The COP23 global climate talks drew to a close this week, led by the small island nation of Fiji in Bonn, Germany. Along with anti-Trump protests and efforts made to keep the Paris Agreement on track, the conference was remarkable in that it represented an end of deadlock on agriculture. According …
This week, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties 23 (COP23) convened in Bonn, Germany, as news broke via the Global Carbon Project that carbon emissions have reached an all-time high – an assessment that foreshadows challenges for agriculture and food security. According to an …
In a major breakthrough that could potentially save many lives and food waste, an international collaboration of scientists from the United States and India have found a way to inhibit aflatoxin-producing fungus in groundnuts. Aflatoxins, which are a significant threat to African food sources, are produced by Aspergillus flavus and …
A focus on cassava this week, as scientists at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Creve Coeur, St. Louis, Missouri are using CRISPR to develop cassava plants that are resistant to the whitefly-borne viruses that wreak havoc on East African crops. The team are now conducting field trials of GM cassava …
The theme of World Food Day 2017 focused on addressing migration through investing in food security and rural development. At the global ceremony the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters HH Pope Francis called for governments around the world to collaborate to make migration a safer and voluntary choice, …
This week has seen the publication of the 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) which charts progress in reducing hunger around the world. Advances have been uneven, with millions still experiencing chronic hunger and many places suffering acute food crises. According to the 2017 GHI, of the 119 countries assessed, in …
Big news this week as Uganda’s Parliament finally passes its long-debated biotechnology safety bill, the Uganda’s National Biosafety Act (formerly the Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill 2012). The law has been under discussion since 2012 and lays out guidelines for the commercialization and transport of GMOS for import and export. According …
What would the world do without coffee? The 29th of September was International Coffee Day, during which people all over the world celebrated one of humanity’s favorite beverages. But over at the International Coffee Organization (ICO), coffee is taken extra seriously. During a meeting taking place from 29 September to …
Two reports this week lead the news. The first, a report by Biodiversity International that states Earth’s sixth mass extinction of global wildlife is under way – and posing a serious threat to global food supplies. “Huge proportions of the plant and animal species that form the foundation of our food …
Cassava-disease breakthroughs dominate the news this week. A team of African and American scientists have identified genetic markers of resistance to cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic disease (CMD) in East African cassava varieties Namikonga and Albert. The scientists crossed the two varieties via hand pollination, and the …
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