Agriculture / Food Security / Markets / Trade

G20 agriculture ministers meet this week: Must invest in food markets to bolster food security–Guardian

Workers unload milk cans at a commercial dairy plant in Dimapur, Nagaland, India (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). A blog in the Guardian this week argues for the G20 agriculture ministers meeting this week to support ‘new investment in farming and vibrant, transparent markets to address food security.’ ‘As the G20 agriculture ministers prepare to meet for the … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Event report / Food Security / Geodata / ILRI / Livelihoods / Report / Vulnerability

Climate change could devastate lives and livelihoods strongly linked to crop and livestock yields–Polly Ericksen

ILRI scientist Polly Ericksen says that areas that will be hit hardest by climate change are areas where farmers are already struggling due to new weather patterns (image credit: ILRI/Anita Ghosh). Julio Godoy reported yesterday in Inter Press Service Africa (IPS) on the climate change meeting in Bonn, saying that climate change is putting African … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Caribbean / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Food Security / ILRI / Latin America

‘Lifeline’ food crops at risk of climate change: Major adaptation efforts needed, says CGIAR study

Rose Mnjemo with soya beans, a maize, soya and cassava farmer from Khulungira Village, in central Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). Agence France Presse reports on a 2012 international study that found that climate change is on track to disrupt lifeline food crops across large swathes of Africa and Asia already mired in chronic poverty. More … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Caribbean / CCAFS / China / Climate Change / Food Security / ILRI / Latin America

Where survival is linked to fate of farm crops and animals, climate shifts can be disastrous – Polly Ericksen

ILRI’s Polly Erickson presents the results of her study, Mapping Hotspots of Climate Change and Food Insecurity in the Global Tropics, produced for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), at a seminar at the World Agroforestry Centre (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). The US News and World Report writes about a recent study … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Caribbean / CCAFS / Climate Change / Food Security / ILRI / Latin America

Round-up of first news clippings on ILRI-CCAFS ‘hotspots’ of climate change and food insecurity study

Below is a round-up of some of the first news clippings generated by the 3 June 2011 launch of an ILRI-CCAFS report, Mapping hotspots of climate change and food insecurity in the global tropics, by Polly Ericksen, Philip Thornton, An Notenbaert, L Cramer, Peter Jones and Mario Herrero 2011. CCAFS Report no. 5 (advance copy). CGIAR Research Program … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Caribbean / CCAFS / Climate Change / Food Security / ILRI / Latin America

Time Magazine and CGIAR say small poor farms + big climate change = ‘A PERFECT STORM’

Time Magazine‘s Bryan Walsh reports this week on report and series of maps detailing where climate change and hunger are likely to intersect in future, with possibly devastating results unless the world’s agricultural researchers manage to help small-scale farmers ‘climate-proof’ their crops and livestock in the coming (drying, flooding) decades. The study was led by scientists … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Burkina Faso / Caribbean / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Food Security / ILRI / Latin America / Mali / Niger / South Africa

Climate change threatens ability of the poorest people to feed themselves

Number of malnourished children per square km, from the advance copy of ‘Mapping Hotspots of Climate Change and Food Insecurity in the Global Tropics,’ by ILRI scientists Polly Ericksen et al., published on 3 June 2011 (map credit: ILRI/CCAFS). The BBC reports on a new study saying that some areas in the tropics face famine … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Caribbean / CCAFS / Climate Change / Food Security / ILRI / Latin America

Guardian blogs about ILRI-CCAFS ‘hotspots’ study

The Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog writes today of a research study launched today that indicates that climate change in the tropics poses a food threat to the world’s poor. Blog writer John Vidal cites the report, developed by scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) … Continue reading

Drought / Food Security / Kenya / North America / USA

Improve US food aid by adding animal-source protein–Oxfam

An undernourished child in Kenya drinks store-bought ‘maziwa lala’ (sour milk) (photo credit: ILRI/Elsworth). Eric Muñoz, a policy adviser for Oxfam America, blogs in the Guardian about a new report that takes a hard look at the commodities the US uses to respond to disaster and food insecurity, such as is unfolding in the Horn of … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Crop-Livestock / Farming Systems / Food Security / ILRI / Livelihoods / Trade / Value Chains

With the right investments, Africa’s small farms could make profits as well as food

Mohamed Béavogui, director of the west and central African division of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has the following to say in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog. ‘Africa’s smallholder farmers not only have the potential to produce enough food for export—and thereby contribute to food security worldwide—but to help lead the way to … Continue reading