AGRIBUSINESS:Lassa fever controls need to consider human-human transmission and role of super spreaders.

AGRIBUSINESS:Lassa fever controls need to consider human-human transmission and role of super spreaders.One in five cases of Lassa fever -- a disease that kills around 5,000 people a year in West Africa -- could be due to human-to-human transmission, with a large proportion of these cases caused by 'super-spreaders,' according to new research published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus. First identified in the village of Lassa, Nigeria, in 1969, the disease is thought to be transmitted to humans from contact with food or household items contaminated with rat urine or faeces. There have also been recorded cases of human-to-human transmission within hospital settings, but until now the risk -- or mode -- of transmission has not been clear. Understanding the different modes of transmission and how they are affected by factors such as people's interaction with their environment is crucial for understanding the link between Lassa and changes in the ecosystem, and has important implications for public health strategies. The researchers estimated that around one in five cases (20%) of infection is caused by human-to-human transmission. However, the study also highlighted the disproportionate number of infections that could be traced back to a small number of people, whom the researchers describe as 'super-spreaders' -- rather than passing their infection on to just one other person (if at all), these individuals infected multiple others. It is not clear what makes them a super-spreader -- their physiology, the environment in which they live, their social interactions or probably a combination of these factors. Dr Donald Grant, chief physician at the Lassa ward in Kenema Governmental Hospital and co-author of the research, said: "Simple messages to the local people could change their perceptions of risk and hopefully make the difference. For example, making people aware that the virus can remain in urine for several weeks during the recovery period, could promote improved hygienic practices. Related posts. 1) Rats and Lassa fever. 2) Rats the missing link in disease transmission.

Agribusiness: How to create wealth in agribusiness using your phone.

: Canine parvovirus .

Veterinary Medicine: Canine parvovirus very rampant and deadly.A University of Sydney study has found that canine parvovirus (CPV), a highly contagious and deadly disease that tragically kills puppies, is more prevalent than previously thought with 20,000 cases found in Australia each year, and nearly half of these cases result in death.


 This is the case in Nigeria too,where the scourge of the virus is very high. The study published in Transboundary and Emerging Disease, the national survey of 534 veterinary clinics investigated the number of cases of CPV, their geographic distribution, and financial impacts on pet owners.

 The survey revealed that CPV remains a major cause of disease in puppies and dogs across Australia, particularly in rural and remote areas of the country, despite improvements in vaccination technology over the last 40 years.

 CPV in dogs causes the destruction of the intestinal lining and villus atrophy, resulting in severe gastroenteritis, hemorrhagic diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration.

Agribusiness: creating wealth with cassava/garri.

AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT: THE BUSINESS OF AGRICULTURE.

AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT: THE BUSINESS OF AGRICULTURE.

 The business angle of agriculture is agribusiness and the skills and tools necessary to ensure success in agriculture is the management of your business components. The success of any business depends on finding a gap and filling it completely.

 This means  you find an opening,a gap, a need that will improve lives of people. The business is also to promote economic growth apart from  satisfying a need /want in your environment .


 Business= finding a need/want/gap = fill it by providing the #product /#service/goods= #reward=#wealth.

This is also true in agriculture,find a gap/supply what is needed and make money.

 The story of ECHBEE FOODS,is not different we found a gap in the cassava/garri value chain and we filled it.

  Echbee Foods  discovered  that children under 5 were prone to malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency due to poor feeding associated with poverty and lack of knowledge of what to  mix to provide a balanced ration.

AGRIBUSINESS: PPR virus poses threat to conservation.

How to make money in agribusiness.

Cassava,cassava and more cassava.

https://veterinarymedicineechbeebolanle-ojuri.blogspot.com/

AGRIBUSINESS: How to Raise Honeybees.

AGRIBUSINESS: How to Raise Honeybees. Honeybees live in complex communities that may contain as many as 100,000 members. The vast majority of these are the unfertile female bees known as workers. And do they work. They run the hive; feed and clean the queen; gather nectar, pollen, and water (nectar gets converted into carbohydrate-rich honey; pollen is used as is for protein-rich "bee bread"); cool or heat the hive, as needed; feed developing larvae; and make the beeswax they use to build all the hive's cells. During the peak of the season, a worker will live only six weeks before she dies from exhaustion. She'll have gathered enough nectar to make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.

