Zimbabwe goes hungry as crops wither amid El Nino drought
Buhera, Zimbabwe Reuters Residents of the Zimbabwean village of Buhera stood in groups at a primary school waiting to be called by name to receive life-saving handouts of grain, peas and cooking oil. “We are grateful, but the food will only be enough for one month,” said Mushaikwa, 71, who lives with her elderly husband, […]
Prolonged drought deepens Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis
Nahr-e-Shahi, AfghanistanReuters In parched brown hills in north Afghanistan, Abdul Hahad tears stalks of wheat out of the arid earth. In the third year of water shortages and high temperatures, his harvest is barely enough to support his family. The 55-year-old farmer from Nahr-e-Shahi district in Balkh province used to plant two or even three […]
Dying lands: Farmers fight to save the “skin of the Earth”
ROD NICKEL, AYENAT MERSIE, DAVID STANWAY and XIAOYU YIN, of Reuters, report on how human efforts to preserve soil are proving no match for increasingly extreme weather, which is damaging the living system and depleting its ability to produce food…
From the Field: How can we end hunger?
SOPHIA RUSSELL, of Baptist World Aid Australia, shares Baptist World Aid partners in Kenya are working with communities so they can eat…
Essay: A shrinking fraction of the world’s major crops goes to feed the hungry, with more used for non-food purposes
In an article first published on The Conversation, DEEPAK RAY, a senior scientist at the University of Minnesota, looks at how increasing amounts of crops are being used for uses other than food and how that’s impacting to push to end global hunger…
Big bucks: Drought-hit Zimbabweans cut poverty, poaching with larger goats
BUSANI BAFANA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports, as extreme weather hurts crops, on a project to breed bigger goats and raise incomes which aims to help communities feed their families without wiping out local wildlife…
Wow!: How crop insurance is helping Ghana’s farmers arm against freak weather
DAVID NJAGI, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, looks at how a crop insurance program has proved a “game changer” for farmers in northern Ghana…
Pests on the march as climate change fans the spread of crop destroyers
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Ravenous pests are on the march to colder regions as climate change lures crop eaters to new territories, threatening jobs and exacerbating world hunger, the United Nations said on Wednesday. From fall armyworms to desert locusts, the pests mostly menace crops in hot countries but the rise in world temperatures was […]
“No-one is unemployed here”: Corn crop feeds prosperity in Bangladesh’s flood-prone north
MOSABBER HOSSAIN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how growing corn has helped lift people out of poverty in northern Bangladesh…
Increasing production: Climate-smart farming for western Nepal villages eases migration pressure
AADESH SUBEDI, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how an initiative to improve crop outcomes in Nepal is helping farmers move from subsistence to commercial farming and potentially reduce the need for migration for work…