After several weeks of wrangling, the Kenyan government has finally allowed the opening of a new refugee camp near the Somali border on July 25th. Called Ifo II or the Ifo Extension, the camp has a designed capacity of 40,000 people, has brick houses, clean running water and even school buildings. Just up the road […]
The high price of food has been attributed as one of the underlying causes of unrest that launched the reform movements of the Arab Spring. As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins and unrest continues in much of the Middle East and North Africa, the price of food may figure into the campaigns for […]
While the world community finally mobilizes to secure funding to provide aid to the people of the Horn of Africa, I wanted to provide the readers with five more recommendations (in addition to the five from an earlier post) for how you can donate directly to relief efforts. I also encourage you to send me […]
Last month, the Senate voted 73-27 to end a $6 billion per year tax credit to the ethanol industry as part of an amendment to Bill S. 782, also known as the Economic Development Revitalization Act of 2011. This vote was largely symbolic however, as the bill itself has yet and is not expected […]
On Monday, the UN’s Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) convened over 200 delegates, representing the 191 countries who are members of FAO, as well as NGO representatives, to discuss a a two-track plan for immediate relief to over 12 million people in the Horn of Africa region. Part of the action plan was also mapped […]
The World Food Program (WFP) is calling the situation in the Horn of Africa the “highest global humanitarian priority,” with famine in southern Somalia and refugee camps in Kenya overflowing with those fleeing hunger brought by severe drought conditions. One of the consistent threads throughout the reports of devastation has been the drought’s effect on […]
Inflation continues to rise in China, with pork the latest culprit in increasing already high food prices. Over half of the meat consumption in China is pork, and China produces and consumes more than half of the world’s pigs. This means that when pork prices go up, inflation goes up. According to the UPI, “pork […]
The news continues to worsen in the Horn of Africa, as the United Nations has declared famine in two regions in southern Somalia. What was regarded just recently as a severe humanitarian crisis has now crossed the threshold to famine, defined by the BBC as: More than 30% of children must be suffering from acute […]
Global food prices have been reaching new highs as fluctuations in global food markets have continued since late 2007. To help make sense of these trends, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) offers a Food Price Volatility Portal, providing links to websites that monitor food markets, as well as reports and resources that […]
A humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa region is threatening over 10 million people, with women and children being the most vulnerable. A startling amalgam of factors have converged to create a deadly situation, particularly drought, malnutrition, region-wide conflicts, poor governance and limited access by aid organizations. While we keep an eye on how […]
On June 22nd and 23rd, agricultural ministers from the top 20 economies in the world met in Paris under the auspices of the G20, to address problems in the world’s increasingly connected food production and distribution system. The G20 meeting was spearheaded by France, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20. In his […]
The challenges faced by Kenyan aid workers is the subject of a short piece by Sara Corbett in the recent The New York Times Magazine. The profile of Dorothy Gakii, a Kenyan who works with Refugepoint to distribute food for the swelling numbers of refugees from the Horn of Africa; particularly countries like Ethiopia, Sudan […]
On a scale of 1 to 5, UN agencies are rating the Horn of Africa at a 4, one step below “catastrophe/famine.” In a region where problems with security and governance are the typical concern, famine is now threatening over 9 million people. Inadequate rainfall, coupled with high global food prices, have put the people […]
From time to time, the Global Food Security Blog will call upon experts with an informed viewpoint on topics in global food security to contribute guest posts to our blog. The first of our guest bloggers is Dr. Augustine Uzo Mokwunye, a development strategy consultant with expertise in natural resources management, capacity development, and application […]
As a growing shortage of arable land on Earth has led to controversial practices such as land grabs, can the solution lie in space? Watch this report from BBC about efforts to learn how to grow food in space. In the short-term, it is meant to supplement astronauts’ diets, but there are also long-term goals […]