PHILIPPINES: World’s Top Rice Importer Hit By Tight Supply

Responding to a call to Filipinos to eat less of their staple, fast food chains are now offering half portions of steamed rice on their menus. And President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is personally inspecting warehouses to show that her government is working to deter hoarding.

ENVIRONMENT-PERU: In Search of Less Toxic Mining

The Peruvian government is seeking to reduce the maximum allowable emissions of pollutants by the mining industry, but the proposed limits are still a long way from meeting international standards.

ECONOMY-ARGENTINA: Poised for the Qualitative Leap?

A new ECLAC study highlights Argentina’s robust economic recovery in the past five years, and signals an opportunity to progress towards a model that adds value to raw materials, which make up most of the country’s exports.

ARGENTINA: Farmers Declare One-Month Truce

Thousands of farmers meeting in an assembly Wednesday decided to call off a three-week farm strike involving roadblocks around the country that have caused food shortages in the cities, and declared a truce to continue talks with the government.

ASIA: Rising Rice Prices Threaten Aid Programmes

Rising rice prices are threatening to derail aid programmes run by international agencies while several governments on the continent are taking steps to see that shortages of the staple do not translate into social unrest and food riots.

ARGENTINA: Empty Shelves, Drowned Chicks as Farm Strike Rages

Millions of litres of milk have been dumped out in Argentina, tons of tomatoes, carrots, bananas and oranges have rotted in trucks, beef has been unavailable in butcher shops and supermarkets in the capital for the past six days, and millions of chicks have had to be drowned because of the lack of chicken feed.

ARGENTINA: Farm Strike Exposes Fernandez’s Weak Flank

The conflict with the rural associations has highlighted political weaknesses of the new Argentine government of President Cristina Fernández and shown that economic recovery is necessary but not sufficient to remedy latent social tensions.

DEVELOPMENT: A Winding Journey From Seed to Plate

Ballooning food prices around the world are prompting a reevaluation of the underpinnings of aid practices that many analysts consider to be inefficient and, in some cases, counterproductive.

OIL-MEXICO: Floundering in Deep Waters

Billions of barrels of crude are lying under the deep seabed in the Gulf of Mexico, an area divided between Cuba, the United States and Mexico. But while the first two countries are approaching full commercial exploitation, the third is still trying to come up with a plan.

PERU: The Price of Mining Competitiveness

Peru has climbed from the 52nd to the 28th position in an international study on competitiveness in the global mining industry, surpassing Brazil, Argentina, Russia, South Africa and Bolivia. But how much is the local population in mineral-rich zones benefiting from the growth in competitiveness, and how does this phenomenon impact the environment?

ARGENTINA: The Return of the “Cacerolazo”

Thousands of middle-class Argentines took to the streets late Tuesday in a "cacerolazo" or pot-banging protest, this time against the centre-left government of President Cristina Fernández, showing that the methods learned in the crisis that broke out in late 2001 are still alive.

BOLIVIA: Government, Opposition Clash in Cooking Oil War

The latest clash between the Bolivian government and conservative opposition forces is over a temporary government ban on exports of cooking oil, in response to domestic price hikes.

EGYPT: Can&#39t Wait a Generation to Eat

A World Bank official said this month it could take as long as "a generation" for the effects of Egypt's recent economic growth to be felt by the poorest segments of the population. But as "neo-liberal" economists urge patience, retail prices for essential foodstuffs continue to skyrocket, stretching many household salaries to breaking point.

DEVELOPMENT-INDIA: Cotton Farmers in Distress – Relief Given Elsewhere

On Mar. 4, barely four days after Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced a mammoth loan waiver for farmers, 55-year-old Dattu Chaudhary, who owned 3 hectares (ha) of land committed suicide in Nara village in Maharashtra state.

OIL: Price Bubble Could Burst in Medium Term

While oil prices recently soared to a record 111 dollars a barrel, fuelled by the weak U.S. dollar, analysts warn that the bubble will not last forever, and may burst in the medium term.

BULGARIA: Steel Plant Privatisation Fails to Deliver

The steel plant at Kremikovtzi, the pride of Bulgaria in its socialist days, is nearing collapse after privatisation failed to deliver.

DEVELOPMENT: Rising Rice Prices Hit Asian Stomachs

Soaring global rice prices are hitting the stomachs of Asia’s poorest citizens.

ENVIRONMENT-PHILIPPINES: Locals Oppose Open Pit Mining For Copper, Gold

Under the fertile farmland and forests of southern Mindanao sits what may be one of the biggest copper deposits in South-east Asia. But whether the owners of the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project should be permitted to tap the mineral lode is under question.

ENERGY: Canada's Oil Sands a Political Hot Potato

Alberta's Parkland Institute and the Polaris Institute have a released a report calling for an emergency strategic petroleum reserve for Canada, as well as for tougher policies to cut fossil fuel consumption and revise the country's oil export regime.

CHILE: Copper Boom – Cui Bono?

According to global forecasts, the price of copper, Chile’s main export, will remain high in 2008 thanks to strong demand from China. But just who will benefit from this bonanza is up for debate.

ECONOMY-CHINA: Slipping On High Oil Prices

China’s economic minders have always prided themselves on the fact that despite the country’s insatiable appetite for energy its booming economy has remained largely insulated from fluctuating international oil prices.