ITC Archives - WITA

Beyond the fibre: Capturing cotton’s full value in Africa

Johnny Morris — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 15:23:20 +0000

Cotton by-products – such as cottonseed oil and oilcakes – can contribute meaningfully to reducing poverty, creating jobs and increasing economic growth in Africa. These derivatives can represent up to 30% of the value of seed cotton. Yet oil and cakes have not been fully exploited, despite a potential of 400,000 tons of oil and 500,000 tons of protein – vital for the growing livestock industry. Stalks and other by-products have also been neglected.

This paper explores ways of capturing the full value of cotton in Africa. It illustrates the benefits of a more systematic way of exploiting the substantial untapped potential of cotton by-products.

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Gérald Estur is a coordinator, editor and collaborating author, international cotton trade consultant, and former Statistician of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), Washington, DC, USA.

To read the original report, please visit here

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ITC Annual Report 2019

Brian Carpenter — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 13:21:24 +0000

The world is facing the greatest threat of the 21st century so far. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all facets of the way we work, produce, consume and trade. It has transformed how we live as individuals and how countries and territories interact, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities while creating new ones. This global problem requires a global solution. An integral part of that response is strengthening multilateralism and the agencies that shore up international collaboration and partnership, such as the United Nations family.

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To read the original report, click here

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Building a Global Framework for Digital Health Services in the Era of COVID-19

Emma Donahue — Tue, 26 May 2020 11:01:24 +0000

Digital health—the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to provide and improve health services—holds transformational potential for health care around the world. Many digital health products are already proven, readily available, and adaptable to all kinds of countries. Digital health can help low and middle-income countries (LMICs), in particular, overcome traditional barriers to better health care, especially staffing and other physical resource constraints. Digital technologies are showing their potential during the current coronavirus crisis by facilitating collaboration between health-care researchers and reducing the need for in-person care. While health data and digital technologies are not a silver bullet to COVID-19 and other health issues, they will be crucial to improving overall health outcomes in countries around the world. LMICs need to work with international partners, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and development banks, to marshal the resources, expertise, and strategies to help them realize the true potential of digital health.

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To view the original report, click here.

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