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A coalition of more than 60 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has today published a joint declaration, calling on all states and financial institutions to end the practice of land grabbing. The declaration was timed to coincide with the annual Agriculture Investment Summit, being held in London between 26th-29th June 2012. During the event, financial investors and […]

The government of the second most populous state in India, Maharashtra, is rethinking its policy of promoting Bt cotton. Officials have announced a pilot project, designed to increase yields of cotton while reducing cultivation costs, by implementing a ‘Brazilian’ model which uses straight varieties of cotton and not hybrid or Bt (genetically-modified) ones. Questions have

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a new report yesterday, warning that the ecological foundations supporting food security are under threat. The UNEP report ‘Avoiding Future Famines’ was written by 12 leading experts involved in world food systems. The authors found that agriculture is facing multiple threats, including competition for water, deforestation and conventional

International NGOs and United Nation’s food agencies have called on G20 leaders to put food security high on their agenda at the G20 summit in Mexico. Oxfam’s spokesperson Steve Price-Thomas said “The G20 is failing to address the most important drivers of the food price crisis: increased demand for biofuels, financial speculation on commodities, and

The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned on Thursday that both agricultural production methods and food systems must move away from fossil fuel dependence towards renewable energy sources. The FAO report on ‘energy-smart food’ released ahead of the Rio+20 conference, also made clear that to improve food security and achieve sustainability it is

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has been appointed a Special Ambassador to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations for his work promoting the quinoa plant as an important way to alleviate hunger. The ceremony, held yesterday in Rome, heralds the UN’s International Year of the Quinoa 2013. Morales not only praised the

Global food prices dropped in May according to the Food Price Index published Thursday by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The index measures price changes in a food basket consisting of commodities such as cereals, dairy products and oilseeds. Food prices averaged 204 points in May, a drop of 9 per cent compared to

According to a briefing paper published by APRODEV and PELUM Association, the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has largely failed to take the IAASTD’s findings into account within its agricultural research policy. This briefing paper, which analysed the extent to which agricultural research, one of the four CAADP pillars, meets the needs of small-scale

On Friday, the president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff vetoed selected sections of a controversial new Forest Code, that had recently been introduced to alter regulations relating to the preservation of forests. Rousseff had faced growing pressure from across the world to veto the entire bill after Congress passed a version in late April that critics

At the G8 summit in Camp David, U.S. President Obama announced a ‘New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition’ which aims to help 50 million Africans escape poverty and hunger within 10 years through an increase in agricultural growth. The plan is for the programme to start in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Ghana and then expand