That was Pope Francis’ message on Thursday to hundreds of thousands of Kenyans who gathered for a rain-soaked Mass, their open umbrellas spread tip to tip, their feet sinking into the mud.
Year: 2015
Pope Francis arrives in a Kenya fed up with graft
The Kenyan bigwigs in the official motorcade from the airport rode in polished Mercedes and fancy four-by-fours, but the pope waved to the crowds from the back seat of what one Kenyan newspaper dubbed a “lowly miniature Honda car.”
Bread for the World puts price tag on hunger in the United States: $160 billion in health care
WASHINGTON (RNS) Hunger and food insecurity are so widespread in the United States they add $160 billion to national health care spending, according to a Christian advocacy group.The Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, said on Monday (Nov. 23) that hunger was a key factor in the U.S. having the worst infant mortality rate among developed countries.
Latin American legislators find new paths to fight hunger
Peruvian lawmaker Jaime Delgado reads out the final declaration of the Sixth Forum of the Parliamentary Front Against Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean, in Lima. From left to right: John Preissing, FAO representative in Peru; Ecuadorean lawmaker María Augusta Calle; and Uruguayan legislator Bertha Sanseverino, with other participants in the meeting. Credit: Aramís Castro/IPS
Cotton is one of the most important fibre crops in the global textile industry. But many of the cotton farmers at the bottom of the very lucrative garment industry supply chain, do not receive a living income.
Globally, up to 100 million smallholder farmers depend on cotton for their income. They are, however, at the very bottom of the garment industry chain, largely invisible and without a voice, ignored by a trillion-dollar industry that cannot exist without their produce.
Can farms be good for nature without being organic? The organic-or-not debate ignores a crucial further option. Setting aside tracts of land for wildlife habitat can benefit bees, butterflies and plants without harming crop yields.
Non-organic farmers can do much more to foster wild plants, butterflies and bugs without giving up on pesticides, according to new research, but organic farms still bring the largest benefits for wildlife.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) work requirements don’t bring stable jobs, higher earnings
House Speaker Paul Ryan has called for another round of welfare reform, “as an exercise to save lives and to get people from welfare to work and realize opportunity and upward mobility.” But the first round of welfare reform didn’t accomplish what Speaker Ryan says it did, according to a new study of former Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients in Maryland.
TIAA-CREF, U.S. investment giant, accused of land grabs in Brazil
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — As an American investment giant that manages the retirement savings of millions of university administrators, public school teachers and others, TIAA-CREF prides itself on upholding socially responsible values, even celebrating its role in drafting United Nations principles for buying farmland that promote transparency, environmental sustainability and respect for land rights.
Myanmar military still big power despite opposition victory
YANGON, Myanmar — Amid the mold-covered facades of downtown Yangon are police stations, a five-story building housing the Special Branch state security agency and government offices where citizens are required to register out-of-town houseguests.
Bangladesh’s climate change migrants
Al-Amin used to be a rice farmer in the fertile plains of Bangladesh’s vast Ganges Delta, but the river washed his land away and now he pulls a rickshaw in a slum in the sprawling capital, Dhaka.
