Agriculture & Nutrition

Photo: Zimbabweland

Farmer-led irrigation in Africa: Driving a new Green Revolution?

by Ian Scoones Zimbabweland December 10, 2016

A new open access review paper is just out in the Journal of Peasant Studies on farmer-led irrigation in Africa.  The paper offers a fantastically useful overview of the debate about what form of irrigation is most likely to support increases in smallholder production and livelihoods in Africa. ...

Kimberly Flowers, Photo: Vatican Radio

Listen: Food Insecurity-a cause and consequence of conflict

by Hayley Susino Vatican Radio December 10, 2016

In a world where conflict affects so many communities, it is important to recognize the connection between food insecurity and social unrest. Kimberly Flowers, Director of the Global Food Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), was brought to Rome by U.S. Miss...

Dial ‘N’ for Nutrition? A Landscape Analysis of What We Know About m-Nutrition, m-Agriculture and m-Development

by Barnett, I., Scott, N., Batchelor, S. and Haddad, L. Institute of Development Studies December 10, 2016

Mobile phone technology has the potential to initiate behavior change and facilitate the long-term maintenance of new behaviors. This paper reviews the existing m-agri and m-health interventions. The purpose of this review is to assist would-be implementers and evaluators to understand the landscape...

A woman feeds her malnourished child in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Eduardo Soteras/AFP/Getty

A new global research agenda for food

by Lawrence Haddad, Corinna Hawkes, Patrick Webb, Sandy Thomas, John Beddington, Jeff Waage & Derek Flynn Nature December 4, 2016

Lawrence Haddad, Corinna Hawkes and colleagues propose ten ways to shift the focus from feeding people to nourishing them.   http://www.nature.com/news/a-new-global-research-agenda-for-food-1.21052...

Pulses, such as chickpeas, lentils and kidney beans, are good for nutrition and income, particularly for women farmers who look after household food security, like those shown here at a village outside Lusaka, Zambia. Photo: © Busani Bafana/IPS
Pulses, such as chickpeas, lentils and kidney beans, are good for nutrition and income, particularly for women farmers who look after household food security, like those shown here at a village outside Lusaka, Zambia. Photo: © Busani Bafana/IPS

The beating pulse of food security in Africa

by Busani Bafana Inter Press Service October 17, 2016

MASVINGO, Zimbabwe - Elizabeth Mpofu is a fighter. She is one of a select group of farmers who equate food security with the war against hunger and shun poor agricultural practices which destroy the environment and impoverish farmers, especially women. Mpofu grows ma...

Coffee beans in Dalat, Vietnam. Photo: David Hagerman/The New York Times
Coffee beans in Dalat, Vietnam.  See full report by the Climate Institute of Australia. Photo: David Hagerman/The New York Times

Climate change threatens world coffee supply, report says

by Jonah Engel Bromwich New York Times September 28, 2016

A report examining the many ways climate change threatens coffee and coffee farmers has alarmed people who are...

Wheat field at harvest time. Photo: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service/Blair Fannin
Wheat field at harvest time. See full study estimating wheat’s decline with climate change.  Photo: ©©  Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service/Blair Fannin. Click to see larger photo.

Wheat, one of the world’s most important crops, is being threatened by climate change

by Chelsea Harvey Washington Post September 16, 2016

A new study published Monday in Nature Climate Change reiterates concerns that wheat — the most significant single crop in terms of human consumption  — might be in big trouble. After comparing multiple studie...

Machine harvesting soybeans. Photo: United Soybean Board
Soybean harvest. Photo: ©©  United Soybean Board. Click link to see larger photo.

Behind the Monsanto deal, doubts about the GMO revolution

by Jacob Bunge Wall Street Journal September 16, 2016

Farmers are reconsidering the use of biotech seeds as it becomes harder to justify their high prices amid the measly returns of the current farm economy....

Emberá huts in a clearing in a forest protected by this indigenous people in Panama, in their 4,400-sq-km territory. Native peoples want global climate change accords to recognise the key role they play in protecting forests, and demand to be included in benefits arising from their conservation efforts. Photo: Government of Panama
Emberá huts in a clearing in a forest protected by this indigenous people in Panama, in their 4,400-sq-km territory. Native peoples want global climate change accords to recognise the key role they play in protecting forests, and demand to be included in benefits arising from their conservation efforts. Photo: Government of Panama

Indigenous people demand shared benefits from forest conservation

by Emilio Godoy Inter Press Service September 4, 2016

“Why don’t the authorities put themselves in our shoes?” asked Cándido Mezúa, an indigenous man from Panama, with respect to native peoples’ participation in conservation policies and the sharing of benefits from the protection of forests....

The flower petals and the labels represent different sustainability metrics that compare organic farming with conventional farming. They illustrate that organic systems can better balance the four areas of sustainability: production (orange), environment (blue), economics (red) and social wellbeing (green). Illustration: John Reganold and Jonathan Wachter/The Guardian
The flower petals and the labels represent different sustainability metrics that compare organic farming with conventional farming. They illustrate that organic systems can better balance the four areas of sustainability: production (orange), environment (blue), economics (red) and social wellbeing (green). Illustration: John Reganold and Jonathan Wachter/The Guardian

Can we feed 10 billion people on organic farming alone?

by John Reganold The Guardian August 17, 2016

In a time of increasing population growth, climate change and environmental degradation, we need agricultural systems that come with a more balanced portfolio of sustainability benefits. Organic farming is one of the healthiest and strongest sectors in agriculture today and will continue to grow and...

  • World Hunger Education
    Service
    P.O. Box 29015
    Washington, D.C. 20017
  • For the past 40 years, since its founding in 1976, the mission of World Hunger Education Service is to undertake programs, including Hunger Notes, that
    • Educate the general public and target groups about the extent and causes of hunger and malnutrition in the United States and the world
    • Advance comprehension which integrates ethical, religious, social, economic, political, and scientific perspectives on the world food problem
    • Facilitate communication and networking among those who are working for solutions
    • Promote individual and collective commitments to sustainable hunger solutions.