‘Nutritional quality must be at the heart of climate smart agriculture’ - researchers

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa need to diversify away from growing maize and switch to crops that are resilient to climate change and supply enough key micronutrients for the population, according to a major research study. 

Maize is a staple crop across the region where it is grown and consumed in vast quantities.  

Led by Dr Stewart Jennings from the University of Leeds, the study argues that diversification towards fruits, vegetables and crops such as cassava, millet and sorghum will improve nutrition security in the country, meaning sufficient micronutrients essential for good health.  

The study also says the quantity of food produced must increase - and unless yields are boosted to an unprecedented level, more land will have to be brought into agricultural production. 

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to around 1.2 billion people, and according to figures from the World Bank, the population will grow by an additional 740 million people by 2050.  

Farmers will have to boost the amount of food grown at a time when climate change will result in increasingly extreme conditions, affecting what crops can be grown. 

The researchers say the population is at risk of “food and nutrition insecurity” unless effective ways of adapting to climate change are identified. Integral to any decisions is a requirement that crops need to be nutritious and provide sufficient energy for the population.  

Professor Jennie Macdiarmid, from the Rowett Institute at the University of Aberdeen and one of the authors of the paper, said: “The study has highlighted the need to place nutrition at the heart of agricultural policy to avoid the long-term unintended consequence of failing to produce food that can deliver the nutritional needs of the population. 

“If policy solutions focus only on increasing production of calories and adapting to be climate smart, it is likely there will be negative consequences for health through nutritionally poor diets.” 

The study - Stakeholder-driven transformative adaptation is needed for climate-smart nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa - is published today (Tuesday, January 2) in the scientific journal Nature Food.  

More than 50 researchers contributed to the investigation, which involved talking to policymakers and other stakeholders in the food and agriculture sectors in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. 

‘Agriculture and nutrition policies can sit in siloes’ 

The researchers used the iFEED assessment framework to investigate policy options to create an agricultural system that is resilient to climate change and supply enough nutritionally adequate food to meet the food and nutritional needs of the population. 

“Too often food, agriculture and nutrition policies sit in siloes across different government departments,” said Dr Jennings, a Research Fellow in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds.  

“This study provides holistic evidence that combines information on environmental impacts of food system changes and the changes needed for population level nutrition security. The research shows that action can be taken to adapt to climate change and improve nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa.”  

Stakeholders in each country identified key uncertainties in the future of the food system. iFEED explores these uncertain futures and identifies key policy issues that decision makers working in the agriculture and food sectors need to consider.  

The scientists say there needs to be a fundamental shift - or “transformative approach” - in agriculture to incorporate nutritional needs.  

Diversifying into soybean production is one option. Soybean crops are more likely to withstand the impacts of climate change compared to maize. Dr Ndashe Kapulu, from the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute and contributing author to the study has been involved in studies to assess how soybean could improve the income of commercial and small-scale farmers.  
 
He said: "Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa will be better able to handle climate change and other stresses if they have more diverse food systems, such as the transition to soybean production in Zambia.  

“As scientists, we need to generate enough evidence in our research to help make changes that support and guide actions to make the agrifood system more resilient.”   

Increasing the production and consumption of animal-based products in sub-Saharan Africa could also improve nutritional quality of diets but the scientists warn that it should not reach the unsustainable production levels seen in some higher income countries.  

More animal-based products would cause a rise in greenhouse gas emissions, although the researchers say that this could be tolerable given sub-Saharan Africa’s need to reduce the risk of nutritionally inadequate diets - and that its greenhouse gas emissions are relatively low. 

The study involved researchers from the University of Leeds, University of Aberdeen, the Met Office, Chatham House and FANPRAN. 

iFEED is a database - developed in part by the University of Leeds under the GCRF AFRICAP programme and the CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience - to help decision makers deliver food system policies which are resilient to climate change and deliver nutritious food - reducing the risk of food and nutrition insecurity.  

END 

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JOURNAL

Nature Food

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Stakeholder-driven transformative adaptation is needed for climate-smart nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa

Disclaimer: AAAS a

Australia PM considers extra inflation relief as families struggle

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses a joint press conference with US President Joe Biden in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, US, Oct 25, 2023.
PHOTO: Reuters file

JANUARY 02, 2024 


SYDNEY — Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday (Jan 3) his centre-left government would consider new cost-of-living relief measures ahead of the May budget but without stoking inflation.

