The Wall Street Journal reports the Ethiopian appeal for massive amounts of foreign aid, as a severe drought in the country puts the East African nation on the border of a potentially drastic humanitarian crisis concerning low levels of food and water. Paul Lomas, Oxfam International’s regional director for East Africa, states that this is […]
The Financial Times reports that according to a UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in agriculture jumped to $3bn (€2bn, £1.8bn) annually in the 2005-2007 period, up from $600m during the 1990s. Though at first glance the numerical increase appears quite significant, on the overall scale FDI flows in […]
The BBC reports on the Mozambican government’s agricultural program designed to permit inmates of its burgeoning prison population the ability to grow their own food. The idea of producing and varying the current diet of beans, rice, and porridge to include potatoes, pumpkins, lettuces, and other vegetables, and allowing inmates to work outdoors, is a […]
Plant scientist Dr. Gebisa Ejeta was awarded the 2009 World Food Prize for his development of drought resistant sorghum seeds, which have helped African farmers increase their crop yield. The $250,000 prize is awarded each year by the World Food Prize Foundation, which was established by Norman Borlaug, known as the “Father of the Green […]
October 16th is World Food Day, an opportunity for education and action on food issues, both globally and locally. Throughout the past year, the Global Food Crisis blog has posted about a variety of issues including the security, availability, safety, trade and organizations that deal with food. We invite you to mark World Food Day […]
Another important meeting taking place during World Food Week is the World Food Prize symposium taking place in Des Moines, Iowa. With leaders from business and government agencies, the symposium has been discussing how public-private partnerships can increase sustainable production of food. Read more about the proceedings of today’s symposium by reading or watching online.
A new edition of the annual The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2009 report was released jointly today by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP). Subtitled “Economic Crises – Impact and lessons learned,” the report looks at the convergence of the recent global food crisis that hit […]
During the first day of the Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) High Level Expert Panel on “How to Feed the World in 2050” on Monday, the organization’s Director General Jacques Diouf said that in order to keep up with a population that is expected to increase from 6.7 billion currently to more than 9 billion […]
World Food Day will be celebrated on Friday, October 16 – the final event of World Food Week – recognizing the creation of the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and its mission of “defeating hunger.” FPA’s Global Food Crisis blog will follow events held to commemorate World Food Week. Each year, World Food Day […]
In a front page story that appeared in the Sunday edition of The New York Times, reporter Michael Moss reports on the problems facing the beef industry and food stores in keeping beef products, particularly ground beef, free from harmful contamination, like E. Coli. The story of Stephanie Smith and the medical problems she has […]
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a meeting in New York on global food security and strategies to combat ongoing food shortages in the wake of the global financial crisis. Speaking at UN headquarters on Monday, Mr. Ban called the global food crisis “an issue that affects all […]
Norman Borlaug, credited as the “Father of the Green Revolution,” passed away at age 95 on Saturday. Borlaug, a plant pathologist, developed the use of high-yield wheat seeds in the 1960’s, instantly impacting supply of food globally, but particularly in drought-stricken areas such as Mexico and India. Borlaug’s contributions were cited by his many colleagues […]
Natural phenomena are causing severe conditions in many countries around the world, causing and in some cases, exacerbating, food shortages that are affecting large populations. The BBC reports that in Guatemala, President Alvaro Colom has sprung into action, declaring a “state of public calamity” and seeking to aid 54,000 Guatemalans whose access to food has […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set up a new registry for food and animal feed companies to report any instance of contamination in their facilities, reports The Wall Street Journal. The incidence of several high profile cases of food-borne illness in the United States, especially in the last two years, have led […]
Three studies of rice genetics were released in major scientific journals this week, and this article from NPR examines how some scientists are harnessing this knowledge into efforts to develop new growing methods for rice plants. One study featured in the NPR piece describes the so-called “deep water” rice plants, which, scientists hope, will help […]