The urgency of agroecological transformation of agrifood systems linked to SDGs will be one of the game changers discussed at the UN World Food Systems Summit this year. Clearly the diversity of agriculture on this planet heralds the way to a variety of agroecological transition pathways (different baselines, input usage levels, socioeconomic contexts and particularly different labour costs and availability),
Hoping against hope of decent harvests, farmers in the semi-arid and arid regions of eastern Kenya have always planted their traditional and favourite food crops – pigeonpea, green gram, sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, cowpea, and maize – at the onset of long or short rains. But it is a ritual that has been driven by impulse. For year in
Around the world, small-scale fisheries and aquaculture have an outsized impact on human health and the economy. Although smaller than industrial operations when considered separately, they produce the majority of aquatic foods intended for human consumption and land over half of the world’s fish catch. The diversity of people, production and harvesting methods, processing pathways and trade corridors are integral
BY SWATI MALHOTRA AND SARA GUSTAFSON Despite tremendous progress made in the last decade to produce enough food to meet the demands of the growing population, around 811 million people lived in hunger in 2020 and nearly half of the world’s population lacked year-round access to adequate food due to climate change, poverty, and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the
Talk around the U.N. Food System Summit (UNFSS) this week is, quite literally, about how sustainable food systems can emerge from the ground upwards. Given that around 95 percent of all our food originates from soils, how we use and protect soil health is in the UNFSS spotlight. Soil is much more than the dirt beneath our feet. Soil health
CGIAR Regional Director for CWANA and ICARDA’s Director-General Aly Abousabaa and a delegation of ICARDA experts and team leaders met with officials from the Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in Egypt to discuss the agricultural research priorities in Egypt for the next two years. This meeting takes place every year to assess past results and renew commitments for collaboration that align
Strong winds carrying dust clouds from the world’s deserts and marginal drylands – otherwise known as sand and dust storms (SDS) – cause much destruction. They affect dryland farmers’ livelihoods by removing fertile topsoil and smothering crops and livestock. SDS also travel thousands of kilometers to people in cities and towns, creating health complications and bringing transport such as aircraft to a standstill. To limit SDS threats to global drylands’ rural
BY JULIE KURTZ With the approach of the Sept. 23 UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), the potential of True Cost Accounting (TCA) for food systems has been a topic of much discussion—including Nature Food’s entire September Focus Issue. TCA is a powerful approach to economic assessment that looks beyond conventional financial metrics of food consumption and production to unveil hidden costs and benefits