Australian households are under broad financial pressure from high inflation, which spiked as high as 7.8 per cent in December 2022, before slowing to 5.4 per cent in the third quarter.

"We've asked Treasury and Finance, as we did in the lead-up to the last budget, we asked them to give consideration to what are the measures that can take pressure off families on cost-of-living without putting pressure on inflation," Albanese said in a press briefing in Sydney.

"That's the key issue here. If you were just to distribute additional cash to people, you potentially make inflation worse, and therefore don't help to solve the problem."

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has had to lift interest rates to a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent to try to bring inflation within its target band of two-three per cent. RBA has jacked up interest rates by a whopping 425 basis points since May last year.

The Albanese-led Labour government in May 2023 announced A$23 billion (S$20.6 billion) in targeted cost-of-living relief, but has since resisted pressure for more relief.

Albanese said steps were being taken to remove all trade impediments with China, Australia's largest trading partner.

His government has taken credit for patching up ties with China since coming to office in May 2022. China has lifted most trade blocks imposed amid a 2020 diplomatic dispute after Australia called for an enquiry into the origins of Covid-19.

Albanese's approval ratings dipped last year as families grapple with high living costs. Two polls out last month showed Albanese was in negative territory, with his disapproval ratings outstripping his approval numbers.

When asked if there would be a federal election this year, Albanese said the next one "is due in May 2025", adding the three-year electoral cycle in Australia was "too short" and suggested four-year terms, in line with Australian states.

The Organized Crime Threat to Latin American Democracies

Governments have learned to manage many threats, but they are failing to curb the growing power of organized crime.

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori attends a trial as a witness at the Callao naval base on March 15, 2018. Mariana Bazo/ Reuters

Blog Post by Will Freeman

via Los Angeles Times

 from Latin America’s Moment and Latin America Studies Program

January 2, 2024 

    

Peru’s last dictator, Alberto Fujimori, has pulled off a jailbreak years in the making—not by tunneling his way out of prison but by the graces of the country’s highest court. His early release in December is part of a broader problem in Latin America, where the line between governments and crime keeps getting blurrier.

The 85-year-old Fujimori was a little more than halfway through a 25-year sentence for greenlighting extrajudicial killings and kidnappings and embezzling $15 million during his decade-long rule, which ended in 2000. But Peru’s Constitutional Court was apparently unbothered by his unpaid debt to society. The court brought about his release by reinstating a years-old presidential pardon.

That blatantly violated international law: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights forbade Peru from shortening Fujimori’s sentence. But as the country’s democracy slid into chaos over the last year, Fujimori’s still powerful family worked to get sympathetic judges on the bench

The resulting release of Fujimori, who ran Peru as a mafia state, comes as the country’s politicians are chipping away at the capacity to investigate corruption and organized crime. Peru isn’t alone. In several countries across the region, politicians appear determined to weaken the state’s ability to counter criminal groups.

In Guatemala, dozens of lawmakers sanctioned by the United States for corruption have fought to block President-elect Bernardo Arévalo, an anti-corruption crusader, from taking office. In Ecuador, violent gangs are on their way to taking over, having recruited dozens of public officials to do their bidding, according to the country’s top prosecutor. In Mexico and Brazil, drug cartels and paramilitaries loom large over some state and local governments.

Latin America’s democracies and democrats don’t get enough credit for weathering inequality, violence, and economic stagnation. Miraculously, only two of the region’s former democracies, Venezuela and Nicaragua, have collapsed into full-fledged authoritarianism. In no other part of the world have so many democracies held up under such pressures for so long.

They have even pulled off remarkable but often overlooked successes, nearly halving the share of Latin Americans living in poverty since 2000, largely taming hyperinflation, ending a long tradition of military coups and civil wars, and putting leaders such as Fujimori in jail.

But the increasing power of organized crime stands out as a threat they haven’t countered effectively. For the last 40 years—about as long as Latin America’s democracies have been around—the region’s illicit economies have experienced a practically uninterrupted boom. Chief among them, the global cocaine trade spawned some of the world’s most sophisticated transnational criminal organizations. Such groups have inserted themselves into the above-ground economy by laundering their vast wealth and have branched out into other illegal activities: extortion; mining, logging and fishing in protected areas; and, increasingly, human smuggling.

