Realising the potential of bioresources to mitigate development challenges in Ethiopia, a centre of wild and domesticated plant diversity
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Botanic Gardens
Department Name: Natural Capital and Plant Health
Abstract
This Challenge Cluster aims to enable Ethiopia to realise the potential of its abundant and unique plant diversity to address global challenges in food security, health and nutrition, poverty and displacement. To this end, it will conduct research and capacity-building to identify and manage areas of high plant diversity, develop value chains around currently underutilised plants, and critically evaluate the roles that plant diversity can play in addressing development challenges.
Ethiopia faces multiple interacting development challenges linked to environmental change and degradation, of which food insecurity is central. Over 85% of the population depends upon rainfed agriculture, which is highly vulnerable to climatic, social and political shocks, as demonstrated by severe famine in recent decades. From a population of >108 million, a third of have insufficient food to eat and a quarter live below the national poverty line. Malnutrition is causing stunting and other health problems, impacting the lives of millions of individuals. Food insecurity is also contributing to political and resource-based conflict and human displacement that affects over 2 million Ethiopians. Climate change will exacerbate these problems by reducing agricultural productivity through increased drought and heat stress, creating an urgent need to identify and develop crop varieties adapted to the new conditions.
As a hotspot for plant diversity (both wild plants and domesticated crops), Ethiopia harbours biological resources that could play important roles in solving these challenges. For example, current research within the Cluster is uncovering varieties of enset (the principal starch staple for 20 million Ethiopians) with high content of essential micronutrients zinc and iron that can potentially help to address chronic malnutrition. Further crop varieties possessing resilience to climatic stressors and other valuable traits are almost certainly waiting to be discovered by science. Likewise, wild plant diversity likely contains genetic resources that can be used in crop improvement and to develop value chains that create economic opportunities for poor rural communities.
The opportunity to apply Ethiopia's indigenous plant diversity to address development challenges is rapidly diminishing, however, as wild and domesticated plant diversity is lost to the conversion and degradation of natural habitats and the homogenisation of agricultural landscapes. Research is urgently needed to identify and manage the most important remaining hotspots of Ethiopian plant diversity, and the Ethiopian government has invited Kew to support Ethiopian scientists in this effort.
Building upon a 30+ year history of successful UK-Ethiopia collaboration, the goal of this Cluster is to realise the potential of Ethiopia's plant diversity to address poverty, food insecurity and climate change vulnerability. Toward this goal, we aim to achieve the following objectives:
Objective 1: Identify and map hotspots of Ethiopian wild and domesticated plant diversity and provide recommendations to the Government of Ethiopia for the designation and management of these areas.
Objective 2: Identify and characterise bioresources with valuable traits to enable the development of value chains around currently underutilised plants in a way that benefits the poorest sectors of society.
Objective 3: Evaluate the actual and perceived socio-economic impacts of areas of high wild and domesticated plant diversity to inform sustainable and equitable management of these areas.
Objective 4: Critically evaluate the role that areas of high wild and domesticated plant diversity and associated plant-product value chains play in addressing broader local and regional development challenges.
Objective 5: Enhance the capacity of Ethiopian and UK-based researchers to conduct research and associated activities that support the conservation and sustainable use of Ethiopian plant diversity.
Ethiopia faces multiple interacting development challenges linked to environmental change and degradation, of which food insecurity is central. Over 85% of the population depends upon rainfed agriculture, which is highly vulnerable to climatic, social and political shocks, as demonstrated by severe famine in recent decades. From a population of >108 million, a third of have insufficient food to eat and a quarter live below the national poverty line. Malnutrition is causing stunting and other health problems, impacting the lives of millions of individuals. Food insecurity is also contributing to political and resource-based conflict and human displacement that affects over 2 million Ethiopians. Climate change will exacerbate these problems by reducing agricultural productivity through increased drought and heat stress, creating an urgent need to identify and develop crop varieties adapted to the new conditions.
As a hotspot for plant diversity (both wild plants and domesticated crops), Ethiopia harbours biological resources that could play important roles in solving these challenges. For example, current research within the Cluster is uncovering varieties of enset (the principal starch staple for 20 million Ethiopians) with high content of essential micronutrients zinc and iron that can potentially help to address chronic malnutrition. Further crop varieties possessing resilience to climatic stressors and other valuable traits are almost certainly waiting to be discovered by science. Likewise, wild plant diversity likely contains genetic resources that can be used in crop improvement and to develop value chains that create economic opportunities for poor rural communities.
