Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture

Photo: Polish border guards pushing-back refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border, Usnarz Gorny, Poland. Credit: Karol Grygoruk/RATS Agency

People as Pawns to Power: The Unfolding Humanitarian Crisis on the Belarusian Border Needs Urgent Attention

By Anna Alboth

The writer is Anna Alboth is Media Programmes Coordinator, Minority Rights Group International, Warsaw.

WARSAW (IDN) — For an organisation established on the back of a humanitarian disaster that shocked the world, the lack of discussion at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly about events unfolding on the Polish-Belarusian border is deeply disappointing.

As feeble international efforts to hold Lukashenka to account failed, he instead consolidated power extending a vice-like grip on power in Belarus.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 23 September 2021

Photo: Floating island vegetables, India, a winner of the Good Food For All photo completions Credit: Debdatta Chakraborty

World Food Systems Summit Needs to Recognise Right of Farmers and People Not of Corporations’, Say Critics

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — The Heads of State and Government from more than 90 countries are expected to announce their commitments to transform food systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the historic UN Food Systems Summit this week held virtually from New York. But many civil society and farmers' groups are sceptical about the international community being able to recognize the rights of small-scale farmers to their land and peoples access to affordable food, which are essential to achieving food security and associated SDGs.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 22 September 2021

Photo: Bhikkhu Bodhi. Source: Buddhistdoor

Tackling Global Hunger at Its Roots

Viewpoint by Bhikkhu Bodhi

Tackling global hunger requires that we identify its fundamental causes and remove these at the roots. This necessitates not only the adoption of transformative policies, but a fundamental change in our own values and attitudes, writes Bhikkhu Bodhi.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Buddha teaches that to effectively solve any problem we have to remove its underlying causes. While the Buddha himself applies this principle to the ending of existential suffering, the same method can be used to deal with many of the challenges we face in the social and economic dimensions of our lives.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 19 September 2021

Photo: Two women are shown better farming techniques at one of a hundred gardens in Cape Town made possible through the Albalami Bezehkaya voluntary association, supported with funding from Australia. The gardens help improve food security through improving production and generating income for the farmers involved. Kate Holt/AusAID

USAID’s Agricultural Transformation for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems

By Henry Prillaman

The writer is a student at the University of Virginia and an Intern at the High Atlas Foundation.

NAIROBI, Kenya (IDN) — I attended the 2021 pre-summit for the world’s premier forum for African agriculture, the Agricultural Transformation for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems (AGRF). The forum consisted of many great speakers and commentators discussing different parts of African agriculture, from the fiscal and political side to the implementation and community side.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 15 September 2021

Photo: Young fruit trees growing in the Atlas Mountains are monitored by HAF. Credit: HAF

Former Pastoral Nomads Considering In-Place Farming

By Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts

The writer is an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia.

VIRGINIA, USA (IDN) — North African pastoralism, an agricultural method used for centuries by nomadic people in the steppe highlands, is on the decline. Facing limited grazing land due to overuse and drought, pastoral nomads are favouring more sedentary farming methods like growing fruit or nut trees and crops.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 10 September 2021

Photo: ADB data show the impact of Covid-19 on government finance in developing Asia. Source: ADB

ADB Warns Covid-19 Threatens Asia’s Progress Towards Achieving Global Development Goals

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — A new report released by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) says that an estimated 75 to 80 million people in the developing regions of Asia have been pushed back into poverty last year threatening to derail the region’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 01 September 2021

Photo: Members of the disabled community play a game of football in Kayunga District, Uganda. UNICEF/Rebecca Vassie

Paralympics: An Incredible Medium to Create Awareness of the Disabled

Viewpoint by Simone Galimberti

Simone Galimberti is Author and Co-Founder of ENGAGE, a not-for-profit NGO in Nepal. He writes on volunteerism, social inclusion, youth development and regional integration as an engine to improve people’s lives.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (IDN) — Once again the limelight will be back on Tokyo as the city is hosting the Paralympics Games, another carnival of sports with the participation of about 4400 athletes from 160 countries and territories.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 24 August 2021

Photo: Hidilyn Diaz with her gold medal in Tokyo Olympics 2020. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Filipino Medal Winners at Tokyo Olympics Show Sports Could Empower The “Economically Disabled”

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — As the Paralympics begin in Tokyo—a celebration of the athletics prowess of the “differently-abled”—it will be appropriate to look at how the Tokyo Olympic Games that concluded on August 8 empowered the “economically disabled” athletes from the Philippines—a Southeast Asian country not well-known for its sporting prowess except for the legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao, whose own story is a great rag to riches one.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 22 August 2021

Photo: Vienna Global meeting of the Foreign Ministries Science & Technology Advice Network (FMSTAN) & Global meeting of the Science Policy in Diplomacy and External Relations Network (Spider) in November 2019. Credit: Mahmoud CCBY 2.0

Jeffrey Sachs Should Lead a Knowledge Coalition to Enhance Power to Reduce if not Stop the Exploitation of Africa

Viewpoint by Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D

The writer is Professor of Political Science/International Relations, Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Nigeria, and former Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. +2348055331448

ABEOKUTA, Nigeria (IDN) — The United Nations held a pre-Summit on Food Systems on July 26-28, 2021, as a primer for its first Global Food Summit coming up in September 2021. At this meeting, Jeffrey Sachs, American and popular Economist as well as UN Special Envoy on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), made an important intervention.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 20 August 2021

Image: Graphic of water supply system invented by indigenous people, Khettara.

'Khettara': The Past & Present Treasure in Morocco's Haouz Region

Morocco's indigenous people Khettara helped build a civilization and transferred deserts into green paradises and stood against climate change problems. The following article shows the value of this water heritage and sustainable water initiatives.

By Errachid Montassir*

RHAMNA, Morocco (IDN) — Water is the great essence of life in all its manifestations and ways of nourishing, whether for plants, animals, or humans. Water is also the pillar of urban planning and stability. Many deserted places flourished and came to life due to water abundance whereas other lively and active places have faded away as water provision dwindled, taking the spirit of the place with it.