August 28, 2016 / como / 0 Comments
According to the latest predictions from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) price volatility, climate change and crop diseases combined with poor harvests in 2010 could herald another food crisis in 2011, particularly in parts of Africa and Asia.
Floods in Pakistan and China and the summer drought in Russia, which led to a ban on all wheat exports this year, mean that stocks of wheat, maize and some other foods were not as high as in previous years.
It has already been seen that this has led to to commodity price speculation that pushed up the prices of these grains and food by 40% in a few months and food price inflation is currently running at 15% per year.
Almost certainly consumers and shoppers in most of the world will be facing higher food bills in 2011. The FAO’s November monthly report forecasts that these factors will lead to a running down of global food reserves, which are currently at around 74 days, and an increase in prices of between 10% and 20% in 2011.
The prediction is its most pessimistic since 2008, when more than 25 countries experienced food riots after price rises precipitated a food crisis that hit the poorest in many parts of the world.
Several other factors add to the problem. Current forecasts for world grain production next year are at 2% below 2009, lower than was anticipated last June, when production for 2011 was being forecast to expand.
In addition, the FAO says, climate change and the competition between food and biofuel production means that grain crops particularly command higher prices as biofuel rather than as food.
Increasingly unpredictable weather patterns attributed to climate change are adding to the situation’s volatility and the potential for further price speculation as well as the ongoing problem of some increasingly intractable diseases such as wheat rust, a fungus that can seriously affect the level of the harvest.
The report says: “The most feared disease of wheat’stem rust has re-emerged in a new virulent form, and new aggressive stripe rust strains are devastating wheat crops in several countries.” Since was first identified the pathogen, which is wind-borne and can travel up to several thousand kilometres, has continued to mutate and spread.
While reaching global agreement on tackling such issues as climate change and combating the temptation towards price speculation, protecting national economies by using import tariffs and restrictions in a global economic crisis may be moving far too slowly to have any major impact on food production and scarcity in the short term there are other strategies that could be used.
One is taking urgent action to restore degraded land around the world. There is an estimated 1bn hectares-plus of land with the potential to be restored. Another is to increase the fertility of existing land. In the context of improving fertility the use of disease resistant seeds, integrated pest management and conservation agriculture can all play a part.
The work of biopesticides developers in devising low-chem agricultural yield enhancers, biopesticides and biofungicides, all of which are kinder to the environment, soil and ecosystems could be particularly helpful to poorer small farmers in the developing world as long as there is wider agreement on speedy regulation and licensing as well as proper training and financial support for farmers to be able to access them.
Copyright (c) 2010 Alison Withers
June 14, 2016 / como / 0 Comments
NAIROBI, KENYA – In Africa, demand for the cassava plant has grown significantly over the years. The continent produces 60 percent of the crop in the world. But the crop is drastically declining in East and Central Africa due to diseases that reduce production.
More than 160 million people in east, central and southern Africa depend on cassava as a stable food and a source of income.
Production of the crop has significantly dropped due to the cassava mosaic and cassava brown streak diseases.
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], the brown streak disease is worse since it affects the root of the crop. These two diseases are creating havoc in Africas agricultural lands.
Improvements necessary
The acting head of the FAO in eastern and central Africa, Luca Alinovi, said the agency has invested to improve the situation in the African fields, but it is not getting better.
Doing right or wrong on cassava has a huge impact on the food security of the people in this region, has such a relevance in our daily lives that we tend to forget it because it appeared in a kind of technical discussion. And I want to bring to your attention that, although it is a technical issue it requires knowledge and requires research, said Alinovi.
The head of the European Union Rural Development and Agriculture program in Kenya, Dominique Davoux, said that over the years the cassava diseases have evolved, and there is need to invest in research to fight the diseases.
We supported the cassava initially, there has been [a] stop in the support, the research slugged [lagged] behind, and the disease reinvented itself [and] propagated again. We have to re-address the issue, said Davoux.
The FAO says a minimum of $100 million is needed to support clean farm production, disease surveillance and research, and market and micro-finance development across the cassava production chain.
Experts warn failure to do so means the cassava disease likely will reach Nigeria, the biggest producer of cassava in Africa.
December 9, 2015 / como / 0 Comments
Olam International, a leading global processor of food ingredients with agricultural projects in Africa, has publicly endorsed the c-e-o water mandate of the u-n global compact. The mandate is a public-private initiative that helps companies develop and implement sustainable water policies and practices. The announcement came as the world observed World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.
Olam International said the supply, quality and reliability of water resources are under pressure and the need to adapt to the impact of climate change is increasing.
The signing of the mandate underscores the companys commitment to vigorously and publicly address global water issues regarding agriculture and food supply.
If you reflect that water when you look at it as a hundred per cent value, 97-percent of water would be regarded as salty ocean water, two per cent is actually frozen, so were left with a one per cent marker of water basically for consumption and use in agriculture, explained Chris Brett, Olams head of sustainability, who added, and we split that one per cent, we get to point seven per cent for agriculture, just point three per cent is fresh water for basically human consumption.
Given this he stressed that water is a key issue for them when they see the way people are going to compete for water in the future. As a result the company made a public commitment to use water in more resourceful ways.
Making that commitment is not just a driver for change internally, or a driver for respect in use of water, as a resource, but it is also to communicate to all of our partners how serious we take water on the agenda, said Brett.
He gave an example of success that they were having with irrigation going into their vegetable supply chains in California. The method of irrigation that decreases the use of water is called more crop per drop. It proved to be such a success that it was applied to other Olam operations.
For example we are now undertaking irrigation of rice, and irrigation of coffee plantations in places like Tanzania and Zambia. As a global company we are transferring learning, noted Brett.
The sustainability expert said over the last two years Olam has been measuring its water footprint and communicating that measurement to the public.
He added as a leader in addressing the challenges of water supply, they hope others will follow them in the pursuit of water rationalization and use in agriculture.
September 23, 2015 / como / 0 Comments
There is certainly no doubt about the fact that civilization not only in the United Kingdom but in fact all around the world started with agriculture. After our ancestors started focusing on agriculture for their livelihood and earning, human society as a whole was changed afterwards forever without any measure of speculations for sure.
As a result of agriculture, villages as well as towns developed along with an overall better understanding of art, science as well as knowledge which continued to improve since then with every passing day.
Even, now, the 21st century with all the technological developments and advancements all around the globe cannot deny the importance of agriculture. Given below are few important points which will help you better understand the importance of agriculture and farming:
a. In the current hi-tech age of globalization and developments in all fields of life, people still rely on agricultural products in a variety of ways such as nutrition, source of energy, fiber and so on.
b. Another highly significant point as far as the importance of agriculture is concerned is that it is a major economic driver. It is equally important for individual livelihood, poverty eradication as well as overall growth of the state. According to a survey, it contributes between 40 to 80% of the gross development product of majority of the countries located in the continent of Africa.
c. Moreover, one cannot also deny the fact that agriculture also contributes a great deal towards a healthy biosphere.
d. Real food security can only be ensured with the help