LATIN AMERICA: Factors in Climbing Food Prices – A Baker’s Dozen

Where today’s high food prices are concerned, there are 13 villains of the piece: the structural and circumstantial causes associated with supply and demand, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), which says that to tackle them, regional cooperation is essential.

UNITED NATIONS: Africa Keeps Japan Guessing on Security Council Seat

If the Japanese government was expecting assurances from African nations that they would support its bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, they have reason to be disappointed with the outcome of the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) last week.

BIODIVERSITY: How a Golden Opportunity Became a Zero-Sum Game

Self-interest and petty politicking largely paralysed efforts to solve the urgent problem of the widespread extinction of species, with few concrete achievements after nearly two weeks of 14-hour meetings at the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Bonn that concluded last Friday.

MEDIA-INDIA: Child Scribes in Villages Raise Development Issues

Children should be seen, not heard - an adage that remains in practice in most parts of rural India even today where the orthodox patriarchal traditions continue to hold sway in tightly-knit local communities.

RIGHTS-INDIA: State-Sponsored Repression, Say Human Rights Activists

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a 32-year-old Indian human- rights group, has decried India’s judiciary for refusing bail to ‘jungle doctor’ and human rights activist Binayak Sen. Sen is widely-respected for his 30 years of healthcare work among tribals in the central Indian State of Chhattisgarh, and has criticised the State for the mass-eviction of thousands of tribal villagers.

Q&A: U.N. Loses Credibility Ignoring Asia’s Ascent

The United Nations and its sister institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are in danger of losing their credibility if they continue to ignore the resurgence of Asia as a potentially dominant power in a new era in global politics.

POLITICS-NICARAGUA: Hard Times for Ortega

Economic problems and persistent poverty, along with his unconditional support of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and expressions of sympathy towards Colombia’s guerrillas, have plunged Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s approval ratings to a new low, analysts say.

DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Water Studies – But Where Are the Water Supplies?

The road leading to the informal settlement of Korogocho is narrow and winding. Here, in Nairobi's third largest slum, up to 150,000 people are crammed into an area of just over one square kilometre, their shanties made of cardboard, wood or metal.

INDIA: Public Hearings Grant Justice to Rural Women

The Indian state of Rajasthan is historically known for its cultural traditions and the epic tales of valour of its womenfolk are legendary. But sadly, today, this state fails to present a vibrant picture with regard to the status of its women who lead a backward existence.

TRADE: Nigeria ‘‘Threatens’’ Neighbours in Wake of Bilateral EPAs

West African states are working at salvaging regional relations with a renewed attempt to collectively negotiate an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union.

TRADE-WEST AFRICA: Nigeria Is Out to Protect Its Industries

Nigeria took a strong stance on determining its own economic development recently when it rejected an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union. The country has also adopted a different approach towards its neighbours regarding protection for its nascent industries.

BIODIVERSITY: Good Intentions Eclipse New Funding at U.N. Meet

The world community took some ever-so-careful steps towards slowing the biodiversity crisis at a major U.N. meeting in Bonn, while emphasising the need for urgency and action.

DEVELOPMENT: Japan-Africa Outcome ‘Inadequate’

A key document emerging from the fourth round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) has failed to address HIV/AIDS in the region, says a non-governmental organisation.

CARIBBEAN: Mega-Farms Could Ease Food Import Bill

Early next month, Caribbean governments will host a global forum in Caricom's regional trade bloc headquarters Guyana in hopes of attracting international investors to the languishing agriculture sector.

CUBA: Urban Farming, More Necessary Than Ever

In spite of its soil being hard to plough, saline, shallow and stony, this Cuban municipality, the location of the largest and best preserved wetland in the Caribbean, has more than 140 farmers working in urban agriculture, a phenomenon that is important for the country’s food security.

BIODIVERSITY: The Dollars and Sense of Conservation

The global biodiversity crisis that threatens life on Earth is driven by economic policies that fail to value nature, a new report finds.

HEALTH-AFRICA: UNICEF Reports Five Million Child Deaths Every Year

When four-year-old Alice Were suddenly developed a fever, her mother Miriam took her to the local medicine woman close to her house in Kangemi, a poor, cramped settlement on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Two days later, Alice was unconscious. Her frantic mother rushed to hospital with the child in her arms. But it was too late. Alice died of malaria.

RIGHTS-MAURITIUS: ‘‘We Are Not Animals,’’ Say Foreign Workers

Officially, everything is fine in the export processing zones (EPZs) in Mauritius. But, in reality, many foreign workers suffer dismal working conditions. Those who organise to improve their lot do so under the constant threat of intimidation and deportation.

PERU: Upbeat Poverty Stats Questioned

The Peruvian government has announced that poverty fell by 5.2 percent in a year and forecasts that by 2015, less than 10 percent of the population will be below the poverty line. But experts and provincial governors cast doubt on these figures, given the unmet basic needs of peasant families.

DEVELOPMENT-BOTSWANA: Of Tourists, Bushmen – and a Borehole

A planned lodge development at the settlement of Molapo in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) has become a source of controversy.

DEVELOPMENT: NGOs Marginalised at Japan-Africa Meet

If the fourth round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) concluding Friday is seriously flawed, it is because non-governmental organisations have at best been allowed to influence the policy dialogue between Japan and the African governments only from the margins.