AGRIBUSINESS: Cocoa and chocolate are not just treats -- they are good for your cognition.

AGRIBUSINESS: Cocoa and chocolate are not just treats -- they are good for your cognition.Cocoa can be seen as a dietary supplement to protect human cognition and can counteract different types of cognitive decline. Researchers have examined the available literature for the effects of acute and chronic administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains. It turns out that cognitive performance was improved by a daily intake of cocoa flavanols. A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands -- a phrase commonly used to justify ones chocolate snacking behavior. A phrase now shown to actually harbor some truth, as the cocoa bean is a rich source of flavanols: a class of natural compounds that has neuroprotective effects. In their recent review published in Frontiers in Nutrition, Italian researchers examined the available literature for the effects of acute and chronic administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains. In other words: what happens to your brain up to a few hours after you eat cocoa flavanols, and what happens when you sustain such a cocoa flavanol enriched diet for a prolonged period of time? AGRIBUSINESS: Cocoa and chocolate are not just treats -- they are good for your cognition.

Agribusiness: 'Stressed out' cocoa trees could produce more flavorful chocolate.

Agribusiness: 'Stressed out' cocoa trees could produce more flavorful chocolate. Most people agree that chocolate tastes great, but is there a way to make it taste even better? Perhaps, according to scientists who looked at different conditions that can put a strain on cocoa trees. Reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they say that although the agricultural method used to grow cocoa trees doesn't matter that much, the specific weather conditions do. Cocoa trees grow in hot and humid climates near the equator. Traditionally, these trees are raised together in mixed groves with other types of trees and plants that can cool the air and provide vital shade. The system, called agroforestry, provides a low-stress environment, increases nutrients in the soil and helps maintain ground water levels. But to gain higher yields, growers sometimes plant cocoa trees in solitary, "monocultural," groves, in which the trees are exposed to stressful conditions. In response to the stress, tress produce antioxidants that can potentially counteract the damage, but these compounds also could change the quality characteristics of the beans. Wiebke Niether, Gerhard Gerold and colleagues from FiBL (Switzerland) wanted to find out whether differing growing methods can influence the chemical composition, and potentially the flavor, of cocoa beans.

Veterinary Medicine: A dog's color could impact longevity, increase health issues.

Veterinary Medicine: A dog's color could impact longevity, increase health issues.New research led by the University of Sydney has revealed the life expectancy of chocolate Labradors is significantly lower than their black and yellow counterparts. Veterinary Medicine: A dog's color could impact longevity, increase health issues.

AGRIBUSINESS: HOW TO PACKAGE FRESH PRODUCE TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS.

AGRIBUSINESS: HOW TO PACKAGE FRESH PRODUCE TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS.

Farmers invest time and care to cultivate and harvest their produce. To attract the consumers, they need to ensure their products stay fresh with a packaging that will please buyers.

 Packaging is the first step towards adding value to fresh produce. Decent packaging sets the tone for what follows; it catches the consumers eye first. If you want to see this at work, visit the fresh market stores and you will notice that many consumers make decisions on what to buy based on packaging. 

A good  number of people buy  fresh produce on most occasions, some make purchases after work, when they are tired and in such a case  they have five to 10-minute stops off at the supermarket on their way home.

 They want to run through few items, get back in the car and get home.  This is where prepacked fresh produce come in handy. With growing competition, farmers should invest time and effort in creating a product that is pleasing to the eye and picks the interest of a busy customer passing by the aisle.

     A good packaging should make the consumer take a second look. Because consumers are in a hurry, the brand name may not be enough to catch his eye. The  Package shape, color and design is another way to add  value to your brand  for better  identification.

  Read more here

AGRIBUSINESS: FARMERS SHARE TOP LESSONS FOR PROFITABLE BUSINESS.

