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Monday, May 4, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Food Systems
Famine in South Sudan Projected to Worsen Without Humanitarian Intervention
In 2026, the humanitarian situation in South Sudan has taken a considerable turn for the worse, with widespread food shortages, ongoing disruptions to food production systems, and rising rates of malnutrition affecting over half of the population. Compounded by the vast scale of needs and an overwhelming lack of access to basic services, humanitarian experts warn that nationwide levels of hunger are projected to worsen to catastrophic levels if urgent intervention is not secured.
African Institutions in Plan to Stabilise Food, Fuel and Fertiliser Amid Mideast War
Fearing the Middle East war could drive millions into hunger and cripple economies, Africa’s leading institutions are drafting a strategy to mobilise domestic and "innovative" finance and harness national competitiveness to stabilise food, fuel, and fertiliser supplies.
Global Shipping Reforms Cast Shadow Over Tanzania’s Fishing Communities
At dawn, as the sun rises across the Indian Ocean, Venance Shayo perches on the edge of his boat, hauling in a net. The sea gently ripples under the breeze and the sound of revving engines.
Climate Change Is Coming for Your Morning Coffee
Your morning cup of coffee could soon cost more, thanks to climate change, which is raising the heat on the production of the world's most loved beverage.
Turning the Tide: How West Africa Is Reasserting Its Food Sovereignty Through Aquaculture
It is an indictment on the global food system that, despite having some of the richest and most endowed natural resources in the world and a burgeoning youth population, West Africa spends more than $2 billion a year importing aquatic foods to feed its people, almost half of which is spent by Côte d’Ivoire alone.
Africa’s Food Systems Will Not Transform Without Parliamentary Accountability
Africa has never lacked agricultural strategies. Since the launch of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in 2003, governments have pledged repeatedly to spend at least 10 per cent of public budgets on agriculture and to raise productivity through better investment and coordination. The African Union reaffirmed this target in subsequent declarations, such as Malabo in 2014 and the Kampala CAADP Strategy (2026-2035).
Bridging the Capital Gap: Strategic Public-Private Partnerships Invest in Young Agri-entrepreneurs
The global aid system is crumbling amidst chronic underinvestment in rural areas, posing a systemic threat to food systems everywhere. With 1.3 billion young people in the world today – the largest generation in history, and nearly half of them living in rural areas – investing in their entrepreneurial potential is key.
When Protection Meets the Sea: Rethinking Marine Protected Areas with Fishing Communities
Melanie Brown has been fishing salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska, for more than 30 years. An Indigenous fisherwoman and a coordinating committee member of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples, she speaks about the sea with deep care and lived knowledge.
To Develop a Continent, Africa Must Nourish Its Children
Hunger shadowed Mercy Lung’aho’s childhood, fueling her campaign to promote nutrition as a foundation for Africa’s development.
Cuts Stall Clinical Trials, Scientists Warn US Risks Losing Its Research Edge
Scientists across the U.S., including me, are stressed after a year marked by several changes and challenges, including cuts to science funding that have stalled clinical trials and studies that could improve and save lives. Without funding, scientists worry about how they will support ongoing research and train America’s future workforce, including the next generation of innovators.
Moving Towards Agroecological Food Systems in Southern Africa
In a quiet village known as Nkhondola, in Chongwe District, Eastern Zambia, Royd Michelo and his wife, Adasila Kanyanga, have transformed their five-acre piece of land into a self-sustaining agroecological landscape. With healthy soils built over time, the farm teems with diverse food crops, fruit trees, livestock and birds, nourishing their family and the surrounding community.
Big Nature-Based Finance Turnaround Needed to Restore, Protect Ecosystems
The world is pouring trillions of dollars each year into activities that destroy nature while investing only a fraction of that amount in protecting and restoring the ecosystems on which economies depend, according to a new United Nations report released on January 22.
Thousands of Kenya’s Smallholder Coffee Farmers Risk Losing EU Market as Deforestation Law Takes Effect
For the last twenty years, Sarah Nyaga, a smallholder farmer from Embu County in central Kenya, has farmed coffee. Like most across Kenya, she relies on the export market. A greater percentage of Kenya’s coffee ends up within the European Union market, but a new law threatens to disrupt what has been a source of income for thousands of farmers like Nyaga.
Excluding Food Systems From Climate Deal Is a Recipe for Disaster
As they ate catered meals, COP30 negotiators had no appetite for fixing broken food systems, a major source of climate pollution, experts warn. Food systems are the complete journey food takes—from the farm to fork—which means its growing, processing, distribution, trade and consumption and even the waste.
Living with nature, the climate lesson from Brazil’s caatinga
“The work of collecting seeds saved me from depression,” caused by her daughter's suicide at the age of 29, said Maria do Desterro Soares, 64, who lives in the poor rural community of Jatobá in northeastern Brazil.
The Bitter Sweet Future of Cocoa Showcased During COP30, Belém
Izete dos Santos Costa, also known as Dona Nena among locals in Combu Island, welcomed hundreds of people from around the world during the recent climate conference in Belém. Her team showcased local crafts and chocolate-making processes in the land of the Amazon rainforest—far from the deafening air conditioner sounds at the Parque da Cidade, where the COP30 negotiations were ongoing.
In Kenya, Smallholder Farmers Push Back Against Corporate Control of Agriculture
For the past two years, Samuel Ndungu, a smallholder farmer, has been growing organic food and supplying it to the local market in Githunguri, just outside Nairobi.
Farmers Can Now Measure and Benefit From Fruit Tree Carbon Trade
Farmers can now know and benefit from their contribution to climate change thanks to a formula that can be used to calculate the amount of carbon stored in fruit trees.
Kenyan Court Restores Seed Freedom: Landmark Ruling Boost for Food Security and Sovereignty
For years, smallholder farmers across Kenya have been engaged in a legal battle with the government over a law that criminalizes the practice of saving, sharing and exchanging indigenous seeds.
Farmers Earn While Reviving Native Forests Through a Blockchain-Powered App
For years, Morris Onyango had been trying to reforest his degraded land on the shores of River Nzoia, in Siaya county, 430 kilometers from Kenya’s Capital, Nairobi. But every time he planted trees on his farm, his efforts bore little fruit, as floodwaters would not only wash away his tree seedlings but also fertile topsoil on his land.
Evaluation Finds Food Systems Programs Deliver Results but Warns of Missed Transformation Chances
A new independent evaluation of the Global Environment Facility’s food systems programs says they are delivering strong environmental and livelihood gains in many countries but warns that a narrow focus on farm production, weak political analysis, and shrinking coordination budgets are holding back deeper transformation.Next Page »
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