Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture

Photo: Photo: Many associated biodiversity species, such as bees, are under severe threat. Credit: FAO/Zinyange Auntony

Shrinking Biodiversity of Plants Cultivated for Food Poses Severe Threat

By Jaya Ramachandran

ROME (IDN) – In the first-ever report of its kind FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has presented surging and perturbing evidence that the biodiversity that underpins our food systems is disappearing – putting the global population’s health, livelihoods and environment under severe threat.

FAO’s State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture report, launched on February 22 warns that once lost, biodiversity for food and agriculture cannot be recovered.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 24 February 2019

International Year Kicks Off To Protect Indigenous Languages

By UN DESA Voice

NEW YORK (IDN) – Languages play a crucial role in our daily lives. They also make up our unique cultural identities. Yet, of the about 6,700 languages spoken in the world today, 40 percent are at risk of disappearing. Most of them are indigenous languages. And when a language dies, it can mean the end of a community’s values and traditions.

This is where the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages comes in. UN DESA Voice spoke with Mirian Masaquiza in UN DESA’s Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD), about the year and its mission to protect and preserve the world’s indigenous languages.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 01 February 2019

'Ugly' Is the New Delicious in Singapore

By Nadia Amirah Binte Kamsani

SINGAPORE (IDN) – As Asian societies become affluent, their modern lifestyles are leading to much wastage in the food chain to satisfy the high standards of hygeine and freshness consumers demand. To combat the issue of higher food wastage in Singapore – one of the most affluent countries in the world – a student-led initiative ‘UglyFood’ has kicked its gears to raise awareness on such food wastage, by selling cold-pressed juices and ice creams made from “ugly-looking produce”.

Food wastage is a growing concern in this small Southeast Asian island state. According to the National Environmental Agency (NEA), the amount of food waste generated in Singapore has increased by about 40 per cent over the past 10 years. Last year, 676,800 tonnes of food waste was discarded, and up to 15 percent of that food is wasted due to cosmetic filtering; discarding produce because they “don’t look pretty” for the market.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 14 December 2018

IFAD President Gilbert Houngbo being interviewed by IDN-INPS Southern Africa correspondent Jeffrey Moyo in Harare, Zimbabwe, on December 3, 2018.

UN Specialised Agency IFAD Joins 79-nation ACP to Rescue African Agriculture

IDN interviews IFAD President Gilbert Houngbo

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – Smallholder rural farmers in Zimbabwe are set to benefit from international funding intended to improve access to inputs, irrigation and the adoption of smart farming practices in the face of predicted El Nino-induced drought.

On the first visit to Zimbabwe of a president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at the beginning of December, it was made known that the Rome-based specialised agency of the United Nations is making 51 million dollars available for development of the agricultural sector in remote areas of the country.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 06 December 2018

Photo: This field visit provided a learning opportunity into two of MLife’s distribution models, micro-entrepreneurs and enterprise associations. Mlife has been in partnership with the Zambia Federation of Associations of Women in Business (ZFAWIB) to provide low-cost funeral insurance services since 2016. Credit: Munich Re Foundation

Insurance Essential for Sustainable Development – But Billions Still Losing Out

By Kwame Buist

LUSAKA, Zambia (IDN) – Billions of uninsured individuals, families and small businesses are exposed to risks which can result in catastrophic losses, delegates to the 14th International Microinsurance Conference (IMC) on ‘Inclusive Insurance for Emerging Markets’ in Lusaka were told.

Despite encouraging signs of increased insurance cover uptake in some markets, climate change and extreme weather events are exposing the poorest and most vulnerable to risk as never before.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 November 2018

Inclusive Insurance for a Sustainable Future

By Katharine Pulvermacher*

The author is Executive Director of Microinsurance Network.

LUXEMBOURG (IDN) – Life is hard enough for small-scale farmers, businesses, families and communities who live with the daily threat of losing everything to natural disasters, extreme weather or other catastrophes. Even if you are insured, it can be tough to start again after drought has taken your cattle, pests have destroyed your crop or the main breadwinner has died in an accident. But for the four billion people around the world who have no access to financial services, insurance remains a distant dream.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 31 October 2018

Photo: Land reform minister Utoni Nujoma. Credit: The Namibian

Land Deal with Russian Billionaire Causes a Stir in Namibia

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | WINDHOEK (IDN) – The Namibian government has leased four farms for 99 years to a company, Comsar Properties SA, owned by a Russian billionaire, Rashid Sardarov. Valued at USD$3 million and measuring a total 42,000 acres, the farms were registered as state property by the land reform ministry.

Land reform minister Utoni Nujoma has been flip-flopping on whether or not he was involved in the transaction, according to The Namibian.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 24 October 2018

Photo: Delegates at the Nutrition Africa Investor Forum in Nairobi. Credit: Ishara Callan.

Africa Eyes Accelerated Investment in Nutrition

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – Incessant humming noise emanating from air conditioners welcomes one into an in expansive warehouse at Twiga Foods pack house in Syokimau area of Kenya's capital. It is mid-morning and workers are busy sorting, cleaning and packing fresh produce ready for the market.

Established in 2014, Twiga sources produce from Kenyan farmers for sale to vendors in urban areas. It handles 14 products among them onions, bananas, capsicums, carrots, tomatoes, pineapples, pawpaws, passion fruits and mangoes. It buys produce from 8,370 farmers and sells to an estimated 5,226 vendors.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 October 2018

Photo: 6 out of 10 young people in the region work in the informal sector, with lower wages, and less or no benefits or social protection. Such work in Latin America and the Caribbean is often related to domestic work, street vending, illegal mining and farming. (ILO) ©IFAD/Pablo Corral Vega

Helping Rural Latin America Beat the Economic Downturn

By Kwame Buist

ROME (IDN) – Over the last three decades, the countries of Latin American and the Caribbean have experienced a profound transformation which has extended to rural areas. All countries in the region, except for Haiti, are now considered middle-income.

This economic and rural transformation has resulted in many benefits, especially between 2004 and 2013, when millions of people left poverty behind. However, despite this success, over one-quarter of the region’s population continues to live in poverty. Now, the economic downturn of most of Latin America’s economies over the last few years threatens to send millions more back under the poverty line.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 24 September 2018

Photo: Rice is the staple food in many Asian countries. Weed killers containing Glyphosate are used in rice cultivation too. UN IARC claims Glyphosate as a substance capable of causing disease in living tissue. Credit: www.agrifarming.in

Rounding Up Coca-Colonization – Will the UN Human Rights Council Stand Up For The People?

By Jayasri Priyalal

The writer is the Regional Director responsible for Finance Sector of UNI Global Union, Asia & Pacific Organization - Singapore.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Regulatory capture and the influence of powerful Transnational Corporations in lobbying the policy makers towards their own advantage is no secret. Putting profits before people and planet is their ordinary course of business.

Now that the first draft of a legally binding treaty in International Human Rights Law has been submitted to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will they have the courage to stand up for the people against powerful transnational corporations [TNC]?