Should I find myself uninspired again this year, maybe I can convince a recipient of some good quality dark chocolate, that I am also thinking of their heart, improving their brain performance, reducing their emotional stress or even protecting their skin?! Read on to find out why.

Potential cardiovascular health benefits of consuming chocolate high in cocoa flavanols (a class of flavonoids) have been known for some time. These include lowering blood pressure, reducing LDL cholesterol, and improving endothelial function among other things. [There are many references in our Nutrition and Food Sciences Database, for example see refs 1 and 2]. In fact, on the back of this research, chocolate maker Barry Callebaut has produced a number of chocolate products containing Acticoa, a cocoa powder with a high concentration of cocoa flavanols that, it claims, can help maintain cardiovascular health.

Last year, researchers from Oxford and Norway reported that chocolate can improve brain performance. They examined the relationship between cognitive performance and the intake of chocolate, wine, and tea (all containing flavonoids) in 2,031 people aged between 70 and 74. They found that participants who consumed chocolate, wine, or tea had significantly better mean cognitive test scores and lower prevalence of poor cognitive performance than those who did not. Their findings are reported in the Journal of Nutrition³.

The results of a clinical trial recently published in Journal of Proteome Research, suggests that dark chocolate may also help reduce stress. Researchers identified reductions in stress hormones and other stress-related biochemical changes in volunteers who rated themselves as highly stressed and ate dark chocolate for two weeks. "The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 grams during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers," the scientists say⁴.

Another study, just published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, suggests that eating chocolate can protect the skin from UV light⁵. Researchers evaluated the photoprotective potential of chocolate consumption in 30 healthy subjects, comparing a conventional dark chocolate to a specially produced chocolate with preserved high flavanol (HF) levels. While consumption of the conventional chocolate had no beneficial effect on the skin, consumption of the high flavanol chocolate conferred significant protection from harmful UV effects.

The fact that conventional chocolate had no beneficial effect is a bit of a disappointment - it seems that purchasing a random dark chocolate may not be good enough to back up my Christmas health promises! Indeed, much of the research about chocolate's health benefits appears to involve specially formulated high-flavanol chocolate or unsweetened cocoa. During chocolate making, many of the procedures can have a significant influence on the flavanol content. While the % cacao of a chocolate will tell you how much of the total content of ingredients are derived from the cacao bean, this is not always a reliable indication of the flavanol content - this can vary depending on recipe, cacao bean selection, handling and processing.

The good news is that with increasing research into the health benefits of flavanols, chocolate companies are beginning to see if there are ways of producing popular products whilst maintaining flavanol levels. Mars and Nestle have both been heavily involved in cocoa research. The Hershey Company (and collaborators) has just published the results of a study comparing the flavanol content of U.S. chocolate and cocoa-containing products⁶. The company says that it is trying to improve the measurement of flavanols in products, recognising that this is increasingly important for studying the potential health benefits of cocoa and chocolate and providing information to consumers.

Of course, despite all this promising news about dark chocolate, there is always the fat and sugar to think about! However, by choosing dark, rather than milk chocolate, we may find that we end up eating less of it - in a small trial researchers at the University of Copenhagen found that dark chocolate gives more of a feeling of satiety than milk chocolate and lessens cravings for sweet, salty and fatty foods. A theory I'm happy to test!

