Innovative Technologies
Screening for reduction of dengue
This project designs and conducts trials in Asia and Africa for the use of window and door screens to reduce the incidence of the mosquito-borne diseases of dengue and malaria. Half the world’s population is at risk of serious illness and death from these diseases, especially children under 5. With no vaccines and with anti-malaria drug resistance a recurring problem, environmental controls for malaria have focused on elimination of breeding sites in stagnant pools of water and on aggressive treatment after diagnosis. Pesticide-impregnated bed nets have been disseminated widely to protect against the night-time transmission of malaria (via Anopheles mosquito) and new pesticide-impregnated wall liners are even under review.
Dengue, on the other hand, is widespread in numerous countries. With no vaccine or adequate treatment for more serious cases, dengue poses a major health threat. Moreover, dengue mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, A. albopictus) are day-feeding species necessitating alternative means to limit exposure in the home, school and workplace. Oddly, the use of the simplest and safest technology, window and door screens, is largely unknown in most developing countries. This project will seek to demonstrate their effectiveness in reducing the incidence of disease and mortality, as well as health care costs and lost productivity, and to establish micro- and small businesses to provide low-cost services of joiners and carpenters to measure and frame diverse and unevenly-shaped windows and doors and install and maintain screens. Laurence Simon. GDS Director, and Vinya Ariyaratne, GDS Researcher and General Secretary of Sarvodaya Shramadana in Sri Lanka, are the Principal Investigators.
Pesticide-free post-harvest storage
The post-harvest sector in agriculture aims to maximize the availability of food to consumers and viable seed to farmers through effective storage, transport and processing with minimum loss of quantity, quality and monetary value. While small farmers in developing nations traditionally stored durable grains on farm or homestead, or in collective village grain banks, traditional storage methods began to fail with green revolution varieties. With rising post-harvest losses, farmers throughout developing nations began to use pesticides, often engineered for field applications and not storage environments, which they would buy in local markets. Without training or knowledge of the health hazards, farmers and their families continue today to expose themselves to highly toxic substances.
Post-harvest losses occur when grain is exposed to moisture, insects, birds and rodents. Poor storage often results in fungal contamination and the growth of dangerous mycotoxins. Storage losses account for significant losses to food security and farmer household income. They account for massive losses at national buffer stocks in some countries and loss of life when emergency food relief is lost for lack of storage.
With the phasing out of methyl bromide, a major fumigant in grain storage, mandated by the Montreal Protocol of 1987, Prof. Simon began the search for innovative technologies for environmentally safe and affordable grain storage. In association with Israeli food storage scientists Shlomo Navarro and Jonathan Donahaye, the first trials in the developing world of hermetic storage were conducted under the supervision of the UN World Food Program in the 1980s. Today, these technologies and other simple methods are answering the call of governments, NGOs and farmer cooperatives. Our Applied Knowledge and Intervention Network (AKIN) partner, the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network, together with the GDS Center, are exploring the establishment of the Horn of Africa’s first post-harvest research and training facility. Laurence Simon and Joseph Assan, in cooperation with Shlomo Navarro, are the Principal Investigators.