Hunger is expensive: The World Food Program (WFP) announced recently that child malnutrition in Ethiopia costs 55.5 billion Br every year. That is 16.5% of the gross domestic product: nearly a fifth of the country’s earnings. Ironically, hunger also disproportionately affects small holder farmers: The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that half […]
Danielle Nierenberg
Danielle Nierenberg, a food and agriculture expert. She is co-founder of Food Tank: The Food Think Tank (www.FoodTank.org). Twitter: @DaniNierenberg.
Posted inGeneral
Going green in 2012: 12 steps for the developing world
Many of us are thinking about the changes we want to make this year. For some, these changes will be financial; for others, physical or spiritual. But for all of us, there are important resolutions we can make to “green” our lives. Although this is often a subject focused on by industrialised nations, people in […]
Posted inGeneral
Going green: 12 steps for 2012
Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet. As we head into 2012, many of us will be resolving to lose those few extra pounds, save more money, or spend a few more hours with our families and friends. But there are also some resolutions we can make to make our lives a little greener. […]
Posted inLifestyle
Back to School and Back to Good Food
Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet. As summer comes to an end, school is just around the corner for children across the United States. For children enrolled in state schools, this typically means the return of unhealthy lunches that are best described as “fast food”: hamburgers, chicken nuggets, fried snacks and sugary soft […]
Posted inGeneral
Women key to sustainable agriculture
Women account for 75% of the agricultural producers in sub-Saharan Africa, but the majority of women farmers are living on only $1.25 a day, according to researchers from the Worldwatch Institute. Despite the challenging circumstances that women in developing countries face, important innovations in communications and organising are helping women play a key role in […]
Posted inLifestyle
‘Land grabs’ in agriculture: Who benefits?
The trend of international land grabbing — when governments and private firms invest in or purchase large tracts of land in other countries for the purpose of agricultural production and export — can have serious environmental and social consequences, according to researchers at the Worldwatch Institute. Deals that focus solely on financial profit can leave […]
Posted inLifestyle
Five trees helping to end hunger
We know that trees can help mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere. But what is less widely understood is how many of these trees can also help to bring an end to hunger and poverty. Today, Nourishing the Planet takes a look at five varieties of tree that you have […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
Targeting gaps in the food supply chain
Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet. Agricultural production is only the first step in moving the world’s food from farm to fork, according to Nourishing the Planet, a project of the Worldwatch Institute. The other links in the food chain – harvesting, packaging, storing, transporting, marketing, and selling – ensure that food actually […]
Posted inLifestyle
World population day: Agriculture offers huge opportunities for a planet of 7-billion
As the global population increases, so does the number of mouths to feed. The good news is that in addition to providing food, innovations in sustainable agriculture can provide a solution to many of the challenges that a growing population presents. Agriculture is emerging as a solution to mitigating climate change, reducing public health […]
Posted inLifestyle
How we waste food
According to staggering new statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, roughly one-third of the food produced worldwide for human consumption is lost or wasted, amounting to some 1.3 billion tons a year. In the developing world, more than 40% of food losses occur after harvest — while being stored or transported, and during […]
Posted inLifestyle
Sustainable fishing
Global fish production has reached an all-time high, according to Nourishing the Planet’s latest research for the Worldwatch Institute’s Vital Signs Online publication. Aquaculture, or fish farming — once a minor contributor to total fish harvest — increased 50-fold between the 1950s and 2008 and now contributes nearly half of all fish produced worldwide.According to […]
Posted inGeneral
Getting more crop per drop
Increasing demand for water continues to put a strain on available water sources, threatening the livelihood of millions of small-scale farmers who depend on water for their crops. At a time when one in eight people lack access to safe water, Nourishing the Planet points to low-cost, small-scale innovations to better manage this vital resource. […]