Difference between revisions of "Team:Tec-Chihuahua/test"

The importance of the environment for the subsistence of life on earth is unquestionable. The magnitude of its value is represented by the human right to a healthy environment, a prerogative that protects the environment as a fundamental legal right and expresses the relevance of this to have a dignified life. This human right constitutes a guarantee for the realization and validity of the rest, since human being are in an indissoluble relationship with its environment and nature¹. For this reason, achieving sustainable development would ensure the quality of present and future life. In this sense, the dignity, autonomy, and sanctity of the person depend on the health of the planet, its resources, and species.

Food Security is a central topic in the global agenda. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that by the year 2050, world population will exceed 9,000 million, of which 150 million will dwell in Mexico. This should increase agricultural production by 60% in the country by that year ².

According to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the links between the population, environment, and natural resources are mediated by multiple factors. The immediate environmental impact of urban settlements derives from a change in land purpose⁵, reducing the size of crops that can be pollinated by bees, generating an effect similar to that of habitat loss and with this, nutritional complications in bees, conferring susceptibility to diseases. This is one of the points suggested by the engineer Alejandro Bianchi during our meeting on June 15, 2018.

However, there are actions that seek to provide a healthy life for bees and their existence. There is a concern for the negative impact on anthophiles by irresponsible human activities; it is vital to prevent and attack the causes of bee reduction or loss at their roots. As we learned thanks to MEXMUN 2018, the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity should be used. These objectives are:

Dr. Ernesto Tanus Sánchez mentioned the importance of avoiding the burning of hives, due to the limited accessibility to the wood with which they are made. Cedar, specifically red cedar (Cedrela odorata), is considered the best type of wood to make a hive. However, this species is subject to special protection according to NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, which means factors that negatively affect its viability may threaten it. Obtaining permission to perform the practice of incinerating hives becomes an arduous and even deficient process. Due to the virulence of Paenibacillus larvae, American Foulbrood sweeps entire hives before there is an answer by the authorities.

In other Latin American countries, the action plan presents variations. Ph.D. David De Jong explained us how in Brazil, it is not permissible for someone to incinerate a beehive if it is not a beekeeper, sometimes the firefighters do it in an emergency. Bryan Saavedra, mentioned how in Chile, they have the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) who is in charge of incinerating hives in case the disease is present.

All modern human endeavors are, one way or another, economic activities. Beekeeping is no different. This income-generating activity plays a crucial role in the food industry, thanks to both pollination services and honey production.

The economic part of our project is also made up of the development of the entrepreneurial area where the implications for the sale of the final product are analyzed.

Our project will make sure Foulbrood no longer generates huge economic losses (by killing bees and necessitating antibiotics) but instead become a small nuisance in an otherwise thriving industry.

While we interacted with beekeepers and researchers, it was not difficult to realize the importance of considering social aspects within the activities and plans for our project.

In the first approach we had with a beekeeper, Mr. Guillermo Rodríguez, it was explained how beekeeping varies around the world and how many times the needs are different for each region. In our effort to consider all these needs in our project, we managed to have interviews with professionals related to the topic in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Italy, Valencia, and Canadá, taking into account from beekeepers who manage few hives to complete associations, investigators, governmental institutions and international agencies. We considered specific needs to obtain a universal solution.

In the IV State’s Beekeeping Forum and the CIAD visit, we were able to experience what beekeepers’ work involves. Working with few beehives lessen the job, however in the case of beekeepers like the Chilean Bryaan Saaverdra, that works with more than 1000 hives the work notably intensifies, as you must attend beehive by beehive whatever the weather condition is. Through the application method of our product, which was transformed over the months basing on the concerns and needs of the beekeepers, we foster the welfare of this community taking in consideration for their working days not to become intensified when experiencing the diseases and applying the product.

After all the research made, the ambiguities that were found when doing the evaluation of the presence of Foulbrood in the world and the different conclusions that were given, (some resulting from the video call with FAI presidential staff member Lorenzo Della Morte and others from the video call with MVZ Juan Diego Pérez de la Rosa) showed that there is a problem in the health and statistical assessment studies regarding bee diseases. Many times, beekeepers who have affected hives, do not report it because of the negative implications that this entails; burning of colonies, the need of using antibiotics that disturb the innocuity of honey and finally the risk of losing investment made over many years. Our product promotes this social problem to be resolved; by having a profitable and useful product, which displace conventional antibiotics usage and the burning of hives. It encourages that the beekeeper openly reports if their beehives suffer from the disease having the peace of mind that he will not have to lose large quantities of money or their hives nor he will need to alter their bee products with antibiotics.

By addressing individual concerns as well as general insights such as the problem of statistical assessment studies, throughout the development of our project and the implementation of the product, we seek to address aspects that are often out of the hands of beekeepers, and that may also have an impact on communities outside of the beekeeping sector. Attention to the previously mentioned issues is based on the fact of building an organized society that interacts effectively within itself and with external communities.