Food and Agriculture

Stampedes as Destitute Throng Pakistan’s Free Flour Distribution Points

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
The free Atta (flour) distribution scheme launched by the government to assist the inflation-hit communities during the holy month of Ramzan has left at least ten dead and over 100 injured as would-be beneficiaries rush to claim their 10-kilogram bags.

Climate Resilient Indigenous Crops Underutilised even as Climate Change Threatens to Cripple Food Systems

By Joyce Chimbi
Elizabeth Njoroge recounts her poverty-stricken upbringing in Ting’ang’a village in the Central part of Kenya, growing up on a diet heavy on Amaranth and pumpkin.

Black Sea Grain Initiative: Russia Reluctantly Agrees to a Two-Month Extension

By Alexander Kozul-Wright
Given the complex interplay between geopolitics and financial markets, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sent shockwaves across the global economy. Admittedly, the implications both within and between countries have varied. However, there were some common denominators, including higher commodity prices.

Kenyan Entrepreneur Using Organic Microbes to Unlock Hidden Nutrients in Dairy Feeds

By Isaiah Esipisu
Using naturally occurring microbes, a Kenyan entrepreneur has developed a molasses-based supplement that pre-ferments animal feeds to unlock all the necessary nutrients that would otherwise find a way out of the animal through cow dung, and dairy farmers have fallen in love with the product.

BRAC International Signs MoU with Rwanda to Empower People in Extreme Poverty

By Joyce Chimbi
Last week, BRAC International signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Rwanda under the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) to support efforts to empower people in extreme poverty to develop sustainable livelihoods and break the poverty trap long term. This is part of the Government’s broader efforts to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.

The ‘Vampiric’ Draining and Poisoning of Lifeblood: Water

By Baher Kamal
Shockingly, the human suicidal war on Nature not only continues unabated but is also set to become even more virulent. Just to start with, please be reminded that groundwater accounts for 99% of all liquid freshwater on Earth, according to the 2022 UN World Water Development Report.

Managing Water Sustainably Is Key To the Future of Food and Agriculture

By Thokozani Dlamini
In contrast to its strategic role as an essential resource to help achieve community development and poverty alleviation globally, groundwater has remained a poorly understood and managed resource.

The Caribbean’s Role in the Transformation of Agri-Food Systems

By Mario Lubetkin
The global food security crisis reveals an increase in the undernourishment prevalence, reaching higher than in 2015, when countries first agreed to eradicate hunger by 2030 as one of the SDG targets. In the Caribbean, between 2014 and 2021, hunger increased by 2.3 percentage points, affecting 16.4 percent of its population by 2021. Moreover, the Caribbean is a net importer of almost all the main food groups such as cereals, dairy products, fruits and vegetables (except the Dominican Republic), meat and vegetable oils.

Forget ChatGPT: The Greatest Tech Breakthrough Would Be Getting Cell Phones to Rural Women

By Nicoline de Haan
While 100 million people worldwide are using the AI chatbot ChatGPT to get ahead on homework and try out for top jobs at Google, more than 370 million women in developing countries lack the services of a simple cell phone.

Most African Govts (3 in 4) Spend More on Arms, Less on Farms

By Baher Kamal
The data is shocking: three-quarters of African Governments have already reduced their agricultural budgets while paying almost double that on arms.

Interwoven Global Crises Can Best be Solved Together

By Paula Harrison, Pamela McElwee and David Obura
When global crises are interlinked, they overlap and compound each other. In such cases, the most effective solutions are those that work at the nexus of all these challenges.

Management Areas Protect Sustainable Artisanal Fishing of Molluscs and Kelp in Chile

By Orlando Milesi
Management areas in Chile for benthic organisims, which live on the bottom of the sea, are successfully combating the overexploitation of this food source thanks to the efforts of organized shellfish and seaweed harvesters and divers.

Welcome To the Vegetable Garden of Europe – ‘The Greenhouses of Death’

By Floris Cup and Arnaud De Decker
Chances are that the fruits and vegetables sold in European supermarkets have been picked and packed by a migrant worker in southern Spain. By the tens of thousands, they work there, in sweltering hot plastic greenhouses - often underpaid and without residence permit - in the vegetable garden of Europe. "Cheap vegetables, yes. But at what price?"

Role of Regional Economic Cooperation in Inclusive Digital Transformation in Asia

By Hsiao Chink Tang and Anne Cortez
Digitalization is a key driver of competitiveness and development. As the world takes the path to unprecedented digital advancement, Asia continues to be a powerhouse of digital transformations in a wide range of areas from microchip manufacturing to electric vehicles, from digital currency to e-commerce.

Food Industry Exposes Five Billion People to Toxic Chemicals that Kill

By Baher Kamal
The food industry continues to intensively use toxic chemicals in their products, some of them provoking heart diseases and death. Trans fat is just one of them, adding to contaminating fertilisers, pesticides, microplastics and a long etcetera.

Long, Costly Drought Drives Climate Crisis Home in Argentina

By Daniel Gutman
Martín Rapetti, a fourth generation farmer in the province of Corrientes in northeastern Argentina, has already lost more than 30 cows due to lack of food and water, as a result of the long drought that is plaguing a large part of the country. “There is no grass; the animals have to sink their teeth into the dry earth,” he says with resignation.

The Value of Insects: Why We Must Act Now to Protect Them

By Esther Ngumbi
Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture granted a conditional license for the first-ever honeybee vaccine. This is an exciting step that will protect bees from American foulbrood disease and ultimately help to stop the alarming decline in their numbers.

As the Climate Crisis Bites, Soil Needs Doctors Too

By Paul Virgo
In a wiser world, the term ‘treating someone like dirt’ would be a good thing. After all, 15 of the 18 nutrients essential to plants are supplied by soils and around 95% of the food we eat comes directly or indirectly from them, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). So dirt is actually a precious resource that deserves to be treated with respect, care and perhaps even a little love.

On International Day of Education, We Must Prioritize Girls in Humanitarian Crisis

By Yasmine Sherif and Stephen Omollo
“Is it a sin to be a girl? We don’t want to be at home and illiterate. We want to go to school, study and be intelligent.” In just a few words, this plea for education from a young Afghan girl has captured the world’s attention. Her heartbreaking question shows how the Taliban’s recent ban on girls attending secondary school and university – effectively ending education opportunities for all Afghan girls and women – is not only violating their fundamental human right to education but shattering countless hopes and dreams in an instant. [related_articles]

How Innovative Farming Rescues Crises-Stricken Farmers in This Indian Village

By Umar Manzoor Shah
The South Indian State of Karnataka has been reeling for the past three years—the late arrival of monsoons, the surging temperatures, and drastic changes in the weather patterns are putting the state’s farmers in dire straits.

The Climate Conversations

By Mohammad Rakibul Hasan (and AI Artificial Intelligence)
Climate change is a global problem that requires a global solution. However, negotiating a solution has been challenging due to several factors. One of the main reasons that recent COP Climate summits and other international climate talks have not been able to resolve climate change is that there is a lack of consensus among countries on how to address the issue. Developed countries, which have historically been the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, are often unwilling to take on significant emissions reductions or to provide financial assistance to developing countries to help them adapt to the effects of climate change.
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