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FOOD AND WATER SAFETY Food safety directly affects the diet quality, health, and livelihoods of the poor in developing countries, so IFPRI remains actively engaged in research related to understanding and avoiding food and water safety hazards.


Aflacontrol Project The Aflacontrol Project, facilitated by IFPRI, aims to reduce the risk of human and animal contamination from aflatoxins—fungi-produced toxins that afflict crops—by examining the effectiveness of mitigation technologies. In 2010, researchers launched house- hold, community, and trader surveys in Kenya and Mali to understand aflatoxin’s impact on the poor, specifically their livelihoods, perceptions of the dis- eases caused by aflatoxin, and willingness to pay for a variety of control measures that could reduce preva- lence levels along the maize and groundnut value chain. In 2010, various members of the team met with representatives from the Kenyan ministries of agriculture and health to discuss ongoing evaluations of aflatoxin levels in maize value chains throughout the country. Other focal areas under the Diet, Health, and


Food Safety theme include


• Pro-Poor Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Risk Reduction Strategies (closed in 2010).


9 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


GENETIC RESOURCE POLICIES FOR THE POOR As the needs and wants of farmers, plant breed- ers, molecular biologists, and gene-bank managers change, genetic resource policies must also shift. IFPRI research under this theme aims to promote sus- tainable management of agricultural biodiversity by improving poor farmers’ access to diverse resources. In 2010, researchers completed a pilot case study in Colombia on women cotton farmers and their percep- tions of and experiences with transgenic varieties. Overall, women expressed the view that the technol- ogy’s greatest advantage was its ability to save them money during critical activities—particularly pesticide and chemical applications—that would otherwise require them to hire and supervise men. The technol- ogy’s main advantage, as men explained it, was its capacity to result in higher yields and profits.


AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION POLICY Studies in this area analyze agricultural research- and-development investments and policies and eval- uate the factors that inhibit or enhance that research and development. In the past year, results from the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia study estab- lished a strong and positive association between intellectual property rights, private invest- ment in agricultural research, and agricultural productivity growth in pearl millet and maize in India. The evidence supports the need for policy reforms that might encourage similar investment and productivity growth for rice and wheat.


Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) The Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) project conducted a study on public agricultural research-and-develop- ment spending in Sub-Saharan Africa, which culminated in the publication of 32 country notes, a food policy report (African Agricul- tural R&D in the New Millennium), datasets,


India: Policy reforms in South Asia’s cereal systems, including rice and wheat, should encourage productivity growth.


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