The opportunity to apply Ethiopia's indigenous plant diversity to address development challenges is rapidly diminishing, however, as wild and domesticated plant diversity is lost to the conversion and degradation of natural habitats and the homogenisation of agricultural landscapes. Research is urgently needed to identify and manage the most important remaining hotspots of Ethiopian plant diversity, and the Ethiopian government has invited Kew to support Ethiopian scientists in this effort.
Building upon a 30+ year history of successful UK-Ethiopia collaboration, the goal of this Cluster is to realise the potential of Ethiopia's plant diversity to address poverty, food insecurity and climate change vulnerability. Toward this goal, we aim to achieve the following objectives:
Objective 1: Identify and map hotspots of Ethiopian wild and domesticated plant diversity and provide recommendations to the Government of Ethiopia for the designation and management of these areas.
Objective 2: Identify and characterise bioresources with valuable traits to enable the development of value chains around currently underutilised plants in a way that benefits the poorest sectors of society.
Objective 3: Evaluate the actual and perceived socio-economic impacts of areas of high wild and domesticated plant diversity to inform sustainable and equitable management of these areas.
Objective 4: Critically evaluate the role that areas of high wild and domesticated plant diversity and associated plant-product value chains play in addressing broader local and regional development challenges.
Objective 5: Enhance the capacity of Ethiopian and UK-based researchers to conduct research and associated activities that support the conservation and sustainable use of Ethiopian plant diversity.
Planned Impact
This Challenge Cluster will build new knowledge, capacity and partnerships that enable Ethiopia to more effectively conserve and utilise its plant genetic diversity and bioresources to address poverty, food insecurity and climate change vulnerability. Specifically, the project is designed to deliver positive outcomes and benefits across overlapping groups of stakeholders from rural farmers to national policy makers.
A central outcome will be delivery of strengthened Ethiopian bioresource conservation network, fit for the 21st Century, through designation of new Important Plant Areas (IPAs) that encompass the most ecologically rich, unique and potentially useful botanical resources in the country. Beneficiaries will be targeted at multiple scales. First, neighbouring communities will be supported through greater involvement in planning and executing the management of these areas, to ensure these are delivered in a culturally appropriate and sensitive manner.
Second multiple case studies on the national benefits of Ethiopian bioresources will be co-developed with neighbouring communities. Over 75% of Ethiopians are smallholder farmers, thus even incremental improvement in bioresource development and ecosystem service provision could positively impact millions of the world's most vulnerable people. We will explicitly ensure that marginalised minority ethnic groups, women and displaced people are involved and benefit by setting targets for 50% participation by women in all project activities, and additional evidence-based targets of participation by displaced and minority ethnic groups. Based on existing research within our Challenge Cluster, the first case study will be development of underutilised varieties of enset with improved nutritional profiles. Through partnerships we will target increased consumption of currently under-consumed essential micronutrients (e.g. Zn and Fe) to improved health in currently malnourished communities in the Southern Nations.
Subsequently, value chain development around currently underutilised wild and domesticated crops will be achieved through biochemical and co-product research to identify valuable compounds. This will be combined with market research and business development support, led by Ethiopian partners in an approach similar to the recent development of Coffee value chains. In addition to benefitting local communities, these case studies will also be targeted towards regional and national policy makers to establish top down support and incentives for bioresource conservation.
Thirdly, through consultation and collaborative prioritisation we will identify opportunities to optimise the ecosystem services derived from protected areas. Protected areas have the potential to contribute to broader aspects of human security and wellbeing, offering the chances not only to enhance agriculture but also to tackle issues of environmental degradation, reduce exposure to hazards such as landslides, strengthen water security in the face of climatic change and reduce pressures that force people to migration and displacement. By critically evaluating and documenting benefits of proximity to IPAs, we aim to encourage community-led requests for IPA designation.
By simultaneously tackling a suite of interacting sustainable development challenges through this interdisciplinary Challenge Cluster, we aim to not only enhance the impact of our individual GCRF projects, but also amplify project synergies to further boost impact.
