Sunday, March 21, 2010   08:46 GMT    
IPS Direct to Your Inbox!
 - Africa
 - Asia-Pacific
     Afghanistan
     Iran
 - Caribbean
      Haiti
 - Europe
      Union in Diversity
 - Latin America
 - Mideast &
   Mediterranean
      Iraq
      Israel/Palestine
 - North America
      Neo-Cons
      Bush's Legacy
Agencia de Noticias Inter Press Service
Agencia de Noticias Inter Press Service
Subscribe
Agencia de Noticias Inter Press Service
Agencia de Noticias Inter Press Service
 - Development
      MDGs
      City Voices
      Corruption
 - Civil Society
 - Globalisation
 - Environment
      Energy Crunch
      Climate Change
      Tierramérica
 - Human Rights
 - Health
      HIV/AIDS
 - Indigenous Peoples
 - Economy & Trade
 - Labour
 - Population
     Reproductive Rights
     Migration&Refugees
 - Arts &
          Entertainment
 - Education
 - In Focus
Languages
   ENGLISH
   ESPAÑOL
   FRANÇAIS
   ARABIC
   DEUTSCH
   ITALIANO
   JAPANESE
   NEDERLANDS
   PORTUGUÊS
   SUOMI
   SVENSKA
   SWAHILI
IPS Inter Press Service News Agency

See picture details
CHINA: 'Food Scarcity Creating New World Order'
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - Unprecedented food scarcity is beginning to dictate the rules of a new political order where individual countries are scrambling to secure their own food supplies with little concern for the rest of the world, says the founder of the Earth Policy Institute.
MORE >>
 

See picture details
DEVELOPMENT: About Farmers, Without Farmers
By Sabina Zaccaro
ROME - Record high food prices and their impact on poor countries will dominate the three-day UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) summit of world leaders that opened Tuesday in Rome. But the solutions to the food crisis cannot be left to governments only, according to several small farmers groups running a parallel civil society food forum.
MORE >>
 

TRADE-WEST AFRICA: Nigeria Is Out to Protect Its Industries
By Aileen Kwa*
GENEVA - 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.
MORE >>
 

AGRICULTURE-BRAZIL: Fertiliser Prices Hinder Expansion
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - A simple imbalance in agricultural supply and demand can be corrected in less than a year, the time it takes to sow and harvest grains, but the present global food crisis cannot. The shortage of fertilisers and their consequent rise in cost are standing in the way of quick solutions.
MORE >>
 

TRADE: NGO Keeping An Eye on Malawi’s New Best Friend, China
By Pilirani Semu-Banda
LILONGWE - China continues to grow its presence in Africa, having just roped in the small southern African country of Malawi as another one of many trading partners on the continent. But some Malawians have adopted a cautious attitude towards their government’s new ally.
MORE >>
 

TRADE-AFRICA: ‘‘Build Regional Markets to Prevent Hunger’’
By Aletta du Plessis
CAPE TOWN - Regional trade agreements could not only serve to protect farmers in developing countries but could also be used for the swift distribution of food aid from neighbouring countries in times of famine.
MORE >>
 

TRADE: France Seeks Greater Flexibility with Africa
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS - France, the forthcoming holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, has asked that the bloc display greater flexibility in talks aimed at reaching free trade accords with Africa.
MORE >>
 

TRADE-INDIA: 'WTO Market Access Proposal Unacceptable'
By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
NEW DELHI - India has raised strong objections to the draft negotiating document on non-agricultural market access (NAMA) on trade in industrial products, released Monday by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
MORE >>
 

ENVIRONMENT: GM Foods the Problem, Not the Solution
By Julio Godoy
BONN - The food crisis has prompted some looks towards genetically modified food production as a solution. That in turn has led to stronger warnings over the consequences of such food for health and the environment.
MORE >>
 

BRAZIL: Agribusiness Undermines Environmental Leadership Role
By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil is a world leader in agriculture and on several environmental issues, but it will find it hard to reconcile both fronts, judging by the many battles lost by former environment minister Marina Silva, in spite of the political clout she wielded for over five years.
MORE >>
 

BIODIVERSITY: Privatisation Making Seeds Themselves Infertile
By Julio Godoy
BONN - Seeds were once for ever. After harvest, a few from the crop would be planted for the following year, and so it went on.
MORE >>
 

