 30, 2010. Selection is carried out on a competitive basis and the decisions will be communicated up to March 16, 2010. Regarding the details of the different scholarship programs, the application process and the requirements, please consult FSC’s webpage (www.foodsecurity.de).