Finally, considering wider regional sustainable development challenges, we will develop one or more best-practice examples of how a developing country can benefit economically from sharing its plant genetic resources. Such south-south cooperation would ensure that Ethiopian bioresources can benefit Ethiopia and other countries equitably, accelerating progress towards global sustainable development goals.
A central outcome will be delivery of strengthened Ethiopian bioresource conservation network, fit for the 21st Century, through designation of new Important Plant Areas (IPAs) that encompass the most ecologically rich, unique and potentially useful botanical resources in the country. Beneficiaries will be targeted at multiple scales. First, neighbouring communities will be supported through greater involvement in planning and executing the management of these areas, to ensure these are delivered in a culturally appropriate and sensitive manner.
Second multiple case studies on the national benefits of Ethiopian bioresources will be co-developed with neighbouring communities. Over 75% of Ethiopians are smallholder farmers, thus even incremental improvement in bioresource development and ecosystem service provision could positively impact millions of the world's most vulnerable people. We will explicitly ensure that marginalised minority ethnic groups, women and displaced people are involved and benefit by setting targets for 50% participation by women in all project activities, and additional evidence-based targets of participation by displaced and minority ethnic groups. Based on existing research within our Challenge Cluster, the first case study will be development of underutilised varieties of enset with improved nutritional profiles. Through partnerships we will target increased consumption of currently under-consumed essential micronutrients (e.g. Zn and Fe) to improved health in currently malnourished communities in the Southern Nations.
Subsequently, value chain development around currently underutilised wild and domesticated crops will be achieved through biochemical and co-product research to identify valuable compounds. This will be combined with market research and business development support, led by Ethiopian partners in an approach similar to the recent development of Coffee value chains. In addition to benefitting local communities, these case studies will also be targeted towards regional and national policy makers to establish top down support and incentives for bioresource conservation.
Thirdly, through consultation and collaborative prioritisation we will identify opportunities to optimise the ecosystem services derived from protected areas. Protected areas have the potential to contribute to broader aspects of human security and wellbeing, offering the chances not only to enhance agriculture but also to tackle issues of environmental degradation, reduce exposure to hazards such as landslides, strengthen water security in the face of climatic change and reduce pressures that force people to migration and displacement. By critically evaluating and documenting benefits of proximity to IPAs, we aim to encourage community-led requests for IPA designation.
By simultaneously tackling a suite of interacting sustainable development challenges through this interdisciplinary Challenge Cluster, we aim to not only enhance the impact of our individual GCRF projects, but also amplify project synergies to further boost impact.
Finally, considering wider regional sustainable development challenges, we will develop one or more best-practice examples of how a developing country can benefit economically from sharing its plant genetic resources. Such south-south cooperation would ensure that Ethiopian bioresources can benefit Ethiopia and other countries equitably, accelerating progress towards global sustainable development goals.
Publications
Pironon S
(2020)
Toward Unifying Global Hotspots of Wild and Domesticated Biodiversity.
in Plants (Basel, Switzerland)
Tamrat S
(2020)
Micronutrient composition and microbial community analysis across diverse landraces of the Ethiopian orphan crop enset.
in Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.)
Arnold SEJ
(2021)
Beneficial insects are associated with botanically rich margins with trees on small farms.
in Scientific reports
Belmain S
(2022)
Elements of agroecological pest and disease management
in Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
Stevenson PC
(2022)
Natural processes influencing pollinator health.
