Open-source, interactive database for farmers and foresters goes online

The EU-FarmBook Project has launched an online platform to facilitate knowledge sharing among farmers, foresters, and rural actors in the agriculture and forestry sectors. The platform aims to support the transition to sustainable practices by providing practical solutions to daily challenges. A pre-launch event introduced the platform to EU project coordinators, policymakers, and agricultural journalists, […]

New research urges data-driven action for agriculture and food systems change

“The state of food systems worldwide in the countdown to 2030“, published by The Food Systems Countdown to 2030 Initiative (FSCI), provides the first science-based monitoring to guide decision-makers as they seek wholesale transformation of the global agriculture and food systems. This transformation is needed urgently both to reduce the environmental impact of these systems and to […]

With vast arable lands, why is Africa dependent on imported grain?

Despite having vast amounts of arable land, nutritious indigenous crops and a booming agricultural sector, Africa still imports most of its grain. The Russian army’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and the ripple effects of Western sanctions against Moscow have raised international food and fuel prices, leaving millions of Africans facing an “unprecedented food emergency” this year, the World Food […]

European Commission wants to slash use of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030

The European Commission wants to cut the use of chemical pesticides in half by 2030, as part of its latest plan on sustainability and biodiversity. The EU institution’s announcement, a piece of its ambitious Farm to Fork strategy, aims to make food systems more healthy and environmentally-friendly. The Commission said it does not want to […]

Tourists gone, Bali’s young entrepreneurs eye sustainable future

Young people on Indonesia’s famous resort island are finding new ways to make ends meet after the collapse of tourism. When Made Yogantara lost his job after COVID-19 sank Bali’s tourism industry, he had to get creative to take care of his family. Made, who worked at a popular tourist restaurant, enlisted the help of his […]

Afghanistan: FAO appeals to urgently save rural livelihoods

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, today called for urgent assistance to help save Afghanistan’s next wheat harvest, keep life-sustaining farm animals alive, and avoid a deterioration of the country’s already severe humanitarian crises. FAO is seeking $36 million to speed up its support to Afghan […]

COVID-19 recovery is a chance to improve the African food system

The World Food Programme has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could cause one of the worst food crises since World War II. It predicts a doubling of the number of people going hungry – more than half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. So far, the global food system has proven to be resilient to the COVID-19 pandemic. Food is still being […]

Greener and Healthier Futures for the European Regions of Gastronomy

Policies and practices from the European Regions of Gastronomy that support local greener and healthier development as well as highlight the vital role of local gastronomy in sustainable growth, were the focus of this year’s round table organised by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism (IGCAT) in Brussels, on 9 October 2019. […]

Sustainable agriculture will be critical to preventing global food shortages

The world has a unique opportunity to stem the tides of climate change, ensure future food security, protect biodiversity, and make healthier diets widely accessible, according to a new global report. With the global population expected to increase by two billion in the next 26 years, food insecurity is a growing threat. Rising temperatures, droughts, […]

Why we need to rethink how we produce food

Feeding today’s world produces a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the accelerating pace in which people are moving from countryside to the city, changes in land use and the agriculture industry could amount to 70 per cent of total emissions by 2050, according to projections by the World Bank. “Where we are in agriculture […]

Why it’s important to recognize multiple food systems in Africa

There are more than 815 million malnourished people in the world today. Almost 243 million of these are in Africa, where the problem is highest. Unfortunately, development organisations may be making food insecurity worse as they push the most advanced forms of agriculture to the detriment of other food systems. These include methods like foraging and subsistence […]

EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticides

The world’s most widely used insecticides will be banned from all fields within six months, to protect both wild and honeybees that are vital to crop pollination. The European Union will ban the world’s most widely used insecticides from all fields due to the serious danger they pose to bees. The ban on neonicotinoids, approved […]