If you were tasked to end hunger and malnutrition in the world, you might first ask: Where do such vulnerable people live? It may be a surprise that the majority of the world’s hungry and malnourished live in large Middle Income Countries (MICs), some of which are global economic powerhouses. These countries are hosts to the Missing Middle, or vulnerable populations that tend not to either benefit from or contribute to the rapid economic growth that is characteristic of their countries.
Author: WHES
We’re treating soil like dirt. It’s a fatal mistake, as our lives depend on it
Imagine a wonderful world, a planet on which there was no threat of climate breakdown, no loss of freshwater, no antibiotic resistance, no obesity crisis, no terrorism, no war. Surely, then, we would be out of major danger? Sorry. Even if everything else were miraculously fixed, we’re finished if we don’t address an issue considered so marginal and irrelevant that you can go for months without seeing it in a newspaper.
Peasant sovereignty?
In May 2014, the Spain-based international agrarian organization, Grain, reported that small farmers not only “feed the world with less than a quarter of all farmland,” but they are also the most productive farmers on Earth. For example, small farmers and peasants in nine European countries outproduce large farmers.
We’re throwing away tons of fruits and veggies for not being pretty enough
You can always tell when I’ve been munching from a bowl of tortilla chips because the only ones left are the perfect ones: all three corners intact, no folded edges, no giant air bubbles. The broken chips and burnt bits and crumbs usually lurking at the bottom of the bowl are gone. I ate them.
New project announced: Global food security by the numbers
Since the global food crisis in 2008, the world has seen increased interest in agricultural development to alleviate poverty, spur economic growth, and advance food security. New research, new players, and additional resources have cropped up across the traditional landscape.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi says his country is in danger of collapse. “If this country fails, the whole region will slide into a cycle of anarchy that will represent a grave danger to all countries in this region, including Israel, and would extend to Europe.”
Since the army took power from Mohamed Morsi in 2013 with popular support, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi says he’s been fighting to keep the forces of anarchy at bay.
Is gender inequality the main roadblock to achieving nutrition targets?
To mark International Women’s Day I wanted to write about something that has been niggling me.
Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis
In the late 1950s, Robert Putnam, the distinguished social scientist whose ‘Bowling Alone’ (2000) has become one of the most influential books of our time, lost his campaign for the presidency of his high school class in Port Clinton, Ohio. The victor was one of the few African Americans in the school, a star athlete who, after a stint as a utility worker, eventually rose through the Los Angeles school system to the rank of principal and then regional director. By any account, his career represented a considerable accomplishment. But it pales in comparison with that of Putnam, who now holds the Peter and Isabel Malkin professorship in public policy at Harvard University.
Let’s grant women land rights and power our future
BONN, Mar 4 2015 (IPS) – Women are not only the world’s primary food producers. They are hardworking and innovative and, they invest far more of their earnings in their families than men. But most lack the single most important asset for accessing investment resources – land rights.
From famine to feast in 40 years: Policy matters
In the mid-1970s, the outlook for food supplies around the world was grim. There were talks of “food triage”— food-rich countries would decide which food-poor countries should get food, thereby dooming the rest to death.
