Author: agbn0001

Magnolias in Thailand

Published
By

Written by Max Johansson, student at the Landscape engineering programme in Alnarp, about his Bachelor’s thesis in Thailand. 

In January 2025 I happily received the Minor Fields Study grant through SLU Global, financed by Sida. This grant made it possible for me to write my bachelor thesis about Magnolia in Thailand and to see these fantastic trees up close.

My journey starts in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok or Krung Thep – which is a shorter version of the very long, here translated to English, full name of the city that reads: ‘’City of Angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra’s behest.’’ With such a fancy name you can only begin to think that the city has a lot in store for any visitor.

My supervisor and help in the country Dr. Voradol Chamchumroon welcomed me to the BKF Herbarium at the Royal Forest Department. At BKF their mission is to complete and categorize the floras of Thailand, and luckily enough for me, the magnolia flora of Thailand had already been completed and systemized in their collection. This allowed me to examine dry specimens up close. The dry specimens does not contain preserved flowers but dried leaves and pods with seeds are still interesting to look at, I indeed spent almost two whole days scrolling through the filing cabinets containing Magnoliaceae specimens. Besides this the building of the BKF contained many interesting live specimens mainly from guesting researchers that have come to Thailand and given names to earlierly undiscovered species.

Building of BKF Herbarium and filing cabinet containing dry specimens.

My thesis focuses on the magnolias native to Thailand with the aim of exploring the possibilities for hybridization with temperate magnolias, and in extension to broaden available information for future hybridization efforts. I have focused on genetic compatibility between magnolia species and sections as well as researching the cultural importance of Thailands magnolias and also looking at their aesthetic values.

When one thinks of Thailand what first comes to mind are beaches and coconuts, but that is not where you find the special and beautiful Magnolia but rather in the mountains. I traveled to the north of Thailand to the outskirts of Chiang Mai, a cooler and mountaineous province which offers a great climate for these trees. Well there I visited the magnolia- garden and collection of Satha Suesatchan whom I had established contact with prior to leaving for Thailand. In his garden I could view several native magnolias up close in different sizes and ages. Two species that were mentioned by practically everyone were the Champee and Champa or Magnolia x alba and Magnolia Champaca , which I now had the luck to see in person, unfortunately they did not carry flowers at the time but I did get more chances.

My journey in search of magnolia took me to a handful of the most famous botanical gardens of Thailand but something that was truly special to me was an excursion put together by Dr. Voradol Chamchumroon. He and another botanist of BKF took me for three very filled days of magnolia viewing. In a car together from Bangkok to Khao Yai national park and further to the ancient site of Sab Champa village. The village is named after the ancient and revered Champa magnolia. Well there I got to see an entire protected area dedicated to magnolia conservation of primarily Magnolia sirindhorniae. The trip went further to Phu Kae and Khao Hin Sorn botanical gardens where at the second one I finally had the chance to see the flowering Champee. About ten trees stood in an avenue and were were cut in a very peculiar way that resembled the pollarding so famously known in Sweden.

Enormous Ceiba pentandra in Khao Yai national park. Magnolia x alba in Khao Hin Sorn.

Something that really struck me were that almost nobody outside the botanical world had any idea what a magnolia tree was when I explained what I was looking for. But as soon as I said the words Champee and Champa a big smile and a very reassuring ‘’Ohhhh Champee Champaaa!’’ broke out every time. The flowers are truly known to everyone and they are commonly used for crafting Puang Malai flower garlands which is given as a gift to another person or as offering at the buddhist temples. You can see people running between cars at the red lights trying to sell the garlands from these two flowers but they are also to be seen in a plastic miniature version in every other taxi in the country.

Puang Malai from Magnolia champaca. Sab Champa magnolia conservational area.

From my interviews and talks with botanist and collectors/breeders I got to know that the Champee and Champa is so popular in Thailand because it is a very easily grown tree, it is cheap and historically readily available in most parts of the country perhaps except for the most coastal regions. So why were or are the people in Thailand need of a magnolia tree at their house? In short because they use it as offering to the temple, or simply as fragrant and beautiful flowers in their homes. The good scent of the magnolia is supposed to symbolize cleanliness or purity of ones soul, and a visit to a temple is not complete without an offering making the magnolia flowers an important element in Thai life.

More than any literature review could, simply living there would confirm to me what magnolias really are the most important to Thailand.

