Food Systems
Critics push for more transparency at RFMOs that govern high seas fishing
The organization responsible for managing the catch of more than half the world’s tuna holds a key section of its annual compliance meeting in secret. For three days, a committee of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) assesses how well member states are following fishing rules, without any outside observers present. The WCPFC says […]
Read MoreIn Bangladesh, sunflower grows where other crops don’t amid increasing salinity
Bangladesh is primarily an agro-based country where rice, wheat, maize, jute and various vegetables are considered significant and popular crops for farmers — in terms of ensuring both food security and economic benefits. Unfortunately, changing climate, rising sea levels and other anthropogenic factors are forcing a vast area of Bangladesh’s coastal zone to remain barren […]
Read MoreMeet the think tank behind the agribusiness’ legislative wins in Brazil
Pensar Agro (“thinking agribusiness”), or IPA, lobbied hard for newly passed legislation like the so-called time frame bill that undermines Indigenous land rights and opens up the territories to mining.
Read MoreCaribbean traditional plant knowledge needs recognition or it’s lost: Study
Despite being a treasure trove of rich biodiversity and traditional plant knowledge, little of the ecological knowledge of Afro-descendent peoples in the Caribbean is recognized internationally. For the authors of a recent study published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, an eight-step action plan could rectify this scientific gap in research and policymaking, and ultimately […]
Read MoreMaluku farmers sweat El Niño drought as Indonesia rice prices surge
BURU ISLAND, Indonesia – At the beginning of November last year, Tamami’s rice field lay vacant except for a herd of cattle grazing on the land. Like many rice farmers here on Buru Island in Indonesia’s eastern Maluku region, 53-year-old Tamami set aside his field after the availability of water dried up. “There’s no rain,” […]
Read MoreIndonesian village forms coast guard to protect octopus in Mentawai Islands
SOUTH PAGAI, Indonesia — A white coastal beacon stood in place against the surf as gales hurtled across the Indian Ocean here off South Pagai, one of the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. When conditions subside, fishers like Sutrisno Madogaho will make their way to the beach, untie their boats […]
Read MoreBolloré blacklisted over alleged rights violations on plantations in Africa and Asia
Some of Switzerland’s largest pension funds have placed French logistics giant Bolloré SE on a blacklist. The Swiss Association for Responsible Investments (SVVK-ASIR) decided its members should no longer invest in Bolloré after it failed to act to resolve accusations of land-grabbing, environmental damage and complicity in human rights violations on oil palm and rubber […]
Read MoreSumatran province hangs on for late rain as El Niño fires bring heat and sickness
New acute respiratory infections in Indonesia’s Palembang city, on the island of Sumatra, are on track to surpass the total number recorded there in 2022, as firefighters scramble to confront wildfires brought on by this year’s El Niño dry season. The health department in Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra province, said health workers in […]
Read MoreSalinity hinders Bangladesh agriculture; groups respond with seeds & information
Salinity intrusion triggered by different factors, including sea-level rise, commercial shrimp cultivation, and decreased upstream transboundary water flow, have directly affected agriculture in Bangladesh’s southern coastal districts in Bangladesh, some of which are also major producers of rice, the national staple. Bangladesh is the fourth-highest rice-producing country in the world, producing around 39 million tons […]
Read MoreVideo: Rice as a peace offering in India’s human-elephant conflict capital
The state of Assam in northeastern India has one of the highest incidences of human-elephant conflict in the country, with more than 70 people and 80 elephants dying every year in these encounters. The shrinking natural habitat of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) has long led to conflict over food and space between them and humans. […]
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