New approach to beef trade could positively transform livelihoods for farmers, reduce threat to wildlife movements

A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society's Animal & Human Health for the Environment And Development (AHEAD) Program, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and regional partners finds that a new approach to beef production in southern Africa could positively transform livelihoods for farmers and pastoralists, while helping to secure a future for wildlife and wildlife-based tourism opportunities.

Market access for livestock and livestock products from Africa is constrained by the presence of foot and mouth disease (FMD). Fear of the FMD virus largely precludes large-scale beef exports from Africa to potentially lucrative overseas markets and hinders trade within Africa itself. Wild buffalo, an ecologically and economically critical species in the region, can transmit the FMD virus to livestock but are not themselves affected.

The study looked at new commodity-based (value chain) approaches to beef trade (commodity-based trade or CBT) that focus on the safety of the process by which products are produced rather than on whether a given cow was raised in a location where wildlife like buffalo also roam. This food safety-type approach offers the potential for export of meat products that are scientifically demonstrable as safe from animal diseases for importing countries, while also diminishing the need for at least some of the veterinary fencing currently aimed at separating livestock and wildlife and constraining the Southern African Development Community's vision for regional transboundary wildlife conservation, which has in some places begun to surpass livestock agriculture in terms of its contribution to regional GDP through tourism and related industries.

Working in close coordination with Namibian authorities, economist Dr. Jonathan Barnes led a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis evaluating policy options related to animal disease management and land-use decisions in Caprivi, Namibia. Caprivi is a core part of the Kavango Zambezi ("KAZA") transfrontier conservation area (TFCA) that is home to extraordinary wildlife including the largest population of elephants in the world (approximately 250,000). KAZA includes contiguous portions of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and may become the largest terrestrial area available to migratory wildlife on the planet if FMD-related land-use conflicts can be resolved.

Caprivi was selected for study in part because it is currently classified as an FMD-infected zone as its livestock and wildlife populations have co-existed for many years. The study found that economic costs associated with development of CBT in Caprivi would be outweighed by economic gains in terms of enhanced wildlife-based income generation, abattoir viability, and livestock-based incomes. Further, income growth is more diversified when CBT is applied, therefore less risky. CBT, because of its emphasis on science-based approaches to ensure that the meat produced is free of dangerous pathogens, helps assure product safety regardless of whether wildlife like buffalo also live in the area of livestock origin and therefore makes more conventional approaches that rely on fences to physically separate livestock and wildlife less necessary.

In contrast, the analysis showed that a scenario using spatially segregated, fenced FMD-free livestock compartments is technically impractical and would be economically undesirable. Here, significant loss of growth in wildlife-based incomes, and significant costs for fencing and maintenance, would outweigh any new economic gains in abattoir viability and / or livestock farming incomes.


"By carefully looking at the economics of different land-use planning options, it appears the way to optimize economic development in this case is through a value-chain approach to beef production," said Dr. Jon Barnes. "This would open up new markets for southern African farmers and reduce the threat to key wildlife movements brought about by fencing-based approaches to disease management."

The authors believe that the findings have important implications for development policy in and around the KAZA TFCA, and possibly other TFCAs in southern Africa. They strongly suggest that initiatives aimed at introduction of CBT to underpin sanitary risk management offer significant economic potential. At the same time, this approach can assist in meeting other TFCA objectives, such as the restoration of diverse ecosystems by re-opening corridors that allow for wildlife movements across large, historically connected landscapes. This will provide greater resilience in the face of natural catastrophes, disease outbreaks and /or climatic challenges.

"By working proactively to improve the health and productivity of animals and people, recognizing up front that livestock and wildlife depend on a much more unified approach to land-use management, we believe we're onto what had been an elusive but highly prized 'win-win' solution to the age-old problem of getting beef out of areas where wildlife is also allowed to thrive- a win for wildlife as well as for communities who have long relied on domestic animals both economically and culturally," said Dr. Steve Osofsky, Director of the WCS AHEAD program.

The Wildlife Conservation Society would like to thank the Rockefeller Foundation, the US Agency for International Development, and the World Wildlife Fund for the financial support that made this study possible.

Source: Wildlife Conservation Society

Nationwide Children's Hospital recently developed an online resource to help parents manage their child's diabetes more effectively and care for their health at home. The "Diabetes Calculator for Kids," a first of its kind electronic tool geared toward the pediatric patient, allows parents, caregivers and the adolescent patient themselves to create an individualized chart which calculates the correct insulin dosage that should be given prior to eating.

Diabetes, which affects nearly 1 in every 400 children and adolescents in the United States, is a disease that is characterized by a high blood glucose or "sugar" level. Managing a child's diabetes requires the proper balance between insulin dose, food and activity on a daily basis. It is important to keep the child's blood sugars within a target range at all times. Modern insulin therapy involves administering rapid-acting insulin before each meal and adjusting the dose based on the current blood glucose level and how much food will be eaten.