References

1. The vasculoprotective effects of flavonoid-rich cocoa and chocolate. Engler, M. B.; Engler, M. M. Nutrition Research 2004 Vol. 24 No. 9 pp. 695-706
2. Cocoa polyphenols and inflammatory mediators. Sies, H.; Schewe, T.; Heiss, C.; Kelm, M. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2005 pp. 304S-312S
3. Intake of Flavonoid-Rich Wine, Tea, and Chocolate by Elderly Men and Women Is Associated with Better Cognitive Test Performance. Eha Nurk, Helga Refsum, Christian A. Drevon, Grethe S. Tell, Harald A. Nygaard, Knut Engedal and A. David Smith. Journal of Nutrition 2009 Vol. 139, No. 1, pp. 120-127
4. Metabolic Effects of Dark Chocolate Consumption on Energy, Gut Microbiota, and Stress-Related Metabolism in Free-Living Subjects. Francois-Pierre J. Martin, Serge Rezzi, Emma Peré-Trepat, Beate Kamlage, Sebastiano Collino, Edgar Leibold, Jorgen Kastler, Dietrich Rein, Laurent B. Fay and Sunil Kochhar Journal of Proteome Research, published (web) October 7, 2009
5. Eating chocolate can significantly protect the skin from UV light. Stefanie Williams, Slobodanka Tamburic, Carmel Lally. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (2009) vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 169-173
6. Survey of Commercially Available Chocolate- and Cocoa-Containing Products in the United States. 2. Comparison of Flavan-3-ol Content with Nonfat Cocoa Solids, Total Polyphenols, and Percent Cacao. Kenneth B. Miller, W. Jeffrey Hurst, Nancy Flannigan, Boxin Ou, C. Y. Lee, Nancy Smith and David A. Stuart. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2009, 57 (19), pp. 9169-9180

‘Hard Rain: Our Headlong Collision with Nature’ by Mark Edwards and Bob Dylan will be released on DVD at the opening of the Hard Rain exhibition in Copenhagen today, 6 December, the eve of the United Nations Climate Conference.

The film, released in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), combines a rare live recording of Bob Dylan performing the song, with the photographs from Hard Rain and an extended illustrated commentary, in a moving and unforgettable exploration of the state of our planet and its people at this critical time, reported the Hard Rain project.

The press release about the film continued saying “the global issues highlighted in Hard Rain are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that define the 21st century. While each problem is understood to some degree by decision-makers, they are typically addressed as separate issues. Hard Rain puts the pieces together and shows that the world has little chance to solve any one of them until we understand how they all connect by cause and effect.”

The DVD is accompanied by a specially commissioned essay by Lloyd Timberlake. The Urgency of Now cuts through the muddled thinking and failed policies that have delayed a radically new worldwide approach to climate change, poverty, the wasteful use of resources, population expansion, habitat destruction and species loss. The essay title was inspired by a response to Hard Rain from the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "The dark and evocative lyrics of A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall echo the kind of impacts the world faces if climate change continues unchecked. But Bob Dylan had another song. One that reflects a strong and positive Copenhagen outcome that puts the world on a low-carbon path - The Times They Are A-Changin'."

Lloyd Timberlake's essay focuses on a key dilemma facing the climate negotiators. "Right now," he writes, "we have two huge challenges to life on earth. One is living and consuming within planetary means. The other is helping billions of people toward safe, fulfilled and dignified lives, meaning that many people need to consume more, not less, to have a reasonable standard of living. These would seem to be contradictory goals. Yet we must manage both, and we cannot manage one without managing the other. Poor countries will not accept a climate change treaty that prevents them from developing."

"We have to give governments a constituency to reinvent the modern world so that it's compatible with nature and human nature," says Mark Edwards. "Political change comes only when people form a movement so large and inclusive that governments have no choice but to listen - and act. The last verse of Dylan's song begins 'What'll you do now?' It's a question that cannot be left hanging when the Copenhagen talks come to a close."

If you are in Copenhagen you might want to attend a Hard Rain-UNEP presentation by Mark Edwards at 5pm on 7 December at Salen bookshop, Politikens Hus, Porten, Vestergade 28, Copenhagen K.

The entry is free and all are welcome. The event is followed by questions and discussion.

Details about the Hard Rain exhibition in Copenhagen

The DVD launch and exhibit opening on 6 December will take place just before the start of the United Nations Climate Conference, COP15, which runs from 7 to 18 December 2009 in Copenhagen.