in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
Title | BBC Earth Game Changers enset feature |
Description | Climate change is threatening the production of this vital crop in Ethiopia Game changers is the series shining a light on the innovative and extraordinary work developed and discovered by those in STEM. |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | Seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/bbcearth/videos/7055639977783304/ |
Description | An online workshop was run November 16-20, 2020 with 16 participants based in Ethiopia (5 female, 11 male). This focused on the development of methods to identify and conserve Important Plant Areas (IPAs) and assessing conservation status of plant species under the IUCN Red Listing approach. IPAs use data-driven approaches to identify concentrations of threatened species in the tropics, designating them as Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs). This enables national authorities to prioritise their protection via data sharing and partnership building. Fifty-five plant species were assessed at the workshop, which enabled the establishment of an Ethiopian-led IPA working group. Eight TIPAs are now finalized and publicly available via https://tipas.kew.org/ (Asosa, Bonga Forests, Chilimo Forests, Entoto Hills, Menagesha-Suba Forest, Mount Karkarha, Shako-Bench Forest, Wof-Washa Forest); three more are in development. Each of the 55 Red Listed species have had a comprehensive conservation status assessment published on the IUCN website https://www.iucnredlist.org/. We have also identified major hotspots of agricultural plant diversity in Southwestern Ethiopia. These data and preliminary collaborations supported a subsequent application in 2022 for a much larger £660k Defra Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate or GCBC (https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8678/documents/88187/default/, p2) application which was funded and has significantly advanced research in this area. Consortium members were primed to apply for this with initial data and outputs arising from the GCRF Challenge Clusters award. A large number of publications and deliverables are in the process of being realised which build on the Challenge Cluster award including the first agrobiodiversity map of Ethiopia and several TIPAs case studies. |
Exploitation Route | Establishment of protected areas by the Ethiopian authorities. Working to secure this under GCBC funding. |
Sectors | Government Democracy and Justice Other |
Description | We engaged with researchers at various career stages, including MSc and PhD students, contributing to in-country capacity building through training workshops and conducting field research. We specifically assembled a gender-balanced field team as a way to gather representative perspectives from community members in our study areas in a COVID influenced working environment and sought to promote female learning and development wherever possible within the cultural context. We also expanded our collaborator network in Ethiopia by working with Jigjiga University to collect plant distribution and ethnobotanical information in the relatively remote and previously unaccessible Somali Region, where patterns of (agro)biodiversity and little understood. TIPA areas designated by the project are part of a drive to engage government with conservation of biodiversity and accrual of in-country benefits from that biodiversity and the landscapes where it occurs. The key steps towards substantial economic and environmental impact were removed when the funding stream to fund Phase 2 of this scheme was withdrawn. These data and preliminary collaborations supported a subsequent application in 2022 for a much larger £660k Defra Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/8678/documents/88187/default/, p2) application which was funded and has significantly advanced research in this area. Consortium members were primed to apply for this with initial data and outputs arising from the GCRF Challenge Clusters award. A large number of publications and deliverables are in the process of being realised which build on the Challenge Cluster award including the first agrobiodiversity map of Ethiopia and several TIPAs case studies. |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Policy & public services |
Description | 3/12/23 - Presented to British Embassy in Addis Ababa |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
Description | Agrobiodiversity conservation forms a key component of the Kew MSc on biodiversity loss |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
URL | https://www.kew.org/science/training-and-education/msc-courses/msc-biodiversity-and-conservation |
Description | Contribution of enset research to design of new MSc course between RBGKew and Royal Holloway on food security. |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
URL | https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/postgraduate/health-studies/msc-food-security-sustaina... |
Description | Global Center on Biodiversity for Climate Conference |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
URL | https://www.kew.org/science/engage/get-involved/conferences/reforestation-biodiversity-carbon-captur... |
Description | NGOs operating in Ethiopia are interested in adopting our approaches |
Geographic Reach | Africa |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | NGOs operating in Ethiopia are interested in adopting our evidence based approaches to address food security building on: Smallholder farmers expand production area of the perennial crop enset as a climate coping strategy in a drought-prone indigenous agrisystem RR Chase, L Büchi, J Rodenburg, N Roux - Plants, People, Planet, 2023 and Modelling potential range expansion of an underutilised food security crop in Sub-Saharan Africa O Koch, WA Mengesha, S Pironon, T Pagella, I Ondo - Environmental Research Letters, 2021 |
Description | Training in IUCN Red List assessments of plants and designation of Tropical Important Plant Areas |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Africa AgriFood Knowledge Transfer Partnership between University of Greenwich, Egerton University and Eco Fuels Kenya Limited |
Amount | £200,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | KTP1245 |
Organisation | Knowledge Transfer Partnerships |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2022 |
End | 06/2023 |
Description | Global Center on Biodiversity for Climate |
Amount | £471,538 (GBP) |
Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2023 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | Global Center on Biodiversity for Climate |