Organized crime can’t grow without state protection, and Latin American mafias have long made it a mission to capture parts of the state. They have had at least as much success amassing political power as any of the region’s political parties. Lawmakers, police forces, courts, mayors, port authorities, air traffic control, and even presidents have been bought off or coerced to ensure that trafficked drugs, resources, and people flow freely to their destinations—often, in the United States.

Now much of Latin America lives under a hybrid form of government in which both democratic states and organized criminal groups exercise power—sometimes in competition and sometimes together. It’s often immensely difficult to tell who is really in control. “There aren’t just three branches of government here,” a lawyer in Mexico City recently told me. “There’s a fourth: organized crime.”

Until the last decade, criminal groups mainly threatened to capture state institutions in countries that were either major drug producers—such as Colombia and Peru—or unlucky enough to be situated along major trafficking routes: Venezuela, Mexico, and northern Central America. But that’s changing as ambitious criminal groups establish footholds in new countries and markets.

Once-peaceful Ecuador has become a haven for violent gangs specializing in extortion, driving one of Latin America’s largest recent waves of emigration. Costa Rica, a strong democracy known for its safety, is grappling with an alarming surge in killings. Ports in Chile and Uruguay are gaining new importance in the cocaine trade.

When mafias and states merge, corruption and violence can reach such extremes that people will settle for any alternative, even an authoritarian one. The idea of the tough-on-crime strongman has caught on again despite its demonstrated shortcomings.

Fujimori, for example, dispensed with democracy to crush a brutal insurgency that had terrorized Peruvians for years. But as independent institutions and oversight fell away, top state officials didn’t eliminate crime; they just took over the business. It wasn’t until more than a quarter-million Peruvians took to the streets that they were able to oust Fujimori and end his inner circle’s crime spree.

Latin America’s independent prosecutors, judges, and police have shown a better way to tackle crime. In Colombia, Guatemala, and post-Fujimori Peru, they convicted dozens of public officials of abetting organized crime, weakening mafias by depriving them of state protection. Ecuador’s attorney general is making a similar push now.

The results stick only when prosecutions are backed up by anti-corruption reforms, which often prove politically difficult. U.S. support can help.

Congress has dedicated relatively little spending to bolstering the rule of law in Latin America, especially considering that Americans’ voracious drug demand pays a good portion of the salaries of the region’s crime bosses. Meanwhile, U.S.-made firearms flow too easily over our borders, arming Latin America’s gangs and cartels.

Washington can’t manage the unprecedented hemispheric surge in migration without Latin American governments’ help. But securing their cooperation must not mean turning a blind eye to emerging mafia states or abandoning reformers.

Fujimori appeared to be swimming against the tide of history in the 1990s, when every other Latin American country besides Cuba had become a democracy. In retrospect, he looks more like a harbinger of challenges to come. But Peru eventually turned a corner; perhaps Latin America can too.

France’s Triomphant-Class: The Most Expensive Submarines on Earth




January 2, 2024 

The French Navy (Marine Nationale) and their four Le Triomphant-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) are the most expensive subs on the planet today. What they could do in a war explains why. 

by Christian D. Orr

While the Seawolf-Class nuclear attack submarine is indeed the most expensive in American naval history, it is surprisingly not the most expensive submarine in the world. That distinction instead belongs to the French Navy (Marine Nationale) and their four Le Triomphant-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).

From L’Arc de Triomphe to Les Sous-marins de Triomphant

France’s claim over the world’s most expensive submarine may come as a surprise to some, in light of former POTUS Donald Trump’s criticism of the dearth of defense expenditures on the part of the European NATO members. As of 2020, France spent the equivalent of $52,47 billion on defense, which equates to a 2.07% share of GDP. Evidently, however, the French government doesn’t mind spending more on submarines. 

Just how expensive are the Triomphant-class boats, or the SNLE-NG (Sous-Marins Nucleaires Lanceurs Engins-Nouvelle Generation/Next Generation Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine)?

The Federation of American Scientists provides these mind-boggling numbers:

“Constructing the fourth SNLE cost 13 billion francs, and avoided a drawdown in deployments. Of the submarines currently in the strategic submarine force (FOST), four are always operational and two are at sea. With four SNLEs, three could be operational at any given time. The SNLE-NG program is estimated to cost 88.4 billion francs for four submarines. The average cost per submarine has increased from 10 billion francs in 1986 to 12.5 billion.”

