Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS The Tunisian government will be using drones this year to assess the grain crops as well as to try and identify those who have been setting fire to the wheat crops in parts of the country. However, some locals say only very high temperatures and dry conditions are causing the fires. Also in Tunisia, there has been a significant jump in the total cost of imports with increases of 52 percent for wheat, 87 percent for barley and 33 percent for maize. However, the numbers reported by the government only reflect currency cost, so it is not possible to know the actual tonnage import increase. Overall food imports are up 16 percent in total cost. The Kurdish-controlled area of Syria is stoppi...
Kiwengwa/Pongwe Forest Reserve Kiwengwa/Pongwe Forest Reserve is located on the northeast coast of Unguja, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Town. The reserve is an important biodiversity spot in the coral rag zone. The forest reserve is rich both in faunal and floral species. The faunal species r...
An Ankylosaurus lumbers along the shore of what’s now eastern Montana. Walking low to the ground, the dino uses its flat, leaf-shaped teeth to tear at ferns lining the water. Suddenly, a shadow looms over the herbivore—a Tyrannosaurus rex is hungry. But Ankylosaurus won’t be a...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.