Amount | £668,453 (GBP) |
Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2022 |
End | 03/2023 |
Description | Goodman foundation |
Amount | $180,000 (USD) |
Organisation | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2022 |
End | 04/2025 |
Description | Kew Global PhD programme |
Amount | £63,255 (GBP) |
Organisation | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2023 |
End | 05/2026 |
Description | The influence of diet on the honeybee lipidome |
Amount | £323,690 (GBP) |
Funding ID | BB/T014210/1 |
Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2020 |
End | 05/2024 |
Title | Informed consent plus semi-structured interview protocol for data collection from local communities |
Description | We designed a protocol for conducting interviews with a broad range of community members (either individually or in groups) in two sites in South Western Ethiopia. A four-person team of Ethiopian researchers (two women and two men) trained in data collection using this project-specific protocol and collected information to explore the trade-offs of natural resource use and conservation in local forests. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The creation of this protocol allowed us to elucidate local perspectives on the issue of natural resource use vs. conservation despite our inability to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions. |
Title | Research questionnaire for site selection |
Description | Our team designed a questionnaire for implementation by an Ethiopian team to gather information on the socio-economics and natural resource use of communities at varying distances from forest areas. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The questionnaire is making a substantial difference to our project by enabling project fieldwork despite our inability to travel to Ethiopia due to COVID-19. Specifically, this tool is allowing us to select sites for implementing different project work packages. |
Description | GCRF-funded Sentinel project partnership |
Organisation | Imperial College London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have established a partnership with the GCRF-funded Sentinel project (which is using interdisciplinary approaches to address zero hunger goals in sub-Saharan Africa) to implement household surveys aimed at jointly characterizing local perceptions of ecosystem service provisioning by forests. We will target at least 100 households in two different regions of Ethiopia for this work. |
Collaborator Contribution | Co-targeting target at least 100 households in two different regions of Ethiopia for mutual benefit |
Impact | Outputs and outcomes will arise towards the end of the project later in 2021 |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Jigjiga University (Ethiopia) partnership |
Organisation | Jigjiga University |
Country | Ethiopia |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We established a partnership with researchers from Jigjiga University to conduct fieldwork in remote locations of the Somali Region in Ethiopia. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our partners recorded distribution data of rare and endangered plant species in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, in addition to conducting interviews with local communities on the various uses given to the plant species Cordeauxia edulis. |
Impact | This collaboration was multi-disciplinary, spanning research on plant conservation and ethnobotany. Our partner's field findings were prepared as a report that (i) is currently supporting the identification of important plant areas in the Somali Region, a botanically understudied part of Ethiopia, and (ii) generated base knowledge on the ethnobotany of Cordeauxia edulis, helpful for pursuing future studies on this species. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | NABU partnership |
Organisation | Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We have initiated an partnership with NABU, a non-governmental organization involved in the establishment and management of the Kafa Biosphere Reserve (https://en.nabu.de/projects/ethiopia/index.html). |
Collaborator Contribution | NABU's Ethiopian team will conduct rapid assessments to characterize pollination services to beans at varying distances from forests. |
Impact | Outputs and outcomes will be delivered later in 2021 in the latter stages of the project |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | "StoryMap" blog on Ethiopian plant diversity |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Disseminate project motives and outputs regarding the characterization of plant richness in Ethiopia (wider access by public currently limited by arcGIS paywall) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8a239b251a9c422dac3512310ada73fc |
Description | Agrobiodiversity lecture to Ghent students |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Agrobiodiversity lecture to Ghent students |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Agrobiodiversity talk to Imperial MSc students |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Agrobiodiversity talk to Imperial MSc students on our research |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | CBD Target 3 partnership meeting, Cambridge |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 12/6/23 - CBD Target 3 Partnership meeting in Cambridge, presented project outputs |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/shaping-a-new-global-partnership-to-help-achieve-and-go-beyond-pro... |
Description | Contributing to design of Royal Holloway/Kew food security MSc |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Contributing to design of Royal Holloway/Kew food security MSc and delivering one day of lectures |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/postgraduate/health-studies/msc-food-security-sustaina... |
Description | Contributing to the design of Kew/QMUL biodiversity loss MSc and delivering multiple lectures |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Contributing to the design and delivery of food security and agrobiodiversity loss components of a new MSc course |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.kew.org/science/training-and-education/msc-courses/msc-biodiversity-and-conservation |
Description | Global Center on Biodiversiy for Climate Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | GCBC Conference featuring sessions on agrobiodiversity research and Ethiopia |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Global Dispatches Podcast on enset |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Global Dispatches Podcast |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.undispatch.com/better-know-enset-the-banana-like-wonder-crop-that-can-fight-food-insecur... |