AGRIBUSINESS: FARMERS SHARE TOP LESSONS FOR PROFITABLE BUSINESS.Many people think farming is the easiest way to make money, away from a demanding office job. The reality couldn’t be farther from the truth. Farming is actually a school where farmers pick important lessons, some learnt the hard way. All through the year, we spoke to farmers who stood out in different ways. They are people who have excelled in poultry-keeping, livestock-farming, horticulture and even those who have found the trick of value addition on different products. They share the successes, failures, challenges learnt through 2018. Joseph Boit, maize and dairy farmer — Focus on a small unit and perfect it Joseph Boit, who won the BAKE Kenyan Blog award 2015 in Environment and Agriculture category. He tried horticulture on five acres of land but the huge farm was beyond what he could control. At harvest time, we went home empty handed. For years, Boit has perfected the art of maize-farming, a venture that has been passed on in his family for generations. Not long ago, Boit tried a hand in hay farming and allocated 100 acres for the same, reserving only 10 acres for maize. But Boit is always trying new things and last year, he ventured into horticulture. He set aside 5 acres for kales, onions and watermelons and trusted that rain water would supplement a water pan that was adjacent to the farm. But he was in for a rude shock when it failed to rain for a long time and the water pan dried. “I was unable to water the whole five acres and the onions failed to bulb. It was a total loss,” he says. When it finally rained, it was torrents that destroyed the whole crop of watermelons he had on 4 acres. The kales were in bad shape too and could not fetch much on the market. The loss taught him important lesson. “I should have focused on one acre and perfected it. I now understand why most horticulture farmers only do it on small plots that are easy to manage. I have learnt that horticulture is the most rewarding venture which also requires a lot of resources and dedication. It is not like maize farming. It needs proper planning and ensuring that everything is right.” Boit has not given up on horticulture. In fact, he has better plans for next year. “I am planting capsicum and cabbages on one acre next year. I have invested in a 3,000-litre tank near the farm as well as better irrigation system. I have fenced the whole farm because I also have many goats that may be a nuisance to my crops. I also have my market sorted since I have a motorbike and I will do deliveries on my own. I am not trusting middlemen and I will set my own prices. If all goes well, I am looking at Sh500, 000 profit just from horticulture by the end of next year.” continue

AGRIBUSINESS: Feeding 10 billion people by 2050 within planetary limits is achievable.

AGRIBUSINESS: Feeding 10 billion people by 2050 within planetary limits is achievable. A study published in the journal Nature, is the first to quantify how food production and consumption affects the planetary boundaries that describe a safe operating space for humanity beyond which Earth's vital systems could become unstable. 

 A global shift towards healthy and more plant-based diets, halving food loss and waste, and improving farming practices and technologies are required to feed 10 billion people sustainably by 2050 Adopting these options reduces the risk of crossing global environmental limits related to climate change, the use of agricultural land, the extraction of freshwater resources, and the pollution of ecosystems through overapplication of fertilizers, according to the researchers. "No single solution is enough to avoid crossing planetary boundaries. 

But when the solutions are implemented together, our research indicates that it may be possible to feed the growing population sustainably," says Dr Marco Springmann of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food and the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of Oxford, who led the study. "Without concerted action, we found that the environmental impacts of the food system could increase by 50-90% by 2050 as a result of population growth and the rise of diets high in fats, sugars and meat. In that case, all planetary boundaries related to food production would be surpassed, some of them by more than twofold."

AGRIBUSINESS: Simple steps to climate-proof farms have big potential upside for tropical farmers.

AGRIBUSINESS: Simple steps to climate-proof farms have big potential upside for tropical farmers.

Climate-smart agriculture boosts yields, mitigates extreme weather impact and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. 

A new study points to profitable opportunities for farmers and the environment. Cacao farmers in Nicaragua lose their crop, the main ingredient for chocolate, to fungal blight and degrading soils. 

Yields drop in Vietnam's rice paddies because of higher temperatures and increased salinity. 

Bean and maize growers in Uganda see their plants die during severe dry spells during what should be the rainy season. 

 The two-punch combination of climate change and poor agricultural land management can be countered with simple measures that keep farms productive and profitable. 

Implementation of these climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices can increase yields, benefit the environment and increase farmer income, according to a new cost-benefit analysis by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) published November 19 in PLOS ONE.

Veterinary Medicine: Dogs set to benefit from simple blood test to spot liver disease.

Veterinary Medicine: Dogs set to benefit from simple blood test to spot liver disease.A new blood test can quickly spots early signs of liver disease in dogs,according to a new study . The test means that fewer dogs will have to undergo invasive liver biopsies. The tests developed by vets quickly spots early signs of liver disease in dogs. The test is based on insights gained from human patients and will help vets identify damage and start treatment early, saving the lives of many dogs. The test which is to be launched worldwide means that fewer dogs will have to undergo invasive liver biopsies, findings by the University of Edinburgh suggest. Diagnosing canine liver disease is challenging and catching early signs of damage is key to its treatment. Current diagnosis is based on biopsies, which are expensive and can lead to complications.