The exhibit is part of a UNEP display, open free to the public for the duration of the UN Climate Talks, which will feature a Climate Maze that people can come and "negotiate" their way through. The walls of the maze are made from cloth banners stamped and signed by thousands of citizens around the world in support of the UN-led Seal the Deal! campaign, which asks world leaders to conclude a fair and effective climate agreement in Copenhagen. Complementing the Hard Rain commentary, the maze also contains climate change facts from UNEP in order to raise awareness about climate change.

See www.hardrainproject.com  for more details. 

Visit the COP15 or the UN web pages to find out what goes on during the 12 day climate summit.

Visit CABI's Environmental Impact website to see over 1000 reports on global warming, climate change, it's causes and effects.

The handmade paper can be used, then planted in your back garden to grow real Christmas tree plants. The paper is 100% recycled and some of the profits made by the company go to conservation projects around the world, including The Millennium Elephant Foundation, The Elephant Family and Save the Rhino International.

So, aside from reindeer poo paper, how do you grow your own Christmas tree? Read on...

The BBC offers some advice on growing Christmas trees:

1. Choose your tree and buy seed - the internet is a good source.
2. Fill a pot with peat-free compost for seedlings.
3. Sow seeds on the surface.
4. Cover with horticultural grit that is twice the size of the seedlings. This allows more air to circulate and protects the seedlings when watering from the top and also recreates natural conditions.
5. Sow in February and provide bottom heat in May. Keep well watered in a greenhouse.
6. Once the seedlings emerge, prick out and transplant into 10cm (4in) pots.
7. Keep potting on as seedlings grow over the first 12 months.
8. Plant out when it is one year old.

Species choice:
Don't plant Norway spruce (Picea abies) unless you have a very large garden! It grows to about 30m (100ft) and drops needles all year. Instead, try:

• Korean fir (Abies koreana) - grows to 12m (40ft) and therefore more suitable for the smaller garden.
• Noble fir (Abies procera) - silvery-blue, fragrant tips, smooth, grey bark, and good needle retention.
• Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) - soft needles, which also hold well, good shape and strong boughs that are ideal for supporting heavy ornaments.

Here are a few Christmas tree facts, courtesy of the National Christmas Tree Association, USA:

• It can take as many as 15 years to grow a tree of typical height (6-7 feet) or as little as 4 years, but the average growing time is 7 years.
• The most common Christmas tree species are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine.
• For every real Christmas tree harvested, 1 to 3 seedlings are planted the following spring.
• Real trees are a renewable, recyclable resource. Artificial trees contain non-biodegradable plastics and possible metal toxins such as lead.
• There are close to 350 million real Christmas trees currently growing on Christmas tree farms in the USA alone, all planted by farmers.

To find out about the latest scientific research on Christmas trees take a look at CAB Abstracts – it contains more than 600 abstracts on Christmas trees, including:

- Growth and physiology of newly planted fraser fir (Abies fraseri) and Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) christmas trees in response to mulch and irrigation. Cregg, B. M.; Nzokou, P.; Goldy, R. (2009) HortScience 44 (3), 660-665.
- Weed control measures in Christmas tree plantations of Abies nordmanniana and Abies lasiocarpa on agricultural land. Sæb, A.; Flistad, I. S.; Netland, J.; Skúlason, B.; Edvardsen, M. (2009) New Forests 38 (2), 143-156.
- Susceptibility of Fraser fir to Phytophthora capsici. Quesada-Ocampo, L. M.; Fulbright, D. W.; Hausbeck, M. K. (2009) Plant Disease 93 (2), 135-141.
- Proceedings of the 8th International Christmas Tree Research & Extension Conference, Bogense, Denmark, 12-18 August 2007. Thomsen, I. M.; Rasmussen, H. N.; Srensen, J. M. (2008) Forest & Landscape Working Papers 26, x + 145 pp.
- Provenance variation in germination and seedling growth of Abies guatemalensis Rehder. Andersen, U. S.; Córdova, J. P. P.; Nielsen, U. B.; Kollmann, J. (2008) Forest Ecology and Management 255 (5/6), 1831-1840.
- Containerized table-top christmas trees: interest among Pennsylvania consumers and attitudes concerning care and handling. Kelley, K. M.; Bates, R. M. (2007) Journal of Extension 45 (1), pp 1RIB7.
- Is spruce from northerly regions and from high altitude forests suitable for Christmas tree cultivation in lowland areas of southern Norway? Nyeggen, H.; Skage, J. O.; stgård, Å. (2006) Forskning fra Skog + Landskap 2, 16.

