Commercializing coffee : small scale cooperatives in Chiapas, Mexico and their struggle for survival

We are in the midst of the worst global coffee crisis in history. The price of coffee, the second largest legally traded commodity in the world, currently hovers below the cost of production. With no end to the crisis in sight, coffee farmers are looking for alternative forms of commercialization to compete in a over saturated market. In this capstone paper, the author sought to determine to what extent the pursuit or use of fair trade/organic certifications is influencing commercialization practices of small-scale cooperatives in the Highlands of Chiapas. Through an extensive literature review, on site interviews and participation in an on-line conference for directors of coffee cooperatives, the author examined past and present commercialization practices in the state. A central conclusion drawn from the study is that most cooperatives are looking to improve coffee quality while pushing toward fair trade/organic certification. At the same time, many realize that only 1/6th of all fair trade certified coffees were sold at fair trade prices last year and certification in itself will not bring relief. Results of this capstone paper can be used by cooperatives and academics to better understand the global coffee market and on-going trends in commericialization practices in Chiapas, Mexico

Commercializing coffee : small scale cooperatives in Chiapas, Mexico and their struggle for survival

We are in the midst of the worst global coffee crisis in history. The price of coffee, the second largest legally traded commodity in the world, currently hovers below the cost of production. With no end to the crisis in sight, coffee farmers are looking for alternative forms of commercialization to compete in a over saturated market. In this capstone paper, the author sought to determine to what extent the pursuit or use of fair trade/organic certifications is influencing commercialization practices of small-scale cooperatives in the Highlands of Chiapas. Through an extensive literature review, on site interviews and participation in an on-line conference for directors of coffee cooperatives, the author examined past and present commercialization practices in the state. A central conclusion drawn from the study is that most cooperatives are looking to improve coffee quality while pushing toward fair trade/organic certification. At the same time, many realize that only 1/6th of all fair trade certified coffees were sold at fair trade prices last year and certification in itself will not bring relief. Results of this capstone paper can be used by cooperatives and academics to better understand the global coffee market and on-going trends in commericialization practices in Chiapas, Mexico

Single-tree effects on soil P pools in a multi-strata agroforestry systems.

Presentation of the effects of different fruit and timber tree species in a multi-strata agroforestry systems in comparison to secondary vegetation and primary forest sites on inorganic and organic P pools of a Ferralsols in the Amazon basin. The S pools were also assessed, but could not be presented here due to the lenght of this contribution. Conclusion: The modified Hedley procedure proved to be extremely useful for the studied soil type to demonstrate the highly contrasting P dynamics of the experimental sites. The different tree species exhibited a pronuounced and relevant effect on P properties in the multi-strata agroforestry system. These strongly contrasting effects have to be considered when designing multi-strata agroforestry systems and may help to improve the efficiency of nutrient cycling

Peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilization and leukapheresis in pigs

The pig is being investigated as an organ donor for humans. Induction of immunologic tolerance to pig tissues in primates would overcome the major immunologic barriers to xenotransplantation. A proven method of inducing tolerance to allografts is by the induction of mixed hematopoietic chimerism by bone marrow transplantation. We are therefore investigating induction of mixed hematopoietic chimerism in the pig-to-baboon model

Modulation of the in vivo primate anti-Gal response through administration of anti-idiotypic antibodies

Polyclonal anti-idiotypic antibodies (AIA) were generated against human Gal alpha 1,3Gal antibodies (anti-Gal) isolated from a single donor. Specificity of the AIA was demonstrated by selective binding to anti-Gal antibodies (Ab) and absence of reactivity to non-Gal Ab. The idiotopes identified by AIA were present on anti-Gal Ab from all of the human samples evaluated (n=59) as well as on pooled samples, demonstrating that a restricted number of dominant idiotopes characterized the human anti-Gal Ab response. Furthermore, the AIA had cross-species reactivity with baboon serum samples (n=19), suggesting that the overall shape of the anti-Gal Ab combining site is conserved throughout the Old World primates and providing additional evidence of the limited heterogeneity of the anti-Gal Ab repertoire. In order to evaluate the potential effect of AIA in the modulation of the anti-Gal response in vivo, a baboon was injected with repeated doses of the purified AIA. Following AIA treatment, new Ab were generated that reduced Ab-mediated cytotoxicity to porcine cells. Furthermore, administration of the AIA to a baboon prolonged the survival of intravenously infused pig hematopoietic cells when compared with their survival in a control baboon that did not receive prior AIA treatment but underwent a similar conditioning regimen