One challenge that arose early on was that not all trees were flowering at the same time. I planned the visits as early as possible so that I would have a ‘’face’’ to the species when I would do my literature review. Luckily I had access to the digitalized Magnoliaceae flora of Thailand from BKF. I was sent categorized pictures of ones that I had not yet seen in bloom which helped me in visualizing what a potential hybrid could possibly look like.

Towards the end of my study I was invited by the Botanical Society- and the National Biobank of Thailand to give a lecture of my own choice for their monthly seminar. I chose to talk about magnolia in Sweden and Thailand and to include findings from my thesis. I also had the chance to proudly present SLU Alnarp and the Karl Evert Flinck magnolia forest.

What is even more fun is that the National Biobank used the information I presented about the Swedish hybrid Magnolia x gotoburgensis for one of their quiz questions to win prizes.

Poster from the seminar. Magnolia virginiana in Chiang Mai.

During my time in Thailand I took the opportunity to practice the language every day, and I am now proud to say that I have learnt something that years ago would seem impossible to me. I also practiced the virtues of patience and curiosity, I took every chance I could to gain knowledge and to look at all the trees and flowers in the parks and not just the magnolias. It is a powerful contrast to Sweden to see the incredible trees, flowers and leaves of all colors shapes and sizes.

Thank you to MFS and to SLU Global for giving me the truly special opportunity to conduct my bachelor thesis in another part of the world. Thanks to my supervisors Anna Levinsson and Voradol Chamchumroon for guiding and helping me. Thank you to all staff at BKF.

Max Johansson

The bitter side of honeybush: exclusion and inequality in South Africa’s honeybush tea industry

Published
By

Written by Marta Cefaro, based on her research for her Master’s thesis in rural development and natural resource management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, in collaboration with Nelson Mandela University under the supervision of George Sekonya and Klara Fischer. Marta’s research is driven by an interest in the distribution of benefits within supply chains and the protection of Indigenous rights. First published on SIANI website.

Honeybush (Cyclopia spp.), a plant endemic to South Africa, has gained international popularity in recent decades for its health benefits, particularly as a tea. Linked to the Khoi and San peoples (Indigenous Peoples of southern Africa who were living in the area before Bantu-speaking agropastoralists), who hold traditional knowledge related to its use, honeybush has been a source of livelihood for generations. Despite their vital role in developing this knowledge, these communities are excluded from the commercial boom. Why? The answers are rooted in South Africa’s systemic inequalities.

Commercialization for whom?

Historically, honeybush was traditionally processed at home for household consumption or local sale, but since the 1990s the industry has shifted towards more formalized commercial structures. This shift has excluded local communities from value-added stages of production. Communities of traditional knowledge holders are only involved in the first stage of the supply chain: the wild harvesting of the plant. The harvested raw material is then sold to processing facilities where it is processed, packaged, and marketed. Without access to resources such as capital and technology, these communities are unable to process and market the tea themselves, leaving them with only a minimal share of the final product’s value.

The story of the Zoar community

The village of Zoar is located in the Kannaland Municipality in the Western Cape province of the country.  The story and challenges of commercializing honeybush in the Zoar community mirror the complexity of natural resource governance in rural South Africa. Within the community of Zoar, traditional leaders – who exist alongside state authorities in many rural villages of South Africa –  play a key role in the governance of honeybush. They claim control over who gets access to communal lands, where wild honeybush is harvested, and how the benefits from its sale are distributed. Community members who are not part of the traditional authority can only benefit from honeybush harvesting by selling their labor as wild harvesters during harvesting season.

Governance issues are further complicated by the overlap and competition between two different authorities: the local Communal Property Association and the village’s traditional authority. In rural villages undergoing land restitution, South African law permits the creation of Communal Property Associations (CPAs). These are legal entities that can be democratically elected by community members and their primary purpose is to manage communal land on behalf of the community. However, under customary law—recognized by South African legislation—land administration is the responsibility of traditional authorities, who have historically fulfilled this role in rural villages. This situation leads to an overlap between the roles of the two institutions and creates a permanent power struggle. In Zoar, while communal land has been transferred to the CPA, traditional leaders claim their role as decision-makers in local resource governance. This conflict raises questions about which institutions can be considered legitimate and accountable for local resource management, such as the one of honeybush.

Government solutions fall short

Confronted with such inequalities, the South African government has recognized the importance of integrating marginalized communities into the commercialization of biological resources, such as honeybush, through initiatives like Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) agreements. These agreements are intended to ensure that local communities receive a fair share of the benefits resulting from the commercial use of biological resources, particularly when traditional knowledge is involved. However, the implementation of ABS agreements faces significant challenges.

