Geneva (D. Ravi Kanth) — The African Group of countries, particularly the Cotton-four – Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad – are going to be left high and dry at the World Trade Organization’s eleventh ministerial meeting (MC11) at Buenos…
Category: Food & nutrition
Progress on world hunger has reversed
By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, Jul 3 (IPS) – World hunger has increased, reversing years of progress, said a UN specialised agency. During its biennial conference held in Rome, Italy from 3-8 July, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) noted that…
Govt to automate food procurement to eliminate ‘middlemen’
Dhaka – The government is going to automate the food procurement system to make it sure that farmers get the officially fixed price, eliminating the ‘middlemen’, official sources said. -UNB
22 inspirational women in food and agriculture
Danielle Nierenberg Women are crucial to the functioning of a healthy and sustainable food system. At Food Tank, we are continually inspired by the hard work and creativity of women farmers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, community leaders, and family members.
Any way to help slow down climate change… individually?
By IPS World Desk Rome, June 27 (IPS) – It is no secret that the biggest responsible for climate change is greed. The greed of the world’s largest private corporations, which blindly seek unlimited high financial benefits. And the greed…
Taka 28 crore IFAD fund for Sri Lanka smallholder agribusiness
Rome, 26 June – The International Fund for Agricultural Development and Government of Sri Lanka signed a financing agreement today that will help 57,500 poor rural households in Sri Lanka increase their incomes and food security by expanding livelihood and…
Excessive use of arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury…black soils
By IPS World Desk Rome, June 23 (IPS) – Soils are polluted due mostly to human activities that leave excess chemicals in soils used to grow food, the United Nations reports.
Tale of a successful female fish cultivator
Dhaka – Fatema Begum of Amtali upazila in Barguna district stands as an example of where a person with strong determination can reach. -UNB
First consignment of rice from Vietnam in 15 days
The first consignment of rice from Vietnam is scheduled to arrive in Chittagong within 15 days, said newly appointed Ambassador of Vietnam to Dhaka Tran Van Khoa. The Vietnamese Ambassador said this when he met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at…
Netherlands contributes14m euro for agribusiness in BD
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands announced it will contribute 14.8 million euros for the second phase of Solidaridad’s Sustainable Agriculture, Food Security and Linkages (SaFaL) programme for the period 2017-2021. This programme supports more than 100,000 smallholder…
Asia-Pacific: Farming rice and fish together to reduce poverty
By IPS World Desk Rome/Bangkok, Jun 20 (IPS) – Rice is a major food commodity and staple food for many, and adding fish to flooded rice paddies has been a farming tradition practiced in a number of Asian countries for…
Govt. cuts 18 percent duty on rice import
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said the government has decided to slash import duty on rice by 18 percent to ensure smooth supply and check price. “Now, rice will be imported paying only 10 percent import duty,” said the minister at…
FAO warns of tilapia virus as outbreak spreads
Bangkok – An emerging viral disease observed in both wild and farmed tilapia could impact global food security and nutrition if biosafety measures are not introduced, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other organisations have warned.
Amazon deal for whole foods could bring retain experiments
Online retail giant Amazon is making a bold expansion into physical stores with a $13.7 billion deal to buy Whole Foods, setting the stage for radical retail experiments that could revolutionize how people buy groceries and everything else. Amazon could…
The rise of the food barons
Christine Chemnitz Berlin – The industrial-agriculture sector has long faced criticism for practices that contribute to climate change, environmental destruction, and rural poverty. And yet the sector has taken virtually no steps to improve quality and sustainability, or to promote…
5 surprising ways green products are trying to trick you
You’re standing at the store, a bottle of shampoo in each hand. Your gaze circles from one label to the other, and your mind runs 10 simultaneous comparisons to decide which bottle you’ll bring home. Blue is, after all, your…
Inside grain revolution and future of bread
Danielle Nierenberg While it may sound old-fashioned, home milling could have the potential to redefine one of the world’s oldest processed foods—bread. The grain revolution is sparking the revival and innovation of traditional and new local wheat varieties, home milling…
Overfed and underfed: Global food extremes
By Joseph Chamie New York, June 12 (IPS) – Global food extremes of chronic undernourishment and obesity have brought about a bipolar world of hundreds of millions of underfed and overfed people. Of the world’s population of 7.5 billion the…
Mother, son die of food poisoning in Sirajganj
Dhaka, June 11 (UNB)- A woman and her four-year-old son died after having ‘poisonous food’ on Saturday night in Madhainagar village of Tarash upazila in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district.
Solar tents improve nutrition in highlands villages of Bolivia
By Franz Chávez Phuyuwasi, Bolivia, Jun 7 2017 (IPS) – In this remote highlands valley community in central Bolivia, a group of Quechua indigenous women have learned how to combat the intense frosts and the shortage of water in solar…
UNFPA Dhaka for fund to serve cyclone-hit women and newborns
Dhaka – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Wednesday sought for 1.5 million USD to scale up emergency reproductive health services and safety for women and newborns impacted by Cyclone Mora in Bangladesh.
Shots fired at protest kill 5 farmers in central India
New Delhi – Officials say five farmers have been killed by gunshots at a protest where the demonstrators were demanding better prices for crops in central India. AP/UNB
Women small-holder farmers, key drivers for sustainable production
By Sally Nyakanyanga Harare, Jun 5 (IPS) – The shouts can be heard from a distance as one approaches Domboshawa, 30 kilometres northeast of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
Country exists for Sundarbans: PM
Dhaka – Highlighting the importance of the Sundarbans for the country’s existence, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said whatever project the government takes for development it does that keeping this mangrove forest in mind so that it does not…
BAU female students stage demonstration for water
Mymensingh – Female students of a residential hall of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) demonstrate for water in front of Vice-Chancellor residence on Friday at noon.
How to produce more food with less damage to soil, water, forests
By IPS World Desk Rome/Brussels, (IPS) – Massive agriculture intensification is contributing to increased deforestation, water scarcity, soil depletion and the level of greenhouse gas emission, the United Nations warns.
Six trawlers with 71 fishermen go missing in Bay
Dhaka, May 31 – Some 71 fishermen along with six fishing trawlers of Banshkhali upazila of Chittagong district and Kutubdia upazila of Cox’s Bazar district went missing in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday during the severe cyclonic storm ‘Mora’.
Brazil drives new school feeding model in South America
By Mario Osava Vitoria, Brazil, May 29 (IPS) – “I am going back to Panama with many ideas,” said Gilda Montenegro, a nutritionist with the Panamanian Education Ministry, after getting to know the school feeding system in the city of…
Alert! Lethal virus affecting popular tilapia fish
By IPS World Desk ROME, May 29 2017 (IPS) – A highly contagious disease is spreading among farmed and wild tilapia, one of the world’s most important fish for human consumption, the United Nations warns, adding that though not a…
Cyclone ‘Mora’ crosses Cox’s Bazar coast
Dhaka – The severe cyclonic storm ‘Mora’ over North Bay moved northwards and has started crossing Cox’s Bazar-Chittagong coast near Kutubdia on Tuesday morning.