To translate that into today’s monetary figures, we turn to FXTOP’s handy foreign currency inflation calculator, which shows that if the French Franc still existed today instead of the Euro, 12.5 billion francs in 1986 would be the equivalent of 23.66 billion francs today, which in turn would equate to $3.49 billion.

To put that in further perspective, the average cost of a Seawolf is an even $3 billion, its 22 Virginia-class successors built so far have averaged out to a unit cost of $2.8 billion, and the time-honored Los Angeles-class SSNs price out to a downright frugal $1.6 billion per boat.

More Bang for the Buck?

So then, just what sort of value does the Marine Nationale get for these successors to the 1967 vintage Redoutable-class submarines?

As per the Seaforcesorg info page, “They provide the ocean-based component (the Force océanique stratégique) of France's nuclear deterrent strike force, the Force de Frappe. This class reportedly produces approximately 1/1000 of the detectable noise of the Redoutable-class SSBN's, and they are ten times more sensitive in detecting other submarines.”

The four ships of the class are the FS Le Triomphant (S 616), FS Le Téméraire (S 617), FS Le Vigilant (S 618), and FS Le Terrible (S 619). They were commissioned between 1997 and 2010. These vessels sport a hull length of 138 meters, a beam width of 12.5 meters, and a draught of 10.6 meters. Displacement is 12,640 tons on the surface and 14,335 tons while submerged, with a top submerged speed of 25+ knots. Test depth is reportedly over 400 meters. 

Armament-wise, these warships pack one hellacious punch: They carry 16 Vertical Launch Tubes designed initially for the M45, and later for the M51 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). The latter missile carries between four and six multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs); each of these MIRVs has a nuclear yield of 150 kilotons. Meanwhile, for more conventional naval warfighting, these undersea behemoths wield four 533mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes capable of firing either F17 Mod. 2 heavyweight torpedoes or MBDA Exocet SM39 anti-ship missiles. 

The Future of the Triomphant Class?

The French Navy has already announced a replacement project for the Triomphant boats: the SNLE-3G-class, Sous-Marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins de 3rd Génération, which is projected to enter service around the year 2032.

According to submarine expert Mr. H.I. Sutton, the future subs will exceed the size of the Triomphant by 6 to 10 meters in length and about 2,000 tons in displacement. Four ships of the line are planned, ergo a one-for-one replacement.

As for costs, some experts project a price tag of nearly 40 billion Euros ($38.77 billion). But of course, much like preseason projections of American football college bowl game matchups, these predictions fall into the “way too early” category. Ten years is an absolute eternity when it comes to weapon systems design and procurement. 

In the meantime, the French people can count on Le Triomphant and her sister ships to defend their shores for quite a few years to come. Vive la France. 

About the Author 

Christian D. Orr is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch and The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

Russia's Sierra-Class II Titanium Submarines Are a Giant Mystery

The Soviet Union didn't build additional Sierra II-Class or what is also called Project 945A Kondor Class submarines due to the high cost of the materials, and the difficulties in working with titanium.

by Peter Suciu 

January 2, 2024 

Project 945A Kondor Class – Sierra II-Class Submarine - Since the first major building program of 1926, the Soviet Navy had laid great emphasis on submarine construction. This was originally due to the defensive role planned for the fleet, and later because the widely dispersed submarine yards were the only ones to survive the German attacks during the Second World War.

The first boats to be built in the Soviet Union were little more than improved editions of those built prior to the First World War, and that trend continued until the 1950s – when the Kremlin sought to counter the submarine capabilities of the West.

In the 1960s, the Soviet Union developed the Project 661 "Anchar" (NATO reporting name "Papa-Class"), a nuclear-powered cruise-missile submarine that was upon completion the world's fastest submarine. It was also the first to be built with a titanium hull. While fast, it was noisy; and it was soon determined that its flaws outweighed its advantages. However, it pioneered the technology needed to work with titanium on a large scale, which enabled the subsequent construction of more successful designs using titanium

This led to the development of more advanced submarines – notably Project 945 Barrakuda and Project 945A Kondor, (NATO reporting names Sierra I and Sierra II respectively). These boats were distinct for their titanium hulls, which allowed the submarines to dive to greater depths while reducing the emission of radiated noise and increasing resistance to torpedo attacks.