One of the key criticisms is that the negotiation process for ABS agreements often favors more powerful, organized actors, leaving out less-recognized communities or individuals. In many cases, these agreements are negotiated between the industry and traditional leaders, who may not represent and be recognized by all knowledge holders. This situation risks perpetuating inequalities within communities, as those with less access to power or resources are excluded from benefiting from the industry.

Inequalities rooted in the country’s colonial and apartheid history

A major issue with ABS agreements is that they do not address and challenge structural inequalities in access to resources such as land, capital and technology. By leaving power relations unchanged, they do not enable the development of community-based or -owned businesses.

The barriers to equitable inclusion in the honeybush industry are deeply rooted in South Africa’s colonial and apartheid history. These historical injustices have entrenched patterns of exclusion, through land dispossession and inequitable resource distribution, which continue to hinder communities’ access to the resources needed for meaningful participation in the development of a biodiversity economy.

A way forward

The commercialization of honeybush might offer economic potential for local communities in South Africa, but this can only be realized if deeply rooted inequalities are addressed. On one hand, reliance on traditional authorities for resource control and negotiations risks sidelining marginalized groups or individuals. On the other hand, mechanisms like ABS agreements fail to tackle the structural inequalities that underpin exclusion from the industry. A more inclusive approach to honeybush commercialization is needed – one that empowers communities through improved access to resources, supports community-owned enterprises, and ensures equitable governance structures.

Gendered perspectives on nature-positive solutions: insights from small-scale farmers in Kenya

Published
By
A farmer showing her field in Kisumu County, Kenya. Her fields had suffered severe soil erosion in recent few years. Photo by Elsa Wallin for NATURE+

This blog post is written by Dickson Kinuthia, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Elsa Wallin, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. It was first published at CGIAR blog.

Nature-positive solutions face many barriers to adoption. Research in Kenya shows that entrenched gender roles, which tend to leave women the brunt of the work and lesser economic power, need to be considered for the successful implementation of nature-positive agriculture, particularly if it leads to higher farm income. The design and implementation of nature-positive solutions therefore requires keen attention to the gender divide.

Agricultural-based livelihoods, especially for women and other marginalized groups, are at risk due to multiple challenges including climate change, entrenched inequality, lack of investment to improve livelihoods and inadequate policy frameworks to support small-scale producers.

Additionally, the prioritization of mass-scale production of cheap food, industrial agriculture has inflicted a disastrous cost on the environment and people, leading to deforestation, land degradation, water depletion and biodiversity loss and increased global greenhouse gas emissions. global greenhouse gas emissions. This status-quo approach to agriculture adds to the challenges faced by smallholders, who rely on healthy, natural systems to eke out a living.

The CGIAR Nature-Positive Solutions Initiatives (NATURE+) aims to address these challenges by re-imagining, co-creating, and transforming agri-food systems to deliver food and livelihoods for people sustainably. This involves responsible natural resources management, enabling agriculture to be a net positive contributor to nature, and staying within planetary boundaries. Nature-positive solutions are critical for reducing and reversing biodiversity loss while improving food production and strengthening smallholder farmers’ resilience.

However, research remains limited on the gender-differentiated impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices, perception, awareness of and preferences for nature-positive solutions, and capacities to contribute to nature-positive food systems. A qualitative study conducted under the framework of NATURE+ in Kenya aims to shed light and understand gender differences in perception, awareness, constraints and incentives to the adoption of nature-positive solutions. The results presented here draw on this qualitative data collected in the Kenyan counties of Kajiado, Kisumu and Vihiga.

The NATURE+ research team at a farm in Kisumu County, Kenya that has mango trees integrated in the field. Photo: courtesy of Elsa Wallin for NATURE+

The overall pattern of labor division revealed clear gendered responsibilities. For example, women actively engaged in planting maize and vegetables for household consumption or lower-value market sales. Men engaged in planting beans, millet, and other crops that fetch higher prices in the market. Moreover, men were involved in field preparations such as ploughing, as this was perceived to be a challenging task that required a man’s strength. Women, on the other hand, played a key role in planting, weeding, and harvesting, often tedious and time-consuming tasks. Concerning livestock, men tended to own cattle, sheep, and goats while women often only owned poultry, which are less profitable.

Despite limited ownership of livestock, women played a significant role in caring for livestock. They were involved in feeding the animals and milking the cows. A male participant in Kajiado County explained that the woman in the household was responsible for milking the cows and cleaning the cowshed and “the man comes in only during the slaughtering and selling of cattle.”