See picture details
Q&A: Of Elephants, Mice and Fleas
Interview with Sylvia Borren, former executive director, Oxfam Novib
ROME - Sylvia Borren was executive director at Oxfam Novib from 1999 until Feb 2008. Before that she was programme director.
MORE >>
 

EL SALVADOR: Poor Eating Less While Food Prices Soar
By Raúl Gutiérrez
SAN SALVADOR - Eating less is the only option left to the poorest of the poor in El Salvador, in the face of the steady rise in global food prices, which has had an impact on the domestic cost of staples like rice, beans, tortillas, milk, eggs and bread.
MORE >>
 

See picture details
MEXICO-US: The Perverse Patent of the Yellow Bean
By Diego Cevallos*
MEXICO CITY - Patenting an invention in the United States and benefiting from the patent rights is, in theory, an incentive for innovation and scientific discovery. But in practice it can spur theft, as occurred with a variety of Mexican bean.
MORE >>
 

See picture details
PARAGUAY: Women’s Cooperative Buys in Bulk to Beat Food Inflation
By David Vargas
ASUNCION - Making the old saying "cheaper by the dozen" their motto, a group of women in a poor neighbourhood of Asunción created a cooperative to buy food in bulk, in order to combat the rise in food prices.
MORE >>
 

See picture details
Q&A: South Africa To Reconsider Its Trade Agreement With EU?
Interview with Dot Keet, South African trade policy expert*
GENEVA - As a result of the free trade agreements with the European Union, called economic partnership agreements, regional integration in Southern Africa is in tatters (see accompanying article - link below). The question arises: what kind of integration would engender broad-based development?
MORE >>
 

EUROPE: In a Civil War over Subsidies
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS - Few things cause tempers to flare up among governments on both sides of the English Channel more than the future of the European Union's massively expensive farm subsidies regime.
MORE >>
 

ENVIRONMENT: Not Enough Done to Protect Biodiversity
By Julio Godoy
BONN - The UN conference on biodiversity opened in the former German capital Bonn this week in the face of new evidence that many countries, particularly the industrialised ones, are not complying with their declared goal of "substantially reducing the loss of biological diversity."
MORE >>
 

 

Next >>

 
RSS News Feeds RSS/XML
Make as home Make IPS News your homepage!
Free Newsletters Free Email Newsletters
IPS Mobile IPS Mobile
Text Only Text Only

News in RSS More than 800 million people suffer hunger today. A new global effort has been launched to solve this complex problem and find ways to double food production in 25 to 50 years in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner under the conditions of climate change.

Impossible?

For the first time NGOs, governments, research institutions, consumer and farmer organisations and the private sector are working as equals to determine the necessary ingredients for food security at the local level through the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). Their aim is to reshape approaches to food security issues, based on science, technology and traditional knowledge.
 

Facts on Agriculture & Development GreenFacts' summary of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development IAASTD.
 
Is it Possible to Reduce World Hunger and Protect the Environment? Video IAASTD - Webcast from the Foreign Press Association 15th April 2008
News in RSS
POLITICS-SUDAN: African Leaders Call for Peaceful Elections
ECONOMY: Greek Crisis Impacts the Balkans
U.S.: Families Sue Over Guantanamo Deaths
NIGERIA: Acting President Consolidates Power Amid Unrest
CLIMATE CHANGE: A Year On, Little Change in Political Climate
LATIN AMERICA: Still a Long Way to Go, for Black Women
ZAMBIA: School Policy for Teen Mothers a Partial Success
KENYA: Trying to Rebuild Communities After Floods
IRAN: New Budget May Add to Uncertainties, Political Strains
Q&A: Sri Lanka Remains Defiant of U.N. Chief
More >>
News in RSS
WHAT'S BEHIND SOARING COMMODITY PRICES
    by Jose Graziano da Silva

MAKING HIGH COMMODITY PRICES HELP THE POOREST NATIONS
    by Ali Mchumo

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE: INVESTING IN SUSTENANCE
    by Hans R. Herren

LATIN AMERICA: REBIRTH OF THE AGRARIAN AGENDA
    by Jose Graziano da Silva

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY FOR LATIN AMERICA
    by Joao Pedro Stedile
Int'l Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development
IAASTD NGO Discussion Site
COM+
World Bank Report 2008: Agriculture for Development
Via Campesina
Third World Network Africa
 
Bob Watson, Director of IAASTD, interview on feeding the world

IPS is not responsible for the content of external sites