At a time when poverty and hunger levels are declining around the world, famine is recurring, driven by conflicts and natural disasters. But timely action by governments and aid groups can save lives.
Food insecurity is a problem that doesn’t only stem from hunger. It is also a result of eating food that is not nutritious.
Ben Affleck championed the piece of legislation requiring companies reporting to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose their use of ‘conflict minerals’ originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Reuters/Yuri Gripas
Celebrities help make causes known to larger audiences and can be effective in obtaining pledges from policymakers. Yet their simplified advocacy messages can lead to ineffective or harmful policies.
On the rack. Are news editors falling into their own trap?
Jon S
The film Pride, which won the Queer Palm Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is based on the true story of what seems to be a rare occurrence in human history: two oppressed groups (in this case…
The huge caldera of Mount Tambora, Indonesia – still active today.
Jialiang Gao
Most have heard of the Battle of Waterloo, but who has heard of the volcano called Tambora? No school textbook I’ve seen mentions that only two months before Napoleon’s final defeat in Belgium on June…
Fashion tastes probably change too.
Simon Whittaker
If your great-grandparents lived through a famine, their experience could well have altered their genetic code. And three generations later you could well be showing signs of that change. The idea that…
Women comprise 43% of the agricultural labour force in developing countries.
CGIAR Climate
Our modern food system is a double-edged sword: delivering chronic under-nutrition due to shortages of nutritious food, and chronic obesity due to overconsumption. In Australia, we’re living among 60…
First step: address under-investment in agricultural research and development.
AAP
CHOGM: As the leaders of Commonwealth nations meet in Perth, The Conversation is examining the role of the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) Meeting. Daniel Rodriguez from the University…
Filling bellies is about far more than just supply and demand.
hypertornado
We need to stop thinking about food security as an economic problem. Food security is largely discussed in terms of increasing demand pressures and worsening constraints on supply. These discussions miss…
The humanitarian crisis in the Horn continues to escalate.
EPA/DAI KUROKAWA
While droughts are caused by weather – the failure of the rains – famines are invariably political. The current famine in southern Somalia should have come as no surprise. Aid agencies have been warning…
With the UN declaring famine in Somalia for the first time since 1992, and other countries in the Horn of Africa suffering critical food shortages, this already unstable region is facing devastation. Drought-stricken…
Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University