Happy Christmas!

Oglethorpe, of the Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University points out that the economies of scale of major production networks do actually result in some environmental benefits. A study of sausages showed that using HGVs in efficient distribution chains resulted in a much lower carbon footprint per sausage than resulted from the many smaller journeys in smaller vehicles that were typical of local food production.

In attempting to be more “green”, many consumers feel that they should not buy food that is highly packaged. But Oglethorpe says that there is much higher food waste with food that is low on packaging. And the emissions associated with food decay, particularly methane, are much more significant than for packaging materials. So it might make more environmental sense to use more packaging. 

Some producers who supply local food also use more environmentally friendly farming or production techniques. However, this is not always the case, and studies suggest that while the association may be strong in the consumer’s mind, in reality it may be weak. There are also examples where local production is more resource-consuming than production in a geographical area more suited to a particular type of farming.  For example, there is some evidence that New Zealand lamb imported to the UK has a smaller environmental impact than that produced in the UK, despite the obvious transport-related emissions.

However, local food may have other benefits. It can provide an important boost to the local economy, offering employment, and attracting tourism, local festivals and the “vibrancy” of an area. The fact that consumers can meet face-to-face with producers may have positive effects on the local community. Some local foods are of better quality – e.g. “local” meat products tend to have higher meat content than typical mass distribution equivalents. However, some that target an “indulgent” consumer have high sugar or fat content, and thus could have negative health impacts.

So consumers should not be assumers that local is always best. However, there is currently no agreement on what “local” means, and the hidden environmental costs are far from obvious. As with many environmental analysis, research is only beginning to scratch the surface, and agreeing what is fair to count within the cost is a controversial business.

The paper, Food miles – the economic, environmental and social significance of the focus on local food by David Oglethorpe appears in CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 2009, 4, No. 072, 11 pp.

What if one could find a vaccine that didn't need remaking each year and could be used for pandemics caused by new versions of the virus ?

Scientists are working hard on this. On Wednesday last week I had the chance to catch up on the latest research as Ian Wilson of the Scripps Institute, La Jolla, California was over to give a lecture at Oxford University on recent activity in flu vaccine research, focusing on structural studies of the haemagglutinins produced by all flu viruses.

Model of haemagglutinin.
Photo: U.S. National Institutes of Health

Haemagglutinins are proteins used by the flu virus to bind to the surface of target cells and then enter them. They are a major target for the immune system as antibodies that inactivate them prevent the virus from infecting new cells.

Most of the antibodies that neutralise flu viruses attack the cell binding region of haemagglutinins. This region is highly variable and different virus subtypes have different versions of it. But researchers have been thinking that maybe there is a minority of antibodies that bind to other less variable regions of the haemagglutinin that might be conserved between virus subtypes.

If these antibodies could be found, and the areas on the haemagglutinin they bind to defined, then we might have the basis for developing a vaccine against more than one flu virus type.

The exciting news is that this conserved region on the haemagglutinin has been found.

Professor Wilson described the work of Throsby et al. They isolated antibody producing B cells from patients recently vaccinated against seasonal flu that produced antibodies against the haemagglutinin from the H5N1 version of the virus (bird flu). Theytested the antibodies for their ability to neutralise haemagglutinin activity. These antibodies were then examined to see if they also blocked binding of the haemagglutinin to the cell surface.

Those that could neutralise the haemagglutinin's activity without preventing binding to the cell surface would be of interest because that indicates the antibody is reacting with a part of the haemagglutinin that isn't the variable cell binding region.