In addition to the farm work, women carried a considerable burden of responsibilities in the home. This led women to work long hours and have less free time than men in general. In the literature, this is often referred to as time poverty, affecting women. Therefore, women have limited possibilities to participate in training on nature-positive solutions and to adopt beneficial agricultural practices that are more time-consuming, such as nature-positive practices.

Technology-adoption questions

Many farmers expressed a vision of a more mechanized agriculture future to run their farms. However, the adoption of technology could have both positive and negative gender outcomes. For example, the time-consuming activity of fetching water was the responsibility of women and children, but in case a motorcycle was used men were willing to help with the task, thus reducing the disproportionate allocation on household chores for women. Similarly, the threshing and winnowing of sorghum was another female-dominated task performed manually, but if machinery were used, men would be willing to participate. However, it could also have the contrary effect of men taking over and excluding women from the activity and as such keeping them from learning and limiting their influence on decision-making on sorghum cultivation and sale.

The gender division of labor and control of agricultural resources could vary slightly according to the household structure. Monogamous families had a clear structure of the man being the head of the household, overseeing decisions related to crops and livestock. In polygamous families, resources such as livestock and land were often strictly divided between the wives and therefore allowed for some more independence in decision-making. However, the husband was the ultimate owner, and the wives were still required to do the necessary labor to care for the men’s fields and livestock. In female-headed households, women were less confined by strict gender roles and could participate in tasks and acquire skills they were traditionally not given access to. Despite this, they often had low access to resources limiting the productivity and management of their farm.

Considering that women were in general disfavored when it came to agricultural resource access and ownership and had a disproportionate burden of time-consuming responsibilities, gender and women empowerment needs to be at the core when promoting nature-positive solutions or sustainable agricultural practices in general. Nevertheless, men could perceive it as threatening to their role as household heads and providers if women got too much influence in agricultural decision-making processes. A key take-away is therefore to work simultaneously to support women’s empowerment and educate and involve men to reduce the risk of tensions within the community. This is crucial in promoting long-term sustainability when supporting small-scale farmers in transitioning to nature-positive solutions.

In conclusion, nature-positive solutions are critical for restoration and prevention of further biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, while ensuring that agricultural production bridges the food and nutrition security gap. Understanding gender-differentiated roles, constraints, and preferences can enable policymakers and practitioners to design and promote nature-positive practices that meet men’s and women’s needs while protecting nature. These should be disseminated in ways that reach, benefit, and empower women. Gender-responsive design and scaling of nature-positive solutions can help reduce gender inequalities in agrifood systems, while enabling both men and women to contribute to environmental sustainability.

Challenging young minds

Published
By

This blog post is written by Kerstin Scragg, teacher at Celsiusskolan in Uppsala. 

Me and Erik, one of the high school students from SLU Youth Institute.

I have had the great pleasure to join SLU Youth Institute in Des Moines, Iowa, to participate at Global Youth Institute and the World Food Prize conference which focuses on future food security. We have enjoyed inspiring talks and lectures, participated in different workshops and our two Swedish high school students have presented essays at a round table conversation together with other students and experts in respective field.  I work as a teacher at a high school in Uppsala and this trip really started a year ago when I signed my class up to write the Global Youth Institute’s Global Challenge essay. The overall topic of these essays is the UN’s sustainable development goal 2, End Hunger. The students chose a country with food insecurity related problems, in addition, they described the food security situation in the country and explained what is currently being done to battle these issues. In the end, they handed their essays in to SLU Youth Institute where some were chosen to participate in one of three round table conversations, given at each campus. One, out of these twenty-five students at each round table conversation, was elected to go to the U.S. to present the essay and take part of the Global Youth Institute conference in Des Moines, so here we are.

At the Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, we have enjoyed several interesting talks and presentations by leading figures in the battle of ending hunger globally, such as the CEO at the African Bank, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, this years’ World Food Prize laureates and many more. One example of a lecture was when we learned more about deep space travelling and some challenges feeding the crew during these journeys. Another interesting lecture taught us how artificial intelligence, AI, can help women in agriculture.

Maja and Erik at the House of Laureates

What I find inspiring is how these, about a hundred teenagers, are at the very centre of it all. Whether it being the content of the talks or activities chosen, all is relevant and elaborated for these possible future researchers and policy makers and, despite the long days, seems to succeed in engaging them no matter the topic. It is truly luxurious to watch and take part in these days, which I am sure will shape these young minds for a long time. This is not only an important investment for the future but also a way to let these students know how much they matter.

