Eggspection, organic egg verification tool

The institute for Food safety (RIKILT), part of Wageningen Univeristy and Research centre (Wageningen UR) has developed a method to verify the organic nature of eggs. The fingerprint of the natural caretonoids (carotenes and xanthophyllis) in eggs are used to discriminate between production systems. After extraction and processing the results are subsequently compared by statistical methods

Purity or pragmatism? : Reflecting on the use of systematic review methodology in development

Systematic review methodology pioneered in health care has been increasingly applied to development questions of importance in lower- and middle-income countries. This paper reports one such review on the topic of microfinance in sub-Saharan Africa and reflects on the number of pragmatic methodological compromises made when applying the method to a new field. These compromises relate to multidisciplinary teamwork, application of regional filters, drawing on evidence from additional study types and exploring mechanisms for change through the development and testing of a causal pathway. The paper concludes that a pragmatic rigorous approach to systematically reviewing evidence of effectiveness is needed for international development