Throsby et al found 13 antibodies that fulfilled these specifications. All bound to the same part of the haemagglutinin. This part of the haemagglutinin is similar across different flu virus subtypes and the antibodies had cross reactivity across more than one virus type.

An experiment in mice suggested that one of these 13 antibodies provided protection against the current pandemic flu virus as well as the H5N1 'bird flu' virus. It would therefore be a potential therapy for flu. It could also provide the basis for developing vaccines.

The next stage of developing a vaccine is to find some way of improving the immune response to this region of the haemagglutinin so that patients produce more antibodies to it- is now underway.

(Nearly) goodbye to yearly vaccines?

Want to read more on pandemic flu vaccines? see Introduction to pandemic influenza by Johnathan Van-Tam and Chloe Sellwood.

Keep up to date on flu pandemic: CABI's flu dashboard

The session was entitled SPACE REPELLANTS: this was sufficient to draw me in as I had no idea what was being repelled! A model, based on observations, was presented by Edward Walker (Michigan State University) which broke down how an insect repellent worked into three parameters: contact/ absorption, elimination of the drug, followed by excitation (movement but not in a directed fashion). The combination of all 3 leads to disengagement of the insect and it turns out that it’s the excitation which has the strongest effect on disengagement (disengagement is what you want!). The model enables you to test repellent development: the ideal repellent would elicit high excitation, rapid absorption, slow elimination. Olysnet amd Permanet, 2 different insecticide-treated materials, gave different results for these parameters. Its not known if current repellants work by increasing disengagement or decreased directed movement towards the host. This model system should answer that too.

Field tests involve building huts of local design, and then treating entry points such as doors, windows and eaves, or entire interior walls with the repellent. Mosquitoes are collected at entry and exit points. Work using such huts, presented in this session, demonstrated that known insecticides such as DDT could be used at non-toxic doses as effective spatial repellents, and that treating entry points not only was highly effective , safer for the human occupants, but that the mosquitoes did not appear to decamp to an unprotected hut (Nicole Achee, USU, Bethesda).

Sarah Moore of IFAKARA & LSTMH pointed out that as more people in Tanzania acquired electricity, so their sleeping patterns changed & spent less time in bed protected by ITNs, so repellents were increasingly needed. In addition, if you can keep man-vector contact down you can decrease both transmission to the host and from the host to the vector, breaking the cycle.

Moving onto actual human interventions, Mark Rowland (LSTMH) supplied villagers in Tanzania with either DEET treated or cyphenothrin (a pyrethroid) treated bedsheets, with the longterm goal of malaria prevention in disasters. Both treatments, mosquitoes still entered the homes but they fed less (3x less with DEET) and had increased mortality (4x with DEET) .  The DEET was formulated into microspheres before application onto the fabric, whihc enabled it to remain effective for many months. Even the colour, durability, washability & comfort aspects were considered in this trial: people wanted to carry on using their ITNs along with these sheets, khaki turned out to be the practical housewife’s choice of colour and woven fabric more durable. (The non-woven one rapidly filled with holes, defeating the purpose!) The hope is that following a cluster controlled RCT, these sheets (& blankets) could prove valuable in providing protection from malaria for displaced populations such as in refugee camps (ITNs being impractical), for populations in endemic areas and for the military.

Global Health and its archive have a wealth of information on insectborne diseases and the behaviour of the insect vector: I will add relevant references from these resources in the near future. Watch this space...for more on space repellants.

Image courtesy of "The Carbon the World Forgot" report.

Boreal forests, found in northern areas like Canada, Russia, Scandinavia and parts of the United States, cover 11% of the earth and store 22% of all carbon on the land surface in soil, permafrost, peatlands and wetlands. They also store nearly twice as much carbon as tropical forests per hectare: a fact which researchers say should make the conservation of boreal forests as important as tropical in climate change negotiations.

A report published a few weeks ago by the Canadian Boreal Initiative and Boreal Songbird Initiative highlights the importance of these areas and the need to conserve boreal forests and peatlands: "Action is needed to conserve a region that contains 'The carbon the world forgot'."