The Diabetes Calculator for Kids, available for any patient who uses insulin, creates an individualized chart for rapid-acting insulin bolus dosage in five easy steps. After the parent or patient completes those steps online, a customized chart is produced that can be emailed or printed off. It provides the parent, caregiver or patient an easy way to look up the correct insulin dosage based on current blood glucose, without having to do the math each time.

"The goal is to provide an additional tool to empower families to successfully manage their child's diabetes at home in order to provide as normal a life as possible for that child," said David Repaske, MD, PhD, chief of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes at Nationwide Children's and also a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "The chart can also be printed out and taken to school or given to a sitter to ensure accurate insulin dosing without the need to learn the formula and do the math for each dose."

Nationwide Children's always recommends that parents consult with their child's physician first with any questions related to their child's individual diabetes management plan.

SOURCE Nationwide Children's Hospital

A new study has found more evidence that breastfeeding is good for the baby`s brain.

The study by researchers from Brown University, made use of specialized baby-friendly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look at the brain growth in a sample of children under the age of 4.

The research found that by age 2, babies who had been breastfed exclusively for at least three months had enhanced development in key parts of the brain compared to children who were fed formula exclusively or who were fed a combination of formula and breast milk.

The extra growth was most pronounced in parts of the brain associated with language, emotional function, and cognition, the research showed.

This isn`t the first study to suggest that breastfeeding aids babies` brain development.

Behavioural studies have previously associated breastfeeding with better cognitive outcomes in older adolescents and adults.

But this is the first imaging study that looked for differences associated with breastfeeding in the brains of very young and healthy children, Sean Deoni, assistant professor of engineering at Brown and the study`s lead author said.

The findings are published in the journal NeuroImage.

A new study led by an Indian researcher has found that consuming cheese and other dairy products may help protect teeth against cavities.

The study sampled 68 subjects ranging in age from 12 to 15, and the authors looked at the dental plaque pH in the subjects` mouths before and after they consumed cheese, milk, or sugar-free yogurt.
A pH level lower than 5.5 puts a person at risk for tooth erosion, which is a process that wears away the enamel (or protective outside layer) of teeth.

"The higher the pH level is above 5.5, the lower the chance of developing cavities," Vipul Yadav, MDS, lead author of the study, said.

The subjects were assigned into groups randomly.

Researchers instructed the first group to eat cheddar cheese , the second group to drink milk, and the third group to eat sugar-free yogurt.

Each group consumed their product for three minutes and then swished with water.

Researchers measured the pH level of each subject`s mouth at 10, 20, and 30 minutes after consumption.

The groups who consumed milk and sugar-free yogurt experienced no changes in the pH levels in their mouths.

Subjects who ate cheese, however, showed a rapid increase in pH levels at each time interval, suggesting that cheese has anti-cavity properties.

The study indicated that the rising pH levels from eating cheese may have occurred due to increased saliva production (the mouth`s natural way to maintain a baseline acidity level), which could be caused by the action of chewing.

Additionally, various compounds found in cheese may adhere to tooth enamel and help further protect teeth from acid.

The study is published in General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).

Researchers found that obese teenagers who reduced their body mass index (BMI) by 8 percent or more had improvements in insulin sensitivity, an important metabolic factor related to the later development of type 2 diabetes.

The teens followed a family-based, lifestyle-modification weight loss program that offers the potential to become a broader model.

BMI is a measure of body weight adjusted for height.

"This threshold effect that occurs at 8 percent suggests that obese adolescents don`t need to lose enormous amounts of weight to achieve improvements," said pediatric endocrinologist Lorraine Levitt Katz, M.D., of the Diabetes Center for Children at The Children`s Hospital of Philadelphia.

"The improvements in insulin sensitivity occurred after four months of participating in a lifestyle-modification program," Katz stated.

The study team analyzed results in 113 primarily urban adolescents, aged 13 to 17, of whom 81 percent were female, and 62 percent were African American. At the start of the study, their mean BMI was 37.1, placing them in the severely obese range. None had type 2 diabetes, but their obesity placed them at high risk to develop the disease in the future.

An important goal of the study was to determine the threshold of weight loss that significantly impacted insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance and the presence of metabolic syndrome (MS). MS, as well as abnormal values in insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, is associated with the development of type 2 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the body is unable to produce enough, or to properly use, insulin. Improved insulin sensitivity reflects a better ability to process insulin.

The main finding of the current study was a significant improvement in all measures of insulin sensitivity. There was also a trend toward improvement in metabolic syndrome.

The threshold of 8 percent-the level at which a decreased BMI showed improved insulin sensitivity-was consistent with results found previously in adults.

Importantly, said first author Pamela Abrams, while the ideal goal is to achieve normal weight levels, you don`t need to be skinny to see improvements. This 8 percent reduction in BMI is achievable, and BMI is easy for primary care physicians to track."

The authors added that this study was relatively small, and that future research in larger numbers of patients is needed to reveal longer-term results, and to investigate further effects on adolescent metabolism and health.

The findings appeared online last month in The Journal of Pediatrics.