Sierra II-Class: Enter the Project 945A Kondor

The Sierra II Class, also known as Project 945A Kondor Class, remains among the Russian Navy's most expensive and deep-diving submarines. The boats were specifically developed for search and destroy missions against U.S. nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

A follow-up to the Sierra I, the class was unique due to its light and strong titanium twin-pressure hulls, which featured space in between. That enabled the boats to dive to greater depths, while it reduced the level of radiated noise and increased resistance to torpedo attacks. Like the original Project 945 Barrakuda, the Project 945A boats were powered by a single OK-650 pressurized water reactor, rated at 190 MW.

It had greater speed and diving depth than its American counterparts at the time it was designed and would have been a serious threat if the Cold War turned hot. Two of the submarines were completed – the Pskov (ex-Zubatka) and Nizhny Novgorod (ex-Okun) – and both remain operational with the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet. A third of the class, Mars, was laid down in 1990. That boat was built to an improved Project 945B (NATO designation Sierra III class), but it was scrapped before completion in 1992.

Was the Sierra II-Class a Failure for Russia?

The Soviet Union didn't build additional Sierra II-Class or what is also called Project 945A Kondor Class submarines due to the high cost of the materials, and the difficulties in working with titanium.

As previously reported, to successfully weld huge titanium panels on a large scale, Soviet engineers had to first create enormous warehouses that were hermetically sealed and then filled with argon, an inert gas that would not interfere with the welding process. Welders had to wear a large cosmonaut-like suit that would supply them with oxygen while inside these warehouses.

Titanium is also rare and costly compared to iron, while it isn't exactly easy to shape either. Any misstep by the welders would create a sub that would be dangerous to take on deep dives. The higher pressure could compromise the weakened hull.
No News – Good News?

While Moscow regularly touts the capabilities of its military vessels, there has been surprisingly little said of the two Project 945A Kondor Class submarines in recent years

A November 2019 report from state media outlet Tass noted that the Nizhny Novgorod and Pskov held an underwater duel with torpedo practice fire in drills.

"The crews of the Northern Fleet's multipurpose nuclear-powered submarines Nizhny Novgorod and Pskov performed planned assignments in the Barents Sea… Torpedo practice fire against surface targets was the most complex and responsible stage of the joint underwater maneuvers. The crews of the Northern Fleet's multipurpose nuclear-powered submarines Nizhny Novgorod and Pskov performed this exercise in the duel version," the press office of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet announced in a statement.

The submariners further were reported to have practiced combat maneuvering with their switchover to an attacking position and breaking from the enemy force by way of jamming and setting up dummy targets, according to the statement.



However, in the more than four years that followed there has been virtually no mention of the boats – and while they officially remain in service, it is believed both rarely leave port.

Author Experience and Expertise

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.

Main image is a generic picture of a Russian Submarine that is Creative Commons. The intext image is also Creative Commons but of an actual Sierra-Class subm

GLOBALIZATION CREATES THE MULTITUDE

Labor official: As Thailand ages, more Lao migrant workers will be needed

Laos’ younger population could help fill the worker gap next door while its own economy sputters.

By RFA Lao
2024.01.02
Lao citizens travel to Thailand for work, July 28, 2023. (RFA)
Photo: RFA


Thailand’s aging population will bring more job possibilities for young migrant workers from Laos in the coming years, a senior Thai labor official said at a recent conference on migration in Bangkok.

An estimated 230,000 Laotians already do domestic work, construction and farming in Thailand, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Labor. They are among 2.6 million migrant workers in the country – most of whom come from Southeast Asia, the ministry said.

But Thai companies have been asking the government over the last two years for an additional 400,000 migrant workers to serve a growing economy, said Decha Pruekphathanarak, the deputy permanent secretary at the ministry.

“We lack laborers, and the only way to fill the gap is to import workers from nearby countries,” he said at the Dec. 17 conference organized by the International Organization for Migration, or IOM.

Thailand’s birth rate has fallen over the last decade. At the same time, Laos’ economy continues to struggle with inflation, a devalued currency and low pay, leaving its young population without much opportunity.

Teenagers are increasingly leaving high school before graduation to find work in Thailand, South Korea and elsewhere, local officials in two Lao provinces told Radio Free Asia last week.

In South Korea, Laotians can make about 1 million kip (about US$52) per day working in factories or on farms – about what they would earn in a month at home. In Thailand, they can expect a monthly salary of around 10,000 baht (about US$280).