Researchers explain that while tropical forests store most of their carbon in vegetation, boreal forests store vast amounts of the greenhouse gas deep in permafrost soil and peatlands in addition to its trees. Cold temperatures prevent the complete breakdown of dead biomass in the boreal, so that carbon is accumulated over time, sometimes even millennia. Scientists have found carbon that has been locked away for 8,000 years.

The report complains that the Kyoto Protocol climate pact focused almost exclusively on tropical forests, offered no incentives for forest conservation and excluded peatlands – possible contributing factors to the Canadian government walking away from the Kyoto pact. The first phase of this pact is due to end in 2012 and the United Nations hopes a major climate meeting in Copenhagen in December will lead to a broader framework to expand or replace Kyoto.

Whilst tropical forests are home to the majority of the world’s biodiversity and are lost at a fast rate, making them the focus for conservationists and policy makers, boreal forests must also be included in negotiations if the world is to successfully to mitigate climate change.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that climate talks in Copenhagen should take into account the role of the ability of Russia's forests to absorb carbon dioxide when setting climate change targets.

The report points out that any plan to preserve the world’s remaining, carbon-rich old-growth forests would require drastic cuts in industrial emissions and a vast increase in the area designated off limits to the kinds of industrial disturbances likely to release more carbon into the atmosphere.

On the subject of peatlands, the first country-by-country assessment of peat stocks, conducted by Wetlands International and Greifswald University, was also released earlier this month. The report found that drainage of wetlands for agriculture, forestry and peat extraction causes 1.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Emissions from fires and peat mining (for horticulture and fuel) amount to another 700,000 million tons per year. It also reveals that European Russia is the second largest contributor of peatland emissions (160 million tons CO₂) after Indonesia (500 million tons CO₂), followed by China (77), USA (67) and Finland (50).

In fifteen countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, emissions due to peatland degradation are even higher than their reported emissions from fossil fuels. For example, Iceland's emissions from peatlands degradation are nearly 800% of its fossil fuels emissions!

The report notes that peatland emissions are not currently addressed under the Kyoto climate treaty and concludes that reducing peatlands degradation is one of the most cost-effective ways to help mitigate climate change.

"Peatland rewetting may globally reduce greenhouse gas emissions [by] several hundred million tons of carbon dioxide per year," the report states.

Reports:

Carlson, M.; Wells, J.; Roberts, D. (2009) The Carbon the World Forgot: Conserving the Capacity of Canada’s Boreal Forest Region to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change. Boreal
Songbird Initiative and Canadian Boreal Initiative, Seattle, WA, USA and Ottawa, Canada, 36 pp.

Joosten, H. (2009) The Global Peatland CO2 Picture: Peatland status and drainage related emissions in all countries of the world. Wetlands International and Greifswald University, 35 pp.

For access to more than 1,100 climate change reports from over 150 organisations, go to www.cabi.org/environmentalimpact

It seems that Himalayan glaciers are not melting as fast as is commonly believed. A recent report by senior glaciologist Vijay Kumar Raina, formerly of the Geological Survey of India, suggests that many Himalayan glaciers show no change or have even advanced, and that the rate of retreat for many others has slowed. Released by the India's Ministry of Environment and Forests a few weeks ago, the report draws on a review of satellite and ground measurements made by Indian research groups presented in a range of published and several unpublished studies.

The area covered by Himalayan glaciers is vast, over 30,000 km², and records have shown that many began to retreat in the early 20th century with almost a fifth of Indian Himalayan ice coverage lost since 1960. The Raina report agrees with these observations but questions the link with global warming that was presented in the Asian chapter of the IPCC's 2007 Working Group II report. It cites examples such as the 30 km long Gangotri glacier, source of the Ganges, which has shown retreat since 1934 but in the last couple of years the glacier has been "practically at a standstill". Also, no signs of retreat over the last 50 years have been shown by the Siachin glacier in Kashmir. Several Western experts agree with the findings, pointing out that many glaciers in the Karakoram mountains, between India and Pakistan, have stabilized or undergone aggressive advance.

