Can cows be changed to help them withstand higher temperatures? Scientists in Europe are trying in hopes of creating an improved breed that can withstand the increasingly worsening effects of climate change in tropical nations.
Research carried out by the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health and the Roslin Institute aims to increase the resilience of cows to heat stress.
This is a preview of Devex Dish
Sign up to this newsletter to get the inside track on how agriculture, nutrition, sustainability, and more are intersecting to remake the global food system in this weekly newsletter.
“Cows, as [with] most animals, have an optimum temperature range in which they function well. If you make them too hot, they start to suffer from heat stress,” says Simon Lillico, a scientist who led the research.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, pastoralism’s vulnerability to climate change is “very high.” It is practiced in more than 75% of countries by between 200 and 500 million people. In addition to lower productivity in cows, climate change can also lead to damaged reproductive function and biodiversity loss.
Farmers would access this technology as germplasm — live genetic material preserved for breeding or embedded in a heifer. CTLGH, which is conducting the research in Edinburgh, Scotland, is working with scientists in Africa to see how the technology can help farmers breed animals with resilience to regional climate conditions.
But what do farmers think of this technology?
Mohamed Abduba, a herder from northeastern Kenya, says the basic needs of farmers must be addressed before introducing something such as gene editing.
“What farmers like us need is pasture, water, and money in our pockets,” Abduba says. “Other comforts will fall in place later.”
Read: Are gene-edited cows the next big climate solution?
What do you think? Are gene-edited cows the way of the future to ensure pastoralism can survive climate change? Let me know your thoughts at dish@devex.com
A conflict of interest
I wrote to you last week just after Nutrition for Growth wrapped, so this week I want to share my full breakdown of the event. Organizers say the event garnered a whopping $27 billion in commitments, but as we discussed last week, the specifics of which exactly are new are a bit hazy. Organizers said 156 entities submitted commitments, including 66 governments making 330 separate pledges. Forty-four civil society organizations from 26 countries made financial and programmatic commitments.
The private sector also participated.
“I’m conscious of the unease among some, if not many, in the health and nutrition communities in engaging with the private sector. I don’t want to say that conflicts of interest do not exist; of course they do, and they need to be managed. Of course, public and private sector interest and public health and commercial objectives are not always aligned,” said Rocco Renaldi, secretary-general at the International Food & Beverage Alliance. “I think we need to and we can work to align interests for better nutrition outcomes.”
He announced two commitments on behalf of his organization’s members, including “an enhanced global policy” on marketing to children, and a commitment to set targets for maximum salt content in products across 40 food categories.
Read: Nutrition for Growth garners $27B in commitments
Are you enjoying Devex Dish? We’d love for you to invite your colleagues and friends to join our community. Please consider forwarding this edition and the sign-up link so they can subscribe.
Relief for Afghanistan?
On Friday, the 31 donor nations of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund — used since 2002 to coordinate aid — voted to release $280 million to fund much-needed humanitarian activities. Billions of dollars in international assistance had been frozen by Western governments and international financial institutions when the Taliban retook the country in August to prevent the interim government from getting its hands on the funds.
Humanitarian organizations have been arguing that the situation in the country is becoming untenable as winter approaches, with an estimated 23 million Afghans in need of urgent food assistance. WFP will receive $180 million, while UNICEF will get $100 million, mostly for health. A WFP spokesperson told my colleague Shabtai Gold that the funding will help the U.N. agency reach 2.7 million people with food assistance, and nearly 840,000 children and mothers with life-saving malnutrition treatment and prevention services. The money is expected to be disbursed before the end of the month.
Read: Donors to release $280M for Afghanistan amid worsening crisis
+ Explore all our coverage of aid and development assistance for Afghanistan.
Number munching
$30 million
—That’s the amount of funding the Global Agricultural Food Security Program is providing to producer organizations in 12 countries. The funding is the first time GAFSP, a multilateral financing instrument dedicated to fighting hunger, malnutrition, and poverty through increased investment in agriculture, has directly financed producer organizations.
Don’t believe me, just WASH
Bringing home the bacon: This week’s featured job
Food Systems Program Lead
The Pacific Community
Fiji
USAID’s WASH work is intimately tied to efforts to improve food security, Jeff Goldberg, director of USAID’s Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene, tells my colleague Rebecca Root. Water resource management is a “cross-cutting issue” for the recently released Global Food Security Strategy, which I wrote about back in October.
Devex Pro: What WASH work will look like for USAID in 2022
ICYMI: Devex Pro subscribers can also get insights on how USAID's $5B investment in Feed the Future will be spent. Not yet a Pro subscriber? Sign up and start your 15-day free trial.
Chew on this
The National Farmers’ Union in the United Kingdom is calling for the government to make a “serious commitment” to keep domestic food production at 60% to ensure food security. [The Guardian]
If scientists could find a way to improve photosynthesis, then plants could increase their yield without using up more land. [The New Yorker]
The lack of context-specific understanding of the connection between conflict and food security has slowed the response to ending hunger. [Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]
About the author
Teresa Welshtmawelsh
Teresa Welsh is a Senior Reporter at Devex. She has reported from more than 10 countries and is currently based in Washington, D.C. Her coverage focuses on Latin America; U.S. foreign assistance policy; fragile states; food systems and nutrition; and refugees and migration. Prior to joining Devex, Teresa worked at McClatchy's Washington Bureau and covered foreign affairs for U.S. News and World Report. She was a reporter in Colombia, where she previously lived teaching English. Teresa earned bachelor of arts degrees in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of Wisconsin.