In northern Laos’ Xayaburi Province, which borders Thailand, some 1,039 high school students out of 5,632 in Pak Lay district dropped out during the 2022-2023 academic year to find work, according to an education official who, like other sources in this report, requested anonymity for safety reasons.

“Many of us don’t want to waste our time studying because the education in this country doesn’t respond to our needs. It won’t improve our living conditions,” one Xayaburi teenager told RFA. “It’s now so difficult to live our lives in Laos that we decide to go to other countries where wages are higher.”

‘The rest have fled’

In Champassak province in southern Laos, the situation is similar, one older father said. Many villages in the province’s Khong district are empty of teenagers and young adults, he said.

“They go over there to make ends meet, so they can have something to eat and money to live on,” the father said.

Laos and Thailand have agreements in place allowing for work visas and mandating a monthly minimum wage. But migrants must be at least 18 years old to work legally in Thailand.

That means that younger Laotians crossing into Thailand are working illegally, are often being paid unfair wages and are vulnerable to human trafficking, a Lao labor official said.

“We often try to visit them at their homes, villages and schools in an effort to convince them to continue their education,” the labor official said. “But they’re not there. Only old people and children have stayed home. The rest have fled to Thailand.”

Thailand should consider amending agreements with neighboring countries to lower the minimum age to obtain a work visa to 15, said Associate Professor Teeranong Sakulsri at Thailand’s Mahidol University.

That would allow for more protections for the younger workers, she said at last month’s IOM conference.

Bringing in more Lao workers to Thailand would also be a good fit culturally, according to Aphichat Chamratrithirong, an adviser for Mahidol’s Institute for Population and Social Research.

“Lao workers and Thai employers can get along well because they share many similarities,” he said, citing food and language as two prime examples. “In border provinces, they seem to be cousins.”

Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

DEI IS VALUE ADDED

Female engineer’s strategies help companies capitalize on untapped potential in the workplace

By Dr. Tim Sandle

DIGITAL JOURNAL
January 2, 2024

Apple hitting pause on US sales of some of its smartwatch models comes as it accuses Masimo Corp. of abusing the patent system to create an opening for a rival product - Copyright NASA/JPL-Caltech/AFP Handout

Globally, too many girls and women are held back by biases, social norms and expectations influencing the quality of the education they receive and the subjects they study. This is particularly the case in relation to STEM subjects, including engineering.

How can these gender differences be better understood and more successfully addressed?

Answers come from Lauren Neal, who is an award-winning chartered engineer and sought-after speaker whose strategies can help businesses attract and retain talent, particularly in male-dominated disciplines such as STEM.

Neal was named one of the UK’s top female computing students at age 18. She gained a master’s degree in electronic and electrical engineering, and since 2005 has worked with men and women offshore, onshore and onsite on multimillion-dollar projects across the UK, Angola, Trinidad, Azerbaijan and Indonesia.

In a recent statement, Neal says: “There are potentially many, many competent people who have so much more to give than they can because of workplace cultures or bias or any number of things that are just getting in the way.”

She adds: “I strive to spread the message that people should be able to show the world what they’ve got to offer and to be given the opportunity to do that.”

Neal zeroes in on how companies can capitalize on the often untapped potential of women in particular in her new book, Valued at Work: Shining a Light on Bias to Engage, Enable, and Retain Women in STEM. The book recently became an Amazon no. 1 best seller in the category High-Tech Business & Finance.

In the book, Neal draws from her own experiences, compelling research and numerous real-world examples to provide what she calls tried-and-tested approaches to help male-dominated organizations create and maintain more inclusive workplace cultures.

Within the pages, Neal uses a unique approach to get her message across: The book is structured as a conversation between two male managers genuinely trying to improve the retention of women in their respective organizations.

Through this approach, Neal ensures that readers get to be “flies on the wall” as these two men discuss the problems that women face within the patriarchal system — using concrete examples — and actively try to understand the challenges and find ways to course correct the company’s inclusion efforts.

“This fictional approach to a real business problem allows readers to empathize with these male organizational leaders in their own struggles, as well as with the women in theirs, with less judgement than is typical when discussing this topic,” Neal explains in a statement sent to Digital Journal.

Inspired by real-life stories, Valued at Work makes for a fascinating read and the text includes “top tips” for both organizations and women in STEM to equip all readers with strategies for driving real change.

Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/business/female-engineers-strategies-help-companies-capitalize-on-untapped-potential-in-the-workplace/article#ixzz8NiRpzWtk