The Journey to R4D: An institutional history of an Australian Initiative on Food Security in Africa

Internal Revie

From ‘cuy' in South America to ‘cavy' in sub-Sahara Africa: Advancing development through South-South Cooperation

Neglected and underutilised livestock species like ‘cuy' or ‘domestic cavy' or ‘guinea pig' (Cavia porcellus L.) play an important role in better nutrition and poverty reduction. Cavy is indigenous in South America and has been introduced to sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), where it has an extensive distribution from Senegal in the West to Tanzania in the East. The remarkable adoption by smallholder farmers and peri-urban dwellers of a simple, apparently suitable technology has not received much international attention. Animals mostly roam freely in the kitchen or house and are kept in a way comparable to the traditional one in South America. In SSA, cavies are a source of meat, a flexible source of cash income – particularly used for schooling expenses – and an appreciated source of manure. In many SSA-countries (e.g., Cameroon, DR Congo and Tanzania), predominantly women and teenage boys engage as cavy keepers and sellers in local markets. Keeping cavies is also used as an alternative to consumption of bushmeat in order to protect wildlife in forest zones; or as part of humanitarian starter kits for displaced people in conflict areas. In Peru, improvement programs of ‘cuyes' over the past 60 years have yielded earlier maturing, heavier breeds. Further, improving husbandry and, especially, optimising feeding have led to enhanced ‘cuy' production. In most SSA-countries, however, formal knowledge about optimal cavy husbandry is limited. Production systems are simple and animal mortality seems high, partly a negative consequence of inbreeding. Thus, the animal's potential is not realised, and its consumption is not valued in line with its high nutritional value because of certain cultural perceptions of society. Researchers, development agents, practitioners and donors from sub-Sahara Africa, South America, Europe and Australia have come together to further identify opportunities for advancing the use of this resource through enhanced South-South cooperation. While aiming to understand the multiple roles that cavies can have in enhancing livelihoods, paramount differences in cavy culture between the continents must be recognised. The diverse production realities need to be considered, therefore, by conducting socio-economic, cultural, as well as technological research and development to offer producers an array of suitable options

Lablab purpureus—A Crop Lost for Africa?

In recent years, so-called ‘lost crops’ have been appraised in a number of reviews, among them Lablab purpureus in the context of African vegetable species. This crop cannot truly be considered ‘lost’ because worldwide more than 150 common names are applied to it. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this paper aims to put forward four theses, (i) Lablab is one of the most diverse domesticated legume species and has multiple uses. Although its largest agro-morphological diversity occurs in South Asia, its origin appears to be Africa. (ii) Crop improvement in South Asia is based on limited genetic diversity. (iii) The restricted research and development performed in Africa focuses either on improving forage or soil properties mostly through one popular cultivar, Rongai, while the available diversity of lablab in Africa might be under threat of genetic erosion. (iv) Lablab is better adapted to drought than common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) or cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), both of which have been preferred to lablab in African agricultural production systems. Lablab might offer comparable opportunities for African agriculture in the view of global change. Its wide potential for adaptation throughout eastern and southern Africa is shown with a GIS (geographic information systems) approach

Spatial analysis of air pollution and childhood asthma in Hamilton, Canada: comparing exposure methods in sensitive subgroups

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Variations in air pollution exposure within a community may be associated with asthma prevalence. However, studies conducted to date have produced inconsistent results, possibly due to errors in measurement of the exposures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A standardized asthma survey was administered to children in grades one and eight in Hamilton, Canada, in 1994–95 (N ~1467). Exposure to air pollution was estimated in four ways: (1) distance from roadways; (2) interpolated surfaces for ozone, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and nitrous oxides from seven to nine governmental monitoring stations; (3) a kriged nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) surface based on a network of 100 passive NO₂monitors; and (4) a land use regression (LUR) model derived from the same monitoring network. Logistic regressions were used to test associations between asthma and air pollution, controlling for variables including neighbourhood income, dwelling value, state of housing, a deprivation index and smoking.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no significant associations between any of the exposure estimates and asthma in the whole population, but large effects were detected the subgroup of children without hayfever (predominately in girls). The most robust effects were observed for the association of asthma without hayfever and NO₂LUR OR = 1.86 (95%CI, 1.59–2.16) in all girls and OR = 2.98 (95%CI, 0.98–9.06) for older girls, over an interquartile range increase and controlling for confounders.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings indicate that traffic-related pollutants, such as NO₂, are associated with asthma without overt evidence of other atopic disorders among female children living in a medium-sized Canadian city. The effects were sensitive to the method of exposure estimation. More refined exposure models produced the most robust associations.</p

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet - diversity, potential use and determination of a core collection of this multi-purpose tropical legume

Two germplasm collections of Lablab purpureus L. Sweet totalling 249 accessions were grown in the field in Australia and Ethiopia and characterised using a common set of morphological and agronomic (M-A) attributes. Data from each site were analysed separately using multi-variate analysis and a classification constructed for each collection. There was considerable diversity within both collections, especially that maintained in Ethiopia. Time to flowering, seed weight, and plant height were the most important attributes in determining group allocation in both classifications. Both collections had a high proportion of L. purpureus subspurpureus, especially accessions similar to the Australian cultivars Highworth and Rongai. They also had good representation of the less common L. purpureus subsuncinatus Verdc. less common landraces and wild collections from either Africa or India. When combined, the two classifications provided an overview of diversity and highlighted the similarities and dissimilarities between the two collections. The vast range in plant types supported the view that lablab has the capacity to be a multi purpose legume for both commercial and smallholder agriculture. Some important and less common germplasm identified were Ethiopian domesticated subsuncinatus, Ethiopian subspurpureus landraces collected from regional markets, semi-domesticated and wild accessions from southern Africa, and wild accessions from India. Using this overview, a core collection of germplasm was selected, which provides researchers with a sound basis for future plant breeding and agronomic studies with this important tropical legume

A ‘learning system design’ for more effective agricultural research for development

A ‘learning system’ design is described and critically examined as an approach to integrated agricultural research for development (R4D). This learning system sits within the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) component of an Australian research initiative to improve food security across sub-Saharan Africa. This program (Africa Food Security Initiative [AFSI]) is one component of Australia’s development assistance program in Africa and focuses on building capacity to increase agricultural productivity and food and nutritional security by boosting African science leadership, skills, networks and institutions. The ‘learning system’ design addresses the research question: Can a learning system be designed in AFSI such that reflexive and responsible research for development (R4D) practice is an emergent outcome? It also supports formal M&E by: (i) elaborating the multiple pathways for impact and the associated indicators of impact for the range of project interventions; (ii) further elucidating the qualitative and quantitative data to be collected and appropriate platforms and processes for joint data management, in order to provide content for AFSI reports and review processes as well as co-produced scientific publications; (iii) assistance to AFSI researchers in undertaking systemic action research in the context of their AFSI activities; and (iv) enabling the linking of evaluation data and theory in scientific papers which are contextualized for the current state of thinking in the field of R4D. Emergent outcomes to date that support design effectiveness and efficacy are reported; the wider applicability of the approach to the systemic design of appropriate innovation platforms in R4D is discussed

Tropical forages: An interactive selection tool

A tool for selecting forage species suitable for local conditions in the tropics and subtropics. Invaluable for agricultural researchers and extension officers involved in improving animal production. Allows you to identify forage species suitable for your climate, soils and production system; access comprehensive information on these species with details of adaptation, uses and management; view images of the plants and their use; and search a comprehensive database of scientific references with abstracts. JavaScript must be enabled for use. Works best with Internet Explorer