News Stories - Page 42

A research project in Northern Ghana evaluated the effectiveness of a peanut-based school meal. With more structure to the school day and a guaranteed meal on the way, student attendance increased 70 percent over the previous year, and the change was even more pronounced for girls.

A partnership between the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut and Southern African Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program brought innovation and capacity-building to scale, training 3,636 farmers in groundnut production and aflatoxin control, including 2,245 women and 363 youth. Through the collaboration – which was built on the strengths of both parties – thousands of smallholder farmers received training in Malawi (669 farmers), Mozambique (381 farmers), Zambia (1,254 farmers) and Zimbabwe (1,322 farmers).

Judges tasted their way through 124 products entered by 82 Georgia businesses in the first round of judging for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ annual Flavor of Georgia food product contest on March 10, selecting 36 finalists who will compete in the final round of competition on March 28.

High school 4-H’ers are bridging technology gaps in the agriculture community with Georgia’s new 4-H Ag Tech Changemakers program, part of the national 4-H Tech Changemakers initiative. Students trained as Tech Changemakers create educational opportunities for adults to learn essential workforce-related technology, and Georgia 4-H created the 4-H Ag Tech Changemakers program to expand the subject area coverage to include agriculture-specific skills.

When government officials need expert opinions, they often turn to academia for advice. The University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety has a long history of working with such entities to help ensure a safe global food supply, and its involvement in government matters deepened last fall when the center’s director participated in a high-profile review of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Emily Edelman’s acceptance to the University of Georgia was a dream come true. “If you grew up in Georgia like I did, you know UGA is where everyone wants to go. It’s on everyone’s list,” Edelman said. “And when I got in, I also got into my dream program — poultry science.”

There is, arguably, no single individual who has brought more national attention to agriculture and the state of Georgia than Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States, who grew up in the tiny farming community of Archery, Georgia, about 3 miles outside of Plains.

The data revealing farmers’ mental health challenges is sobering to say the least. Faced with unfavorable weather, unfriendly economic conditions, labor shortages and more, farmers of all types often cope with the pressures of their profession in unhealthy ways, including considering suicide.

Five Georgia counties found success at the Western National Roundup in Denver, including a first-place victory by Oconee County 4-H in the National Family and Consumer Sciences Bowl. The Western National Roundup is the highest level of competition for many 4-H livestock, horse, and family and consumer sciences events.

The Integrative Precision Agriculture International Conference, “Local Solutions Through Global Advances,” will be held May 18-19 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. Hosted by UGA’s Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture, the conference will feature speakers who solve problems around the globe and offer new perspectives on common challenges in the field.