Description | Guest lecture Queen Mary University |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Guest lecture to an undergraduate conservation course at Queen Mary University of London |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Interviewed for an article in Financial Times |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Discussed future for food and sustainable agriculture. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Invited lecture to University College London on my agrobiodiversity loss and enset related research programme |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited lecture to University College London on my agrobiodiversity loss and enset related research programme |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Invited talk to Cambridge Global Food Security group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Delivered an invited talk on enset and ethiopian agrobiodiversity research |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/events |
Description | Kitchen garden launch at Kew featuring Ethiopia research |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Launch event for Kew kitchen garden featuring an Ethiopian bed |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-in-the-gardens/edible-science-kitchen-garden |
Description | Lecture for high level meeting in Ethiopia including members of parliament |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Invited Lecture for high level meeting in Ethiopia including members of parliament |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Lecture on enset and Ethiopian crop agrobiodiversity to the Royal Geographical Society, London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | I gave a guest lecture to members of the Royal Geographical Society on the topic of enset, agrobiodiversity, food security and field research in Ethiopia. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Lecture to Cambridge Conservation Initiative about enset and agrobiodiversity conservation research at Kew. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | An invited lecture to Cambridge Conservation Initiative about my NERC funded research programme |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.cambridgeconservationforum.org.uk/event/cci-conservation-seminar-unifying-the-conservati... |
Description | Lecture to Convulvulaceae network on enset research and agrobiodiversity conservation in Ethiopia |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Lecture to Convulvulaceae network on enset research and agrobiodiversity conservation in Ethiopia |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Online workshop on conducting extinction risk assessments for plants |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A total of 16 Ethiopian researchers, graduate students and stakeholders (comprising 5 women and 11 men) trained in methods to assess plant extinction risks using the criteria by the IUCN Red List. The online workshop spanned four days and produced 55 new Red List assessments. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Online workshop on designation of Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Assembly of a joint working group comprising five Ethiopian and two UK researchers to recognize eight TIPAs in Ethiopia. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Online workshop, Identification of Important Plant Areas and conservation stastus assessment via IUCN Red Listing |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The online workshop focused on the development of methods to identify and conserve Important Plant Areas (IPAs) and assessing conservation status of plant species under the IUCN Red Listing approach. IPAs use data driven approaches to identify concentrations of threatened species in the tropics, designating them as Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs). This enables national authorities to prioritise their protection via data sharing and partnership building. 55 plant species were assessed at the workshop, which enabled the establishment of an Ethiopian-led IPA working group. 40 of the 55 species have been reviewed and we expect that all 55 species will make it into the second Red List release of 2021 in July/August. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Oral presentation on identifying agrobiodiversity hotspots using Ethiopia as a case study |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | MSG delivered an oral presentation to the 2nd International Agrobiodiversity Congress. The talk focused on an output from a project work package to develop a novel framework for identifying agriculturally rich areas in Ethiopia and beyond. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Pint of Science QMUL talk on enset |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Pint of Science QMUL on enset and ethiopia research |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation and participation in Low Carbon Energy and Environment Research Network Wales |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation and participation in Low Carbon Energy and Environment Research Network Wales |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://lceernw.ac.uk/ |
Description | Presentation at Anthropology and Conservation conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation at Anthropology and Conservation conference |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://therai.org.uk/conferences/anthropology-and-conservation |
Description | Presentation for State of the World's Plants and Fungi 2020, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | I gave a lecture on enset and Ethiopian agrobiodiversity in Session 3 of State of the World's Plants and Fungi, the programme had up to 3000 delegates. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/state-of-the-world-plants-fungi-2020 |
Description | Publication of eight Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) in Ethiopia via TIPA Explorer website |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Creation and publication of eight TIPA sites in Ethiopia, available on the TIPA Explorer website for reaching a broad range of audiences. This work will serve as a basis for regional plant conservation strategies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://tipas.kew.org/ |
Description | Radio Interview BBCR4 The Food Programme. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interview with Dan Saladino of BBC Radio 4 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/programmes/m00187p5 |