Sharing diversity: exchanging seeds and experiences of community seedbanks in South Africa

This report describes the main activities carried out in 2017. The community seed banks of Gumbu and Sterkspruit increased the number of accessions, reproduced seeds of a number of priority crop varieties and strengthened their technical and organizational capacities. They also participated in the first community seed bank exchange and learning workshop that brought together farmers and officials from various provinces. A new community seed bank was set up in Northwest province. Farmers and staff of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Bioversity International shared their experiences in a number of (inter) national events. The accumulated experiences of establishing and supporting community seed banks in South Africa were used as input for the development of two community seed bank manuals, one for facilitators and one for farmers. The three community seed banks established so far will support the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ strategy on conservation and sustainable use of Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture both in situ and ex situ

Green shoots. Community seedbanking in South Africa: endeavours and outcomes 2016-2019

This brief summarizes the progress made in establishing and supporting a national network of community seedbanks in South Africa in the period 2016-2019. Three community seedbanks are up and running. Some exchanges of seeds and knowledge have taken place within the country and with neighboring Zimbabwe. Recurring drought is a major challenge to maintain collections viable, but plans are made to bring more diversity to the community seedbanks

Strengthening the community seed banks in South Africa

This study was supported by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) of the Government of the Republic of South Africa.Since 2013, DAFF and Bioversity International have been working together to establish and support community seed banks as a means to strengthen farmers’ seed systems, support conservation and sustainable use of traditional farmers’ varieties and maintain seed security at district and community levels in the Republic of South Africa. Three community seed banks have been set up in Gumbu, Sterkspruit and Jericho. This report describes the main activities carried out in 2018-2019. Farmers of the Jericho community seed bank, which was inaugurated in 2019, were trained in seed bank management techniques. Farmers of the three community seed banks multiplied seed of selected crop varieties stored in the three community seed banks. Despite shortage of water and excessive heat in most parts of South Africa, farmers still show an interest and eagerness in making agriculture the primary vehicle to improve their rural livelihoods and fight hunger. The challenges of climate change are affecting the development of crops and limit farmers’ increase of production and yields. There is a need to continue providing support to farmers and the community seed banks at all three sites (Gumbu, Jericho and Sterkspruit) in order to strengthen and improve their knowledge and farming skills

Accelerated surgery versus standard care in hip fracture (HIP ATTACK) : an international, randomised, controlled trial

Background: Observational studies have suggested that accelerated surgery is associated with improved outcomes in patients with a hip fracture. The HIP ATTACK trial assessed whether accelerated surgery could reduce mortality and major complications. Methods: HIP ATTACK was an international, randomised, controlled trial done at 69 hospitals in 17 countries. Patients with a hip fracture that required surgery and were aged 45 years or older were eligible. Research personnel randomly assigned patients (1:1) through a central computerised randomisation system using randomly varying block sizes to either accelerated surgery (goal of surgery within 6 h of diagnosis) or standard care. The coprimary outcomes were mortality and a composite of major complications (ie, mortality and non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, venous thromboembolism, sepsis, pneumonia, life-threatening bleeding, and major bleeding) at 90 days after randomisation. Patients, health-care providers, and study staff were aware of treatment assignment, but outcome adjudicators were masked to treatment allocation. Patients were analysed according to the intention-to-treat principle. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02027896). Findings: Between March 14, 2014, and May 24, 2019, 27 701 patients were screened, of whom 7780 were eligible. 2970 of these were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive accelerated surgery (n=1487) or standard care (n=1483). The median time from hip fracture diagnosis to surgery was 6 h (IQR 4\u20139) in the accelerated-surgery group and 24 h (10\u201342) in the standard-care group (p<0\ub70001). 140 (9%) patients assigned to accelerated surgery and 154 (10%) assigned to standard care died, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0\ub791 (95% CI 0\ub772 to 1\ub714) and absolute risk reduction (ARR) of 1% ( 121 to 3; p=0\ub740). Major complications occurred in 321 (22%) patients assigned to accelerated surgery and 331 (22%) assigned to standard care, with an HR of 0\ub797 (0\ub783 to 1\ub713) and an ARR of 1% ( 122 to 4; p=0\ub771). Interpretation: Among patients with a hip fracture, accelerated surgery did not significantly lower the risk of mortality or a composite of major complications compared with standard care. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator: development and validation of a tool for identifying African surgical patients at risk of severe postoperative complications

Background: The African Surgical Outcomes Study (ASOS) showed that surgical patients in Africa have a mortality twice the global average. Existing risk assessment tools are not valid for use in this population because the pattern of risk for poor outcomes differs from high-income countries. The objective of this study was to derive and validate a simple, preoperative risk stratification tool to identify African surgical patients at risk for in-hospital postoperative mortality and severe complications. Methods: ASOS was a 7-day prospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing surgery in Africa. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator was constructed with a multivariable logistic regression model for the outcome of in-hospital mortality and severe postoperative complications. The following preoperative risk factors were entered into the model; age, sex, smoking status, ASA physical status, preoperative chronic comorbid conditions, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. Results: The model was derived from 8799 patients from 168 African hospitals. The composite outcome of severe postoperative complications and death occurred in 423/8799 (4.8%) patients. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator includes the following risk factors: age, ASA physical status, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. The model showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.805 and good calibration with c-statistic corrected for optimism of 0.784. Conclusions: This simple preoperative risk calculator could be used to identify high-risk surgical patients in African hospitals and facilitate increased postoperative surveillance. © 2018 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Medical Research Council of South Africa gran