Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture

Photo: Women assembling tea. Credit: Kizito Makoye.

Transforming Tea Trade with Taste and Impact in Tanzania

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM (IDN) – Nothing quite compares the taste of Ginger Mint Fusion tea whose aromatic steam mistily wafts off when served in a cup. As any customer at Salt restaurant in Dar es Salaam will attest, the tasty beverage is probably the best money can buy.

Perched at the posh Oyster Bay neighbourhood with lush vegetation – the restaurant, which boasts a tacky décor and grandiose French Style architecture – is a magnet for tea-lovers.

Whether you take it with milk, sugar, lemon or just plain, ginger tea, which is spiced with exquisite flavours, is irresistibly tasty.

: Kizito Makoye; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 December 2020

Photo: Displaced victims of the West Java tsunami in Indonesia collect World Food Programme (WFP) food aid. Credit: WFP/Barry Came.

There Is Enough Food, yet 2 Billion Have Difficulty Accessing It

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – "Hunger is an outrage in a world of plenty," the UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the governing body of the Organization’s food agency, highlighting the important role of food security in cementing peace.

"An empty stomach is a gaping hole in the heart of a society. A stunted child's growth in the mind is progress for her and for everyone," the UN Chief  attested to the Executive Board of the 2020 Nobel Peace laureate World Food Programme (WFP).

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 02 December 2020

Photo credit: Global Bioeconomy Summit 2020:

A Global Summit Calls for Transition to the Bioeconomy

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN (IDN) – Global environmental threats, the opportunities brought by new sciences, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic call for the transition to the bioeconomy, says the communiqué emerging from the Global Bioeconomy Summit 2020 organised by the International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy (IACGB) composed of about forty high-level policy experts and drivers of the bioeconomy in all hemispheres. The transition is "more critical than ever before".

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 24 November 2020

Photo credit: United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards.

Agribusiness Interests Hijack 2021 UN Food Systems Summit

Viewpoint by Anuradha Mittal *

OAKLAND, USA (IDN) – This World Food Day (October 16) amidst the ongoing pandemic and the devastating impact of the climate crisis, a Food Systems Summit is being planned a year from now by the United Nations, to fulfil the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. As the Summit takes shape, it is obvious that it does not intend to trigger the deep systemic changes necessary to address the massive challenges that we face. The Summit will do more of the same – green and poor wash – to preserve and perpetuate interests of agribusiness and agro-chemical corporations at the expense of people and the planet.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 14 October 2020

Photo: Mark Apel, second from the left. Credit: HAF, 2018.

Cathartic Returns to Morocco: From Peace Corps to Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer

By Ellen Hernandez and Katie Bercegeay *

MARRAKECH (IDN) – Upon hearing the words “Hamdullah wa inshallah,” Mark Apel is transported as if in a time capsule to the many times he and Yossef Ben-Meir, President of the High Atlas Foundation (HAF), uttered them in gratitude for the food set before them or in hope for something good to come of their efforts as Peace Corps Volunteers. “It makes you more mindful of the moment,” he remarked in a recent interview conducted by Yossef for HAF.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 October 2020

Photo: Stabilising the global food system. Credit: Barilla Center.

Transforming Agriculture for Food, Nutrition and Livelihoods

By Busani Bafana

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (IDN) – Horticulture farmer Prosper Chikwara, grows cabbages, spinach and kale on the idyllic family farm, 20km north of the city of Bulawayo. Word of mouth is no longer enough to sell his produce.

He now grows on order because it no longer guaranteed there will be buyers at his gate when the crops are ready for harvest.

Six months ago, Chikwara, supplied 20 000 kg of vegetables to wholesalers in the city of Bulawayo. He is now selling less than half of his produce since the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown was imposed.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 September 2020

Photo: Sustainable agriculture and women’s and youth empowerment are two of the top priorities of HAF. Source: HAF

A Generation and a Day in Development Life – HAF Celebrates 20 Years

Viewpoint by Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir

The writer is President of the High Atlas Foundation in Marrakech, Morocco.

MARRAKECH (IDN) – As so many of us ask when we commemorate an anniversary of decades: where have all the years gone? Have we done all we can? Have we been of true service? Did we do right?

We also may wonder on these occasions what might the future hold. Will our dreams – our Moroccan dreams – come true? Will every village and neighbourhood come together, with every young person, every elderly, every woman and a man from all circumstances and be part of designing and deciding the future course of their community? And will the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) be of the best service it could as the Moroccan people create the change they seek?

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 05 September 2020

EU Subsidies Benefit Big Farms While Underfunding Greener and Poorer Plots

Viewpoint by Murray Scown, Kimberly Nicholas & Mark Brady*

UTRECHT | LUND | UPPSALA (IDN) – The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the European Union’s largest budget item. For the 60 billion euro a year it pays in subsidies, the CAP is expected to support farmer incomes, ensure a supply of quality food, protect biodiversity, tackle climate change and encourage young people into farming.

It’s hard to tell if the EU is succeeding in these aims because of a lack of transparency, complex reporting, and insufficient monitoring. But the success of the European Green Deal and a green recovery from COVID-19 depend on these subsidies being well spent.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 24 August 2020

Photo: In Kaya, Burkina Faso, 27-year-old Mariam Sawadogo serves a meal to her family with food from the World Food Programme (WFP). Credit: WFP/Mahamady Ouedraogo.

Burkina Faso Faces ‘Alarming Deterioration’ in Food Security as It Grapples with COVID-19

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – Two United Nations agencies have warned that about 3.3 million people in Burkina Faso are facing acute food insecurity. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) cited alarming new data, and the World Food Programme (WFP), stressed that “urgent and sustained action” is needed to address the worsening food and nutrition situation throughout the landlocked West African country.

: Radwan Jakeem; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 August 2020

Photo: Patrón cortando caña (Patrón cuts the cane), Colombia, 2015. Credit: Pablo Fierro.

Colombian Sports Hero Patrón's Assassination Targets Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Communities

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad and Zoe PC

This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – Not much, apart from football, unites the Colombian people. If a 2014 Interior Ministry survey called “The Power of Football” is to be believed, then 94 percent of the Colombian population say that football is either important or very important. Patrocinio Bonilla—called Patrón—was on the side of those who believed that football was very important, indeed essential. Patrón was murdered on August 11, 2020.