Ship sunk by Houthis threatens Red Sea environment, Yemeni Government says
Aden, Yemen Reuters The UK-owned Rubymar, attacked by Houthi militants last month, has sunk in the Red Sea, Yemen’s internationally recognised government said on Saturday, warning of an “environmental catastrophe” from the ship’s cargo of fertiliser. If confirmed, it would be the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial shipping in November, forcing […]
End of Black Sea grains deal promises pain for Africa’s neediest
Mogadishu, SomaliaReuters Russia’s announcement that it was withdrawing from a pact that allowed Ukrainian grains to leave Black Sea ports sent a shiver through poorer countries, many of which are already reeling from inflation, climate shocks and conflict. The Black Sea grains deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July, 2022, helped bring […]
Corn price hike forces Mexicans to cut back on tortillas
Mexico City, MexicoThomson Reuters Foundation Business at Marco Antonio Jimenez’s taco stall in Mexico City was just starting to recover from repeated COVID-19 lockdowns when global corn prices skyrocketed, sinking his sales once again. The surge in the cost of corn – which is used to make Mexico’s staple tortilla – forced Jimenez to raise […]
Ukraine’s besieged farmers fear war-time harvest “hell”
Mykolaiv, Ukraine Reuters As 10-metre high mounds of sunflower meal smoulder among the blackened ruins of one of Ukraine’s top agricultural terminals, farmers in this front-line region are scrambling to survive a harvest under Russian fire. They see Russia’s shelling of the Nika-Tera port facility in the southern city of Mykolaiv on 4th June as […]
Quick facts – Surging food prices fuel protests across developing world
Reuters The war in Ukraine and drought fuelled by climate change has sent global prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertiliser soaring. Rising prices for basic food staples is fuelling protests from Indonesia to Iran. Riot police block demonstrators and members of worker unions during a protest against Peru’s President Pedro Castillo’s government and rising food […]
No end to Ukraine war in sight, hunger crisis looms – UN
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters United Nations officials warned on Friday that a protracted war in Ukraine threatened a hunger crisis in the country and around the world. Marking 100 days since Russia invaded its neighbour, UN crisis coordinator Amin Awad said at least 15.7 million people in Ukraine were now in urgent need of assistance and protection, […]
Sri Lanka appeals for farmers to plant more rice as food shortage looms
Colombo, Sri LankaReuters Sri Lanka wants farmers to plant more rice as part of plans to avert a severe food shortage, a top official said on Tuesday, as experts warned of a 50 per cent drop in production that would worsen the impact of its already-severe financial crisis. Sri Lanka is in the throes of […]
IMF, World Bank, WFP and WTO urge coordinated action on food security
Washington DC, US Reuters The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN World Food Program and World Trade Organization on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated action on food security, and appealed to countries to avoid banning food or fertiliser exports. In a joint statement, the leaders of the four institutions warned that the war in Ukraine […]
With Ukraine farmers on frontlines, UN food chief warns of “devastation”
United NationsReuters The UN food chief warned on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine was threatening to devastate the World Food Programme’s efforts to feed some 125 million people globally because Ukraine had gone “from the breadbasket of the world to breadlines”. “It’s not just decimating dynamically Ukraine and the region, but it will have […]