Food & Agriculture

SANTIAGO

Obesity and Hypertension – Signs of Inequality in Chile

By Marianela Jarroud
The prevalence of obesity and hypertension among the poor in Chile is a factor that aggravates inequality, requiring public policies for prevention and mitigation of the high cost of a healthy diet.

Spain Leads EU in GM Crops, but No One Knows Where They Are

By Inés Benítez
Spain has more large-scale plantations of genetically modified seeds than any other country in the European Union (EU).

The Two Faces of International Commodity Trade

By Pascal Lamy
For decades, commodity trade has been understood from the point of view of “commodity dependent” exporting countries, those whose revenues are largely generated by commodities exports. The trend of decreasing agricultural commodity prices was the focus of attention. However, from the beginning of the 2000s, there was an upward trend in agricultural commodity prices culminating in the price peak of 2007-08.

Ranchers Try to Drive Tsimané Indians Off Their Land

By Rafael Acuña Coaquira
“We can’t take any more abuse,” Carmelo Tayo, the head of this small Tsimané indigenous village, says sadly. The community has lived for decades on land in Bolivia’s Amazon jungle that outsiders are now trying to gain control of.

Net Tightens Around Fishing in Egypt

By Cam McGrath
For Egypt’s commercial marine fishermen, making a living has never been more dangerous. Egyptian crews driven further afield in search of fish have faced pirate attacks, spent months in dingy foreign prisons, and come under fire from coast guard vessels. Dozens of fishermen have been held for ransom, abused by authorities, or shot and killed.

Water Crisis Hitting Food, Energy – And Everything Else

By Stephen Leahy
How much water does it take to turn on a light? It took 10,000 litres to make your jeans. Another three big bathtubs of water was needed for your two-eggs-toast-coffee breakfast this morning.

Q&A: Brazil’s School Meals Teach Good Eating Habits

By Fabiola Ortiz
Providing school meals for 45 million children is a remarkable achievement for Brazil. But the programme faces specific difficulties, as well as the generic problems plaguing any national plan in this vast country of more than 192 million people.

Goat Farming, a Growing Alternative in Cuba’s Reform Process

By Ivet González
Goat farming is becoming popular among farmers given land to use as part of the economic reforms implemented in Cuba since 2008. The increase in goat rearing, in provinces like Cienfuegos on the southern coast, could help expand the limited range of basic food products available to Cubans.

Treating Malnutrition Moves From the Hospital to the Home

By Naimul Haq
When nine-month-old Borsha was admitted to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh last January, she was on the verge of death.

Treason Case May Fuel Unrest in Malawi

By Mabvuto Banda
Malawi’s first-ever tripartite elections in May 2014 will be a litmus test for President Joyce Banda, who is faced with an opposition majority in parliament, soaring food prices, and a potential treason trial.

SLIDESHOW: Cameroonian Farmers Find Justice in Fair Fruit

By Monde Kingsley Nfor
The fruit farmers in Njombe, a small town in the coastal Littoral Region of Cameroon, learned a life lesson about “making lemonade out of lemons” - or rather “dried fruit out of fruit” when their land was taken from them by the government and leased to an international farming company.

Secretive U.S. Amendment Would Weaken Biotech Oversight

By Carey L. Biron
Food safety advocates, environmentalists and health professionals here are engaging in a fervent last-minute campaign to highlight a controversial legislative amendment they say would gut the ability of both the judiciary and the federal government to regulate genetically modified agricultural products.

African Smallholder Farmers Need to Become Virus Detectors

By Wambi Michael
Plant viruses are threatening the livelihoods of farmers and food security by attacking vital food crops in East and Central African countries. Cassava is the staple in most of these countries and it is one of the hardest hit crops.

Dairy Farming Needs a Shot of Modernity

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Mohammad Ali's routine has not changed in over three decades. A small dairy farmer in the village of Aliabad, in the Narowal district of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, he wakes at sunrise and walks to the barn to milk his three cows manually, stopping only for a breakfast of unleavened bread and tea heavily laced with milk before getting back to work.

Food Policies Failing the World’s Hungry

By Joe Hitchon
The world’s food security remains “vulnerable”, new data suggests, with some 870 million people experiencing sustained hunger and two billion suffering from micronutrient deficiencies.
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