Agriculture & Nutrition

African Water Bank technicians put the final touches on a water storage tank at a homestead in the Duka Moja area of Narok County, Kenya. Photo: Justus Wanzala/IPS
African Water Bank technicians put the final touches on a water storage tank at a homestead in the Duka Moja area of Narok County, Kenya. Photo: ©Justus Wanzala/IPS

Large scale rainwater harvesting eases scarcity in Kenya

by Justus Wanzala Inter Press Service July 21, 2016

Rainwater harvesting in Kenya and other places is hardly new. But in this water-stressed country, where two-thirds of the land is arid or semiarid, the quest for a lasting solution to water scarcity has driven useful innovations in this age-old pract...

Photo: World Food Programme/Ricardo Franco

Food security of developing countries expected to improve through 2026 as food prices fall and incomes rise

by Stacey Rosen, Karen Thome, and Birgit Meade USDA ERS July 19, 2016

According to price projections from USDA Agricultural Projections to 2025 and income projections from ERS’s International Macroeconomic Data Set, food prices will drop and income levels will rise over the next decade. Under these assumptio...

Mayak is a small settlement close to the frontline, which stretches across Blue Nile. Just outside town, a path leads to a wide, dry riverbed. Groups of people — mostly women and kids — are spread out, each under a different patch of shade. Ayak sits with a snoozing baby, her children scampering nearby. Photo: IRIN
Mayak is a small settlement close to the frontline, which stretches across Blue Nile. Just outside town, a path leads to a wide, dry riverbed. Groups of people — mostly women and kids — are spread out, each under a different patch of shade. Ayak sits with a snoozing baby, her children scampering nearby.  Her husband, a rebel soldier, was killed in battle. “I am really suffering,” she says. “Maybe, if he was here, we could share this burden together.”  Photo: IRIN

Blue Nile—Sudan’s forgotten front

by Amanda Sperber, Ashley Hamer, Alex Pritz, Will Miller, and Ross Martin IRIN News July 18, 2016

Eclipsed by the media coverage of Darfur and South Sudan, a little-known rebellion lingers in the southeastern corner of Sudan. The roots of the conflict are long and winding, but for the civilians caught in the midst of Blue Nile's insurgency the ef...

Refugees displaced by conflict. Photo: Jared Ferrie/IPS
Over two million South Sudanese have been displaced by ongoing conflict. Photo: Jared Ferrie/IPS

Five years after independence, South Sudan faces myriad challenges

by Lyndal Rowlands Inter Press Service July 17, 2016

South Sudan has a population of just over 11 million people, 2.3 million of whom have fled their homes due to ongoing violence. About 1.61 million South Sudanese are displaced within South Sudan, and over 720,000 have sought refuge in neigbouring c...

United Nations peacekeepers from Rwanda wait for orders at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) base in Malakal, South Sudan on Thursday. Photo: Jane Hahn/The Washington Pos
United Nations peacekeepers from Rwanda wait for orders at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) base in Malakal, South Sudan on Thursday. Photo: Jane Hahn/The Washington Post)

In South Sudan, bodies are being counted as peace accord appears to unravel

by Kevin Sieff and Max Bearak Washington Post July 17, 2016

Even though the fighting that tore through the capital  had mostly stopped, many of the 45,000 people who fled the clashes searched for food and water, often without success. The United Nations had reached a critical shortage of basic aid supplies, ...

Zhenyuan, China. 73% of the gains that the UN claims against hunger come from China, most of which occurred during the 1990s, before the MDGs even began. Photo: ©©Eric
Zhenyuan, China. 73%  of  the  gains  that the   UN   claims   against   hunger come from China, most of which occurred  during  the  1990s,  before the  MDGs  even began.  Photo:  ©©Eric

The true extent of hunger: What the FAO isn’t telling you

by Food First July 13, 2016

Changes in the way the FAO measures hunger reduced the estimated number of hungry people and increased the percentage reduction in the number of hungry people.  This article discusses those changes.
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