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…
Kenyan farmers brace for second onslaught of crop-devouring locusts
Mahiga-Meru, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation After desert locusts invaded her farm in central Kenya, Mary Muthoni, 61, ran around her maize fields shouting and banging on an old iron sheet in a desperate attempt to drive them away. “They came here yesterday evening and sat on top of these trees as though to rest there for […]
WOW!: KENYAN FARMERS FIND SWEET SPOT WITH NUTRITIOUS, DROUGHT HARDY CROP
CAROLINE WAMBUI, reporting for Thomson Reuters Foundation, writes about how a farmers’ cooperative is seeing some success in helping to provide a community with food in a region where crops are routinely destroyed by drought thanks to one special ingredient…
FOOD SECURITY: DIGGING UP THE DIRT – COULD SOIL CONTAIN THE ANSWER TO FOOD SHORTAGES?
THIN LEI WIN, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, looks at the importance of global soil health to the future of our food…
Winds of hunger: Simultaneous heatwaves to batter food-growing countries
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation Climate change could spur stronger crop-wilting heatwaves that hit several of the world’s major grain producing regions simultaneously, potentially sparking food shortages and unrest, researchers warned this week. Crop failures in one part of the world – from weather disasters or other causes – have traditionally been offset with increased trade […]
“Creeping silent crisis” seen menacing world’s crops
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation A “creeping, silent crisis” is menacing the world’s food supply as water shortages could jeopardise up to 40 per cent of all irrigated crops by 2040, a US thinktank said this week. Erratic rainfall caused by climate change also threatens the water supply for a third of crops that rely on […]
As climate change hits crops, debate heats up over use of plant gene data
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation Rich and poor countries are at loggerheads over how to share benefits from genetic plant data that could help breed crops better able to withstand climate change, as negotiations to revise a global treaty are set to resume in Rome on Monday. The little-known agreement is seen as crucial for agricultural […]
UK “farm lab” ploughs technology to help raise animals sustainably
North Wyke, UKThomson Reuters Foundation It is an idyllic countryside scene – an embrace of rolling hills dappled with Instagram-worthy bales of straw, as sheep and cows graze under a bright blue sky. Completing the picture, a stately manor graces the background. But this bucolic setting belies a research project that uses cutting-edge technology on […]
POSTCARDS: WITH FRUITS AND GREEN SHOOTS, ETHIOPIA’S TIGRAY SWAPS IMAGE OF FAMINE FOR RESILIENCE
THIN LEI WIN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how the lack of conflict and Ethiopia’s strong economic growth helped the arid and mountainous Tigray, at the centre of a famine which gained the attention of the world 35 years ago, during a 2016 drought…
Breakthrough in plant engineering could boost productivity, feed millions more
Thomson Reuters Foundation The yield of many staple crops could be boosted by 40 per cent by a new process that adjusts the way they turn sunlight into energy, potentially feeding hundreds of millions of more people, American researchers said on Thursday. Crops such as rice, wheat and soybeans, as well as fruits and vegetables […]