Local entrepreneurs turn waste from cashew harvests into a new beverage industry for Benin.

Local entrepreneurs turn waste from cashew harvests into a new beverage industry for Benin. TechnoServe is working with local entrepreneurs to turn waste from cashew harvests into a new beverage industry for Benin, and a more prosperous future for Africa’s cashew-producing countries. A cashew harvest is a colorful affair. The nuts are ready for picking when the cashew apple – really the swollen stalk it grows from – is a vibrant red or pink. On the farm, the nut is removed from the ripe fruit, dried, and sent for processing before being shipped around the globe to become the delicious and nutritious snack we all know. Although cashew is mainly a cash crop in Africa – the second largest behind cocoa – the industry can be equally nutritive for the countries that produce it, offering great potential to improve rural livelihoods as well as provide employment opportunities through processing. In Benin, TechnoServe is working to innovate the sector through the BeninCajù project, which helps cashew processors to raise their production levels and connect with lucrative markets, while creating jobs in rural areas where unemployment is high. Over five years, this nearly $20 million project – a collaboration between TechnoServe, Catholic Relief Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture – seeks to create close to 4,000 jobs in the cashew processing industry (70 percent of which are for women) and improve the incomes of almost 35,000 producers, representing a quarter of all cashew farmers in Benin. In Benin, local entrepreneurs are working with TechnoServe to create Sweet Benin, the country’s first cashew apple juice label. Sweet Benin represents the formation of the first formal industry for cashew by-products in the country, but initial successes are promising.

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS FOR FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA.

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS FOR FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA.The Technical Assistance Facility helps agricultural and food processing businesses to fight food insecurity by improving operations and extending their reach to poor consumers. According to recent estimates, approximately one person out of four is undernourished in sub-Saharan Africa. There are many factors that cause and alleviate hunger. Agricultural production is a critical piece, but it is only the first link in a value chain that can ultimately lead to well-nourished communities. Strong partnerships between the public and private sectors are essential to building agribusinesses that efficiently and inclusively fight hunger. TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS FOR FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA.

SMART INVESTMENTS FOR THE FUTURE OF FOOD.

SMART INVESTMENTS FOR THE FUTURE OF FOOD. TechnoServe projects around the world are creating business solutions with the power to improve lives, the story of Horsin Kalikeka, whose specially outfitted bicycle helped him to increase his income while improving his community's access to nutritious foods is one of such success stories. Horsin Kalikeka weaves through the streets of Ndola, Zambia, delivering eggs using a specially outfitted bicycle. On a typical day, he sells 2,400 eggs to about a hundred local market vendors (ntembas) as a new bike peddler for Goldenlay, Zambia’s largest egg producer and distributor. This allows the 26-year-old to earn between $120 and $150 a month, which is twice the local minimum wage.

Woman entrepreneur breaks gender barriers by building her mushroom business.

Woman entrepreneur breaks gender barriers by building her mushroom business. In Zimbabwe, this woman entrepreneur is breaking down gender barriers by building her mushroom business with an inclusive sourcing strategy and providing gender training to men and women farmers in her supply chain. In Zimbabwe, many obstacles stand between women and reaching their full potential in agribusiness. Although women play a critical role in agricultural economies, traditional beliefs around division of labor, coupled with lack of access to land, markets and financing among other barriers, relegate them to informal businesses, or exclude them from decision-making roles within the economies they help drive. TechnoServe is partnering with women like Wadzanai Chimhepo to overcome these barriers by building inclusive, women-led agribusinesses that will, in turn create inclusive supply chains of smallholder farmers.

Short sleeves reduce risk for pathogen transmission.

Short sleeves reduce risk for pathogen transmission. Simulated patient care interactions showed that the cuffs of physicians’ long-sleeved white coats could contribute to the transmission of pathogens, leading researchers to recommend short sleeves. Prior research has shown that physicians’ white coats are rarely cleaned and often contaminated. These findings have prompted a “bare below the elbows” dress code policy in the U.K. However, whether short sleeves decrease the probability of pathogen transmission remains unknown, according to Amrita John, MD, from the division of infectious diseases and HIV medicine at Case Western Reserve University.more

Strategies that address the role of antibiotic use in animals to drug resistance.

Strategies that address the role of antibiotic use in animals to drug resistance. The first involves a global regulation that would cap the use of antimicrobials at 50 mg per population correction unit (PCU), which could reduce 64% of consumption by 2030. 

 The second strategy is to limit global meat intake to 40 g per day, which is the equivalent of one fast-food burger per person. This would reduce 66% of antimicrobial consumption in food animals by 2030. 

 The third strategy is to impose a 50% user fee of the current price on veterinary antimicrobials, which could reduce 31% of global consumption. This policy would generate yearly revenues of $1.7 billion to $4.6 billion. 

Alternative user fee rates of 10% or 100% could reduce 9% or 46% of global consumption while generating $0.4 billion to $1.2 billion or $2.8 billion to $7.5 billion in revenues. more

Researchers propose limiting meat intake to keep antibiotics effective.

Researchers propose limiting meat intake to keep antibiotics effective.Researchers said that capping drug use in animals, imposing a user fee on the price of veterinary antimicrobials or limiting meat intake could reduce up to 80% of antimicrobial use worldwide by 2030. According to Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP), and colleagues, inappropriate use of antimicrobials in animals is a leading cause of drug resistance in both humans and animals. The researchers estimated that 131,109 tons of antimicrobials were used in animals globally in 2013. If left unchecked, this number is projected to increase to 200,235 tons by 2030. In a recent report published in Science, the researchers proposed three strategies that address the contribution of antibiotic use in animals to drug resistance. The first involves a global regulation that would cap the use of antimicrobials at 50 mg per population correction unit (PCU), which could reduce 64% of consumption by 2030. more