Research Update: May 2009

Robert D. Lumsden, Plant Pathologist and WCF Scientific Advisor

WORLD COCOA FOUNDATION:

The latest Cocoa Market Update compiled by the World Cocoa Foundation can be downloaded from our website here.

The announcement and application information for the Borlaug Cocoa Fellows Program for Liberia is now posted at the following link. Kindly note that nationals of Liberia are eligible. Please follow the instructions to submit applications to USDA and note the application deadline for the 2009 Borlaug Fellows Program Global Cocoa Initiative for Liberia is June 30, 2009.

RESEARCH GROUP:

From Frances Bekele, Cocoa Research Unit, Trinidad and Tobago. Please use this link to see articles on the Cocoa Research Unit and University of the West Indies.

RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET:

From NutraIngredients. Nestle and Danone make R&D moves. By staff reporter, 20-May-2009. Announcements of new R&D plans this week from Nestle and Danone indicate that major manufacturers plan to keep up the pace on nutrition research and innovation in the economic downturn. Swiss-headquartered multinational Nestle said today that it is setting up its first ever research unit in Japan for fundamental scientific research on health and nutrition, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo. The company and the University are embarking on a joint research program at the unit as of next month called ‘Food for Life’, which will explore subjects such as healthy ageing, mobility and cognitive performance.

“This research will provide the scientific basis for developing new products that will bring health benefits to consumers in Japan and world-wide,” said the company.

Nestle plans to send some of its scientists on secondment from Switzerland to the University, and is also investing around CH1m (c €0.66m at today’s exchange rates) in a Nestle-endowed chair over a three year period. Nestle has been operational in Japan since 1913. In 2008 it reported sales of CHF 4476m (c €2961.7) in Oceania and Japan.

At the end of April Nestle inaugurated a new R&D centre in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, with a brief to improve quality of cocoa, coffee and cassava sourced from the area and adapt products to the tastes and needs West Africans. It hopes that better crop quality will allow it to source more raw materials in West Africa, thereby raising the income and the quality of life of local farmers

Danone goes Dutch Danone, meanwhile, has unveiled plans to build a new R&D centre for baby and medical nutrition in The Netherlands, which will open in 2012. The French Fortune 500 firm already has four research bases for specialised nutrition in The Netherlands, in Wageningen, Zoetermeer, Cuijk and Schipol. The activities at these sites will be transferred to the new centre in Utrecht Science Park once it is up and running.

The budget for the new centre has not been disclosed. The full article can be found here.

MEETINGS:

From Dr. James A. Saunders, Director, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry & Bioinformatics (MB3), Towson University, Towson, Maryland. The Phytochemical Society of North America is holding their annual meeting and Symposia at Towson University on August 8-12, 2009. There will be a general topic of Biologically Active Phytochemicals and we have a list of invited symposia speakers. Poster presentations and short contributed talks are also available with an emphasis on posters especially from students. Visit their website for meeting type, registration information, abstract instructions, housing, schedules etc. There is a plant natural products orientation to the talks, with excellent invited presentations and topics of general scientific interest are welcome as poster presentations. The proceedings from the conference will be published by an invitational editorial committee.

2nd World Congress of Agroforestry, 23-28 August 2009, Nairobi, Kenya!

The Global Organizing Committee has an exciting program and an impressive list of high-profile speakers that will make this Congress doubly attractive. Two Nobel Prize Laureates-Professor Wangari Maathai and Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri-as well as world-famous paleoanthropologist and conservationist, Dr. Richard Leakey will all be making keynote addresses during the Congress. The Congress will assess opportunities that will leverage agroforestry science and development to promote sustainable land use worldwide. Through keynote presentations, symposia and technical sessions, Congress participants will explore how agroforestry is making contributions to the global challenges of food security, climate change, biodiversity conservation and human health.

The three themes of the Congress are: Food Security and Livelihoods, Conservation and Rehabilitation of Natural Resources, and Policies and Institutions.

The 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry will provide a global forum for agroforestry professionals to share knowledge, experiences and ideas, and to plan future strategies in agroforestry research, education and training of knowledge-sharing initiated during the 1st World Congress of Agroforestry held in 2004 in Florida, USA.

The website also provides more information on Side Events, Exhibitions and Field Trips.

If you have any enquiries, or need assistance with the registration process, or to plan your trip, please email wca2009@cgiar.org

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