Grazing with trees – A silvopastoral approach to managing and restoring drylands

Trees in dryland forests and wooded areas provide key ecosystem services such as animal feed, timber, fruits and, regulation of soil and water cycles. Equally, the presence of livestock in dryland woody areas can also play an important role in the local ecosystem; not only are they a source of income for local communities, but […]

Halting deforestation from agricultural value chains: the role of governments.

This paper summarizes the current state of concepts and approaches for addressing deforestation in the trade, marketing, and production of agricultural commodities that have a disproportionate impact on forests at international, national, and landscape level. To date, predominant attention has been directed towards the role of the private sector and “consumer countries” that shape market […]

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels.

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown is published as the world confronts profound and concurrent systemic shocks. Countries and health systems continue to contend with the health, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a persistent fossil fuel overdependence has pushed the world into global energy and cost-of-living crises. […]

Marketing Orders Update: November 2022

USA: Walnuts Grown in California This proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans amendments to Marketing Order No. 984 (Order), which regulates the handling of walnuts grown in California. The California Walnut Board, which locally administers the Order, recommended amendments that would: eliminate mandatory inspection and certification of in-shell and shelled walnuts, […]

Latest Trade News and Agreements: November 2022

Cambodia-Korea Free Trade Agreement The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea ratified the agreement on September 27, 2022. According to the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CBC), the Cambodia-Korea FTA (CKFTA) is expected to foster Cambodia’s agricultural exports to the Republic of Korea, including cashew nuts. The Agreement will come into force December 1, 2022. […]

Food Safety Update: November 2022

Codex Alimentarius: General Standard for Food Additives, Update The Codex Alimentarius Commission has included its 2021 provisions in the Codex General Standards for Food Additives. This database is regularly updated and provides all the provisions for food additives that have been adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Nuts and dried fruits are among the products […]

Sustainability Update: November 2022

FAO, 26th Session of the Committee on Forestry On October 3-7, 2022, and celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Committee on Forestry (COFO) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations discussed how FAO should proceed with work on linkages between agriculture, forestry and climate change, and examined preparations for the 2025 edition […]

Labeling Update: November 2022

South Africa: Product Standardization and Labeling of Dried Fruits On September 28, 2022, South Africa notified the World Trade Organization on new proposed regulations to set minimum quality standards for the grading of dried fruit and prescribe the labeling of such products when presented for sale, as well as the control system to ensure compliance […]

Study on performance of carbon source released from fruit shells and the effect on biological denitrification in the advanced treatment.

In order to solve the problem of shortage of carbon source for biological denitrification in advanced treatment of the effluent from secondary treatment of sewage, five kinds of fruit shells (pistachio shell, peanut shell, ginkgo shell, walnut shell and hazelnut shell) were preliminarily selected from eight kinds of fruit shells for experiments of static carbon […]