It seems that the picture is more complex than might be supposed. Richard Armstrong, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, has pointed out that "glaciers at lower elevation are going to respond faster to a warming climate than those at the highest elevations". In addition, patterns of snowfall are likely more important than temperature with unusually heavy summer snowfall in recent years. Glacial melting may also have been reduced by increased cloudiness during the summer months. The coordinating lead author of the ten author team that wrote the 2007 IPCC report's Asian chapter, Murari Lal (Climate, Energy and Sustainable Analysis Centre, New Delhi), rejects the idea that the IPCC was off the mark regarding the Himalayan glaciers but conceded that the IPCC team relied on unpublished work when assessing the state of the glaciers.

All the scientists agree that more research is clearly needed over the short-term to unravel the complexities of this unique region to gain an understanding of the interplay between climate and glacial formation at high altitudes.

This report reminds me of an article I read a few weeks ago, also in Science (30 October), about a retired civil engineer, Chewang Norphel, who is building artificial glaciers high in the Himalayas to provide meltwater for irrigation during the early summer months for farmers. In the rain-shadow of the Himalayas, the Ladakh region, wedged between Pakistan, Afghanistan and China, receives just 5 cm of rainfall annually, about the same as the Sahara. Entirely dependent on snowmelt and glacial meltwater, the population has been hit by global warming where glaciers have retreated by as much as 10 km and the treeline has risen by more than 150 m in Norphel's lifetime.

Up until now, he has built 10 artificial glaciers which sustain crops that feed more than 10,000 people, often with very little funding and support. His idea was to divert lost meltwater by using stone embankments which also slow the rate of flow allowing it to spread across a large, shaded depression located near a village where it would accumulate and freeze. In spring when the sun rises high enough it slowly melts releasing water for irrigation in time for the sowing season. Local farmers are in no doubt as to the success of the artificial glaciers. Beforehand, Tashi Tandop, a farmer from Stakmo village, struggled to grow barley but since it was built he says "now we can grown many crops, even potatoes, which need to be planted earlier in the spring, but sell for much more money. I get three times more income than I used to".

A major stumbling block is funding - despite using local materials and sustainable techniques, each one costs between 3 and 10 lakh Indian rupees (US$6,000-20,000) depending on size and site. He has had funds granted by a watershed development programme but the money is only being released gradually, $12,000 in two instalments over the last 6 years - not enough to extend the programme to another 75 villages identified as being in suitable locations. Another major problem is climate change, with less and less snowfall during wintertime in this region when it is needed to contribute to the artificial glaciers. However, it is clear that the work of the Glacier Man is making a real difference to the people of this remote region.

Writing in CABI Reviews, Dixon says that the framework characterizes farming systems in terms of land quality and market access.  These elements are crucial in shaping development of farming systems and household livelihood strategies in ways that boost farm income and ensure delivery of cereals that are central to food security.

In their review, Dixon and his co-authors look at the various strategies for reducing poverty and conclude that farm intensification and diversification look to be the most promising ways of achieving that in many cereal farming systems. They say that the importance of intensification and diversification in differing farming systems can be used as a basis for priority setting and targeting of agricultural research to enhance food security and reduce poverty.

In other words, classification can be a key tool in deciding which farming practices are most likely to help the poorest and reduce their exposure to economic and climatic change.

The review, “Forty years of farming systems classification for enhanced food security and poverty reduction” by John Dixon, Jon Hellin, Xiaoyun Li and Glenn Hyman appears in CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources 2009 4, No. 060.

Also published this month: "Challenges to ensuring food security through wheat" by R. Chand:  CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural Resources, 2009, 4, No. 065.

For other recent reviews focused on food security, see the blog entry

“Food Price Hikes – Crisis and Opportunity?”

For other recent blogs on food security, click here