We are probably all aware of some of the challenges that Swedish schools face, such as large class sizes, which leads to the fact that it can be difficult to challenge gifted students every lesson. During this conference students are just that, they are challenged both socially and intellectually. To me, seeing my student, along with the others, being stimulated and inspired by the activities and talks at the Global Youth Institute, has been the most rewarding part of the journey and I can only hope I get to send more students to Global Youth Institute in the future.

 

SLU Youth Institute (SLU YI) aims to create interest among Swedish youth for global food security and to find sustainable solutions to the global challenges based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. SLU Youth Institute is the Swedish part of many Youth Institutes coordinated by the World Food Prize Foundation. Read more at our Swedish website!

A journey back in time – Reflections from IUFRO 2024

Published
By

This blog post is written by Anna-Klara Lindeborg, research advisor at SLU Global, in conjunction to IUFRO 2024.

Rubber plantation in Laos. Photo: Anna-Klara Lindeborg

As IUFRO 2024 – Forest and Society towards 2050 is coming to an end, I am reflecting on some of the sessions at the conference in conjunction to my own career path and research. The focus is to put attention to the research within the forestry sector and gender, a topic that has been part of my life for almost twenty years and an evident topic at IUFRO 2024.

Taking part in the session Local ecological knowledge of non-wood forest products for sustainable forest management and human well-being in diverse contexts, brings me back to 2006, when I was carrying out a Minor Field Study in Laos about gendered labour and the collection of fuel wood, which later became the reason why I wanted to apply for a PhD position.

When I was admitted as a PhD student in Social and Economic Geography at Uppsala University one year later, I signed up for a PhD course in Forest Governance at SLU. Part of the course was to participate in a pre-conference training workshop in Umeå with the title Adaptation of Forests to Climate Change: Working effectively at the Interface of Forest Science and Forest Policy, jointly organised by IUFRO’s Special Programme for Developing Countries (IUFRO-SPDC) and SLU. A special session was set up focusing on gender relations – Asking the right questions of society-forest adaptation – How can a gender perspective help? Gun Lidestav, associate professor in forest management at SLU, was the main driver of the session. She has been heavily engaged in IUFRO in several ways and in the field of gender and forestry. In IUFRO 2024 she was moderating the poster session In practice of a gender equal and inclusive forestry sector. One of the presentations focused on the project Gender dimensions to climate resilience of cocoa farming systems in West Africa, involving SLU professor Francisco Aguilar.

Another researcher at SLU contributing to the field of gender and forestry is Professor Seema Arora-Jonsson, who was teaching at the Forest Governance PhD course in 2008 that I was undertaking and was now participating in IUFRO 2024 in the session Integration of gender and diversity perspectives in knowledge production, amongst other things.

At the rubber plantation. Photo: Anna-Klara Lindeborg

Inspired by Lidestav’s and Arora-Jonsson’s work, I continued writing on my PhD thesis, which I defended in 2012 with the title Where Gendered Spaces Bend – the rubber phenomenon in Northern Laos. Associate professor Ann Grubbström, researcher in Environmental Communication at SLU, was in addition important for my research, as her comments and input meant a lot for my PhD thesis. She also participated at IUFRO 2024 in the poster session Smart Forestry – Transforming Forestry and the Future Forest Workforce and has hence contributed a lot to the research field of gender and forestry.

After different turns and career paths, I started as a research advisor at SLU Global in 2021. One of the tasks I have been engaged with recently is the MOOC for Gender Equality and Diversity in Forestry, coordinated by Ida Wallin, researcher at the Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, SLU. The MOOC is supposed to achieve gender equality and diversity in forest-related sectors as well as bridging the education–practice gap. In addition, the course is one of the outputs for Gender Equality Taskforce within IUFRO, an important and relevant contribution from SLU Global and contributes to the implementation of the policy for SLU’s global contribution to Agenda 2030.

So to conclude it seems that several things are coming together attending IUFRO 2024. Almost 20 years have passed since I started to engage in the gender and forestry sector, but it is still a very vibrant and visible theme that is needed, even though it has developed a lot along the way. Many researchers at SLU are also involved within this broad research field, just a few of them mentioned here. I am pleased to say that I have contributed a little bit to this, however additional research is still needed on the topic which I hope to see at IUFRO 2029 in Kenya.