AGRIBUSINESS: How plants can generate electricity to power LED light bulbs.

AGRIBUSINESS: How plants can generate electricity to power LED light bulbs.Researchers have discovered that living plants are literally 'green' power source: they can generate, by a single leaf, more than 150 Volts, enough to simultaneously power 100 LED light bulbs. Researchers also showed that an 'hybrid tree' made of natural and artificial leaves can act as an innovative 'green' electrical generator converting wind into electricity. Sustainable energy sources, which are pollution free and environmentally friendly, are one of the key challenges of world's future society. The interdisciplinary team of roboticists and biologists at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Pontedera (Pisa, Italy), found that living plants can help with electricity. Fabian Meder, Barbara Mazzolai and their coworkers at IIT discovered that living plants are literally "green" power source, which may become one of future's electricity supplies that perfectly integrates in natural environments and is accessible all over the world. Researchers discovered that plants can generate, by a single leaf, more than 150 Volts, enough to simultaneously power 100 LED light bulbs. Researchers also showed that an "hybrid tree" made of natural and artificial leaves can act as an innovative "green" electrical generator converting wind into electricity. .

AGRIBUSINESS: Climate change increasing the prevalence of harmful parasite.

AGRIBUSINESS: Climate change increasing the prevalence of harmful parasite.

A rise in a parasite called liver fluke, which can significantly impact livestock production in farms in the UK and across the world, could now be helped by a new predictive model of the disease aimed at farmers. 

 Cattle or sheep grazing on pastures where the parasite is present can become infected with liver fluke, which develops in the liver of infected animals, leading to a disease called fascioliasis. Current estimates suggest liver fluke contributes to around £300 million annually in lost productivity across UK farms and $3 billion globally.  

 Until now, risk predictions have been based on rainfall estimates and temperature, without considering the life-cycle of the parasite and how it is controlled by levels of soil moisture. 

This, combined with shifts in disease timing and distribution attributed to climate change, has made liver fluke control increasingly challenging. A new tool for farmers has now been developed by the Bristol team to help them mitigate the risk to their livestock. 

The model, which works by explicitly linking liver fluke prevalence with key environmental drivers, especially soil moisture, will help farmers decide whether they avoid grazing livestock on certain pastures where liver fluke is more prevalent, or treat animals based on when risk of infection will be at its peak. 

Importantly, the model can be used to assess the impact of potential future climate conditions on infection levels and guide interventions to reduce future disease risk. Professor Thorsten Wagener from Bristol's Cabot Institute added: "Water-related diseases can be difficult to eradicate using medicine alone, as resistance to available drugs is increasing. We need predictive models of disease risk that quantify how strongly infection risk is controlled by our rapidly changing environment to develop alternative intervention strategies."

AGRO-VETERINARY: Whole blood test for toxoplasmosis is sensitive and specific.

AGRO-VETERINARY: Whole blood test for toxoplasmosis is sensitive and specific.Transmission of toxoplasmosis from mother to fetus can lead to severe congenital problems and fetal death, and tests for the parasitic infection during pregnancy are critical. Now, researchers have showed the efficacy of a low-cost whole blood test for toxoplasmosis. Researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have showed the efficacy of a low-cost whole blood test for toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis results from infection with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, usually transmitted to humans from eating undercooked contaminated meat or through exposure to infected cat feces. Existing tests for the infection are serum tests, which require blood samples to be processed using infrastructure and technology which can be prohibitive in developing areas and unaffordable in developed countries like the United States.

Cocoa from Ghana and Ivory Coast feeding multi-billion euro chocolate industry in The Netherlands.

Cocoa from Ghana and Ivory Coast feeding multi-billion euro chocolate industry in The Netherlands.Ghana and the Ivory Coast, its western neighbour, are the two biggest producers of cocoa in the world. And cocoa from these two West African countries is the backbone of the thriving chocolate industry in The Netherlands. According to a report by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the total value of chocolate and semi-finished products including cocoa butter produced in that country and exported, reached €2.8 billion in 2015. That is an increase of 6 per cent on that of 2014 and an “all time-record.”

AGRIBUSINESS: How To Make Jewelry From E-waste.

AGRIBUSINESS: How To Make Jewelry From E-waste.Electronic waste or e-waste, that this technological rubbish is now commonly referred to, is a growing issue and is simultaneously catching the media’s attention at the same rate. The New York Times declared last month that “e-waste offers an economic opportunity as well as toxicity,” due to the rising number of recycling companies being founded, whilst Forbes stunned its audience last year with the prediction that e-waste is to “hit 49.8 million tonnes” by the end of this year. Eliza ‘Lylie’ Walter, the 26-year-old founder of London based women’s and men’s jewellery brand Lylie’s, as it strives to rebel against the industry’s traditional methods of manufacturing because of its troublesome consequences on the environment. she stressed that she felt the accessory industry was lacking in any environmentally aware brands, as it is reported “only 16 percent of e-waste is being recycled – a fact that shocks her website’s visitors. To provide a solution, the brand prides itself on using only salvaged metals, which are typically found in discarded devices such as mobile phones, as a primary source. These metals are then put through a meticulous step by step process, which includes each design being transformed into 3D from sketches, either through carving by hand, or with Computer Aided Design (CAD), as well as 3D printing. The brand's preferred method is wax carving by hand, which can take up to 200 hours per drawing.

AGRIBUSINESS: Under-nutrition a ‘potent accelerant’ of TB(tuberculosis) epidemic.

AGRIBUSINESS: Under-nutrition a ‘potent accelerant’ of TB(tuberculosis) epidemic. Under-nutrition, which affects nearly 800 million people worldwide, is a “potent accelerant” of the global tuberculosis epidemic, impacting disease incidence and treatment outcomes in infected patients, according to researchers. 

 According to the 2018 WHO Global Tuberculosis Report, the global TB burden is not shrinking fast enough to reach milestones set by the End TB Strategy, which aims to reduce TB deaths by 90% and new cases by 80% by 2030. 

To reach those targets, officials say case identification and treatment gaps must be closed and action must be taken to further understand TB. 

 “Under-nutrition is also the leading risk factor for TB and almost one in five cases of TB worldwide can be attributed to it.

 About 800 million individuals worldwide are undernourished due to a panoply of socioeconomic reasons. These unfortunate individuals are incredibly vulnerable to the ravages of the TB epidemic.” Summarizing their review, Sinha and colleagues said the impact that under-nutrition has on TB means addressing it will be a vital component of the End TB Strategy. 

They aimed to investigate its effect on immune response, vaccine response and TB incidence, severity and treatment outcomes.

AGRIBUSINESS: How E-waste affects the environment and our health.

AGRIBUSINESS: How E-waste affects the environment and our health. What is E-waste? E-waste is a short form for electronic waste, it is a term for electronic products that have become unwanted, non-working or obsolete, and have essentially reached the end of their useful life. The effects of improper disposal of e-waste on the environment impacts and pose very real threats and dangers to the global environment at large. Improper disposal of these electronic wastes affect the soil, air, and water components of the environment. AGRIBUSINESS: How E-waste affects the environment and our health. Effects on air One of the most common effect of E-waste on air is through air pollution. For example, a British documentary about Lagos and its inhabitants, called Welcome to Lagos, shows a number of landfill scavengers who go through numerous landfills in Lagos looking for improperly disposed electronics which includes wires, blenders, etc., to make some income from the recycling of these wastes. These men were shown to burn wires to get the copper (a very valuable commodity) in them by open air burning which can release hydrocarbons into the air. Effects on water. When electronics containing heavy metals such as lead, barium, mercury, lithium (found in mobile phone and computer batteries), etc., are improperly disposed, these heavy metals leach through the soil to reach groundwater channels which eventually run to the surface as streams or small ponds of water. Local communities often depend on these bodies of water and the groundwater. Apart from these chemicals resulting in the death of some of the plants and animals that exist in the water, intake of the contaminated water by humans and land animals results in lead poisoning. Some of these heavy metals are also carcinogenic. Effects on soil Heavy metals and chemicals from e-waste enter the “soil-crop-food pathway,” one of the most significant routes for heavy metals’ exposure to humans. These chemicals are not biodegradable—they persist in the environment for long periods of time, increasing the risk of exposure. These dangers posed by improper disposal on the environment ultimately have impacts on human beings -human cost; the health effects of these toxins on humans include birth defects (irreversible), brain, heart, liver, kidney and skeletal system damage. They also significantly affect the nervous and reproductive systems of the human body. When computer monitors and other electronics are burned, they create cancer-producing dioxins which are released into the air we breathe. If electronics are thrown in landfills, these toxins may leach into groundwater and affect local resources. Thus improper disposal of e-waste not only has effects on the environment, it indirectly and ultimately poses grave dangers to humans and livestock.

AGRIBUSINESS: How To Start E-waste Recycling Business.

AGRIBUSINESS: How to start E-waste recycling business.Electronic waste, or e-waste, as we all know it, is a term for electronic products that have become unwanted, non-working or obsolete, and have essentially reached the end of their useful life. As technology advances at such a high rate, many electronic devices become “trash” after a few short years of use. In fact, whole categories of old electronic items contribute to e-waste, such as VCRs being replaced by DVD players, and DVD players being replaced by blue-ray players. E-waste is created from anything electronic: computers, refrigerators, TVs, monitors, cell phones, PDAs, VCRs, CD players, fax machines, printers, etc. E-Terra Technologies Limited, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), in Lagos, Nigeria have come to West Africa’s aid. The company’s key region of strength in the eco-friendly management of e-waste is their ability of utilizing incorporated state-of-the-art technologies. E-Terra Technologies Limited is an eco-friendly company. They offer e-waste collection and disposal services targeting environmentally friendly organizations seeking to dispose of their unwanted end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment. They have a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Lagos, Nigeria where they perform pre-assessment, pick up, destruction, sorting, and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) . AGRIBUSINESS: How to start E-waste recycling business. Thinking of starting the #business as a #vendor? Collect the e-waste and drop off here to make money.

AGRIBUSINESS: : How to recycle old mobile phones to extract gold and save gorilla population.

AGRIBUSINESS: : How to recycle old mobile phones to extract gold and save gorilla population. "For every 30-40 mobile phones that are recycled, on average, one gram of gold can be recovered," Dr Litchfield says. "Just as mobile phone sales are soaring, and gold content is increasing in some smartphones, natural sources of gold are expected to run out by 2030." UniSA Conservation Psychologist and Great Ape expert Dr Carla Litchfield, the paper's lead author, says if 'conflict' elements -- including gold and coltan -- can be recovered from old mobile phones, there is less incentive to mine gorilla habitats for the same minerals. In Germany, by 2035 it is predicted that more than 8000 tonnes of precious metals will lie in unrecycled mobile and smartphones, and in China, by 2025 an estimated nine tonnes of gold, 15 tonnes of silver and 3100 tonnes of copper will also be out of the supply loop in 0.35 billion unrecycled phones. AGRIBUSINESS: : How to recycle old mobile phones to extract gold and save gorilla population. The link between hoarding disused mobile phones and the decimation of Grauer gorilla habitats is explored in a paper published today in PLOS ONE, authored by University of South Australia researchers and Zoos Victoria. Zoo visitors and the broader Victorian community were educated about the value of recycling discarded phones to extract special metals used in their construction as the same metals which are being mined in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), not only destroying gorilla habitats but also funding wars and human rights abuses. The authors point out the barriers to recycling used phones, including lack of e-waste recycling points in many countries, secrecy around the phones' mineral composition, privacy concerns around accessing old data, and just plain hoarding. Hoarding is a problem since precious metals are not extracted and returned to the circular economy, creating the need to mine these metals in wilderness areas and when people do discard their old phones, most dispose of them in their household waste, ending up in landfill, where they leach toxic metals.

AGRIBUSINESS : Agricultural waste is driving us towards greener transport.

AGRIBUSINESS : Agricultural waste is driving us towards greener transport.Composite materials made from agricultural waste could be used to produce sustainable, lightweight and low-cost applications in the automotive and marine industries. A team of researchers, led by the University of Portsmouth, have developed a bio-composite material using date palm fibre biomass (biomass is a term that includes waste material from plants, food waste and sewage) that can be used in non-structural parts, such as car bumpers and door linings. The date palm fibre polycaprolactone (PCL) bio-composite is completely biodegradable, renewable, sustainable and recyclable, unlike synthetic composites reinforced by glass and carbon fibres. In a study, published in the journal Industrial Crops and Products, the researchers tested the mechanical properties of the bio-composite. They found that the date palm fibre PCL had increased tensile strength and achieved better low-velocity impact resistance than traditional human-made composites.

AGRIBUSINESS: How to Turn Disengaged Employees into Brand Ambassadors.