Friday, April 3, 2020
News and Views from the Global South
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Climate-Smart Agriculture means More Time for Eswatini Women Farmers
Aside from the seven hours Mantfombi Msibi (63) would spend daily during the Eswatini farming season planting, applying herbicides and weeding her 1.2-hectare maize field, she would also spend E1 750 ($125) on tractor services. It was a huge cost of both time and money. But this season, Msibi will be benefiting from climate-smart farming technology that has opened up a new world of farming to her, saving her time in the process.
Climate Change: A Tale of Weather Extremes with Mixed Fortunes for Zambia
It is early Saturday morning and Planeta Hatuleke, a small scale farmer of Pemba District in Southern Zambia, awakens to the comforting sound of rainfall. As the locals say, the “heavens have opened” and it is raining heavily after a prolonged dry spell.
Sustainable Fisheries are Key in Addressing Food Security — and Women can Play an Important Role
Experts gathered in November to discuss the importance of sustainable fisheries and its role in eradicating world hunger at a fisheries symposium in Rome.
Net Food Importer Turkey Grapples with Challenges of Food Self-sufficiency
Despite latest research showing Turkey lagging in overall food sustainability, progress in sustainable agriculture appears to be a bright spot in the country’s troubled agriculture industry.
Burkina Faso: Climate Change Triggers Rural Exodus
Ibrahim Harouna and his neighbours sit under a tree at his uncle’s house, playing chess and chatting amid the simmering heat of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
Drought, Disease and War Hit Global Agriculture, Says U.N.
The United Nations has warned of drought, disease and war preventing farmers from producing enough food for millions of people across Africa and other regions, leading to the need for major aid operations.
What Should FAO’s New Director General Focus on?
On 23 June 2019 Mr Qu Dongyu of China was elected as the new Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization. FAO is one of the largest UN specialized agencies with a budget for 2018-19 of US$2.5 billion, offices in over 130 countries and more than 11,000 employees.
Communication, a Key Tool for South-South Cooperation
Communication can be a key tool for the development of cooperation among the countries of the global South, but the ever closer relations between them do not receive the attention they deserve from the media.
Farmers Secure Land and Food Thanks to ‘Eyes in the Skies’
Six years ago while wondering how best to use her engineering skills, Tanzanian ICT entrepreneur Rose Funja decided to enter an innovation competition. Years later she has turned a digital idea into a viable business that helps smallholder farmers across the East African nation access credit.
Climate Change Forces Central American Farmers to Migrate
As he milks his cow, Salvadoran Gilberto Gomez laments that poor harvests, due to excessive rain or drought, practically forced his three children to leave the country and undertake the risky journey, as undocumented migrants, to the United States.
Changing the Gender Bias in Agriculture
Women entrepreneurs are playing an important role in transforming global food security for economic growth, but they have to work twice as hard as men to succeed in agribusiness.
Global Pact Gives Dignity and Rights to Latin American Migrants
A landmark global migration pact provides dignity and rights to migrants in every situation and context, stressed representatives of non-governmental organisations in Latin America and the Caribbean, where some 30 million people live outside their countries, forced by economic, social, security, political and now also climatic reasons.
As Climate Change Pummels Agriculture, Irrigation Offers the Best Protection
The changing climate and extreme weather events are affecting agricultural productivity in Africa to such an extent that a panel of experts are urging governments to prioritise and invest in irrigation to ensure food security.
Middle Eastern Countries Can Overcome Pressing Challenges By Developing a Blue Economy
The Blue Economy is becoming an ‘El Dorado’, a new frontier for traditionally arid and water-stressed nations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), according to Christian Averous, Vice President of Plan Bleu, one of the Regional Activity Centres of the Mediterranean Action Plan developed under the United Environment Regional Seas Programme.
Making Agriculture Cool
At every conference she has attended on the youth, Nawsheen Hosenally has been frustrated to hear that agriculture is not ‘cool’. The 29-year-old graduate in agricultural extension and information systems knew she wanted to do something to redeem the image of agriculture among young people.
Alert! Hunger and Obesity on the Rise in Latin America for Third Year in a Row
"For the third consecutive year there is bad news" for Latin America and the Caribbean, where the numbers of hungry people have increased to "39.3 million people," or 6.1 percent of the population, Julio Berdegué, FAO's regional representative, said Wednesday.
Central American Farmers Face Climate Change Without Insurance
Disconsolate, Alberto Flores piles up on the edge of a road the few bunches of plantains that he managed to save from a crop spoiled by heavy rains that completely flooded his farm in central El Salvador.
“Governments are Starting to See that Organic Food Policy Works”
Many countries and farmers around the world are not readily making the switch to organic farming. But the small Himalayan mountain state of Sikkim, which borders Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan, is the first 100 percent organic farming state in the world.
Why It is Vital for Everyone to Eat Organic
"Organic is the only living solution to climate change," says Vandana Shiva, food and agriculture expert and member of the World Future Council (WFC). Nowadays, favouring the scale up of agroecology – which includes producing organic products – is unfortunately not that simple. 
The Invisible, Hungry Hand
The very people who help put food on our tables often face numerous human rights violations, forcing them go to bed hungry.
Rural Migration: An Opportunity, Not A Challenge
While it can be a challenging issue, migration must be seen as an opportunity and be met with sound, coherent policies that neither stem nor promote the phenomenon.Next Page »
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