Surging tides from the Indian Ocean, linked in part to climate change, have pushed salt water into Tanzania’s Rufiji Delta, home to the world’s largest mangrove forest and where “more than 90% of households…make their living from rice farming.” Due to the destruction of rice crops by the …
Despite an infusion of funding from international donors to dull the effects of an ongoing drought in West Africa’s Sahel region, countries in the region are still in danger. One of these countries, Mauritania, has a perennial problem with locusts that attach crops and …
Good news: Conditions in Somalia have improved enough for the UN to declare an end to the 8-month famine. Bad news: The food security situation remains perilous for Somalis.
The declaration of the end of drought conditions is good news, but it brings the risk that the international …
Buffered by a signature Obama administration goal to fight childhood obesity, the final piece of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was implemented on January 25th.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the final set of nutrition standards enacted include:
Ensuring …
In Berlin, farm ministers and policy makers criticized the food waste of developed countries and emphasized the importance of nutrition education programs. Every year, consumers in developed countries waste 220 million metric tons of food, while almost one billion people go hungry. These practices not only …
Last week, Ertharin Cousin was named by the United Nations to replace Josette Sheeran as the head of the World Food Programme (WFP). Cousin currently serves as the U.S. ambassador to UN food agencies based in Rome, which include WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization …
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) plans to encourage climate-smart farming in Malawi, Vietnam, and Zambia, providing these countries with “strategic plans tailored to each country’s own reality.” According to the FAO, “Agriculture policies are the cornerstones for achieving food security and improving livelihoods.” …
Hoping to aid in Haiti’s recovery from the January 2010 earthquake, some political leaders and development officials looked at one problem deemed to be a persistent obstacle – overcrowded urban areas. The solution? Redevelopment of Haiti’s agricultural sector as a way of encouraging people to move out of cities, create …
Summary of Global Food Security 2011
The Global Food Security blog’s coverage for 2011 started where 2010 left off, with posts about controversial land grabs in Africa. The recovery of Haiti was strained when even the production of rice, a staple crop, was slowed …
Aid agencies are sounding the alarm about an impending drought in the countries of the Sahel region of Western Africa, threatening 12 million people with severe malnutrition, including 1 million children.
Production of cereals has been hampered by poor rainfall throughout 2011, raising prices of food across the region. The coming …
Older Americans are more food insecure, with dramatic increases in age categories ranging from 40 to 49, 50 to 59 and 60 and older.
The AARP Foundation’s August 2011 report, “Food Security Among Older Adults,” measured survey responses from older Americans in these three age …
Attempting to quantify the depth of damage to global food security by the food crisis of 2006-2008, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its annual “The State of Food Insecurity in the World” report. The theme of the report coincides with the recent
World Food Day 2011 will be commemorated on Sunday, October 16th, starting two weeks of programs and events focusing attention on the effect that volatile swings in food prices are affecting the poor.
World Food Day was originally started to celebrate the founding of the …
Even before it was a country, the United States has drawn people eager to realize the opportunities that it affords to new arrivals. For refugees living in the United States, however, their arrival often accompanies a traumatic break from their homelands because of conflict or persecution.
The U.S. Office …
Working with a local telecommunications company, the World Food Programme (WFP) has developed a program in the Ivory Coast to facilitate cash transfers that can be used by thousands of Ivorians to by food despite a climate of political violence.
WFP provides $75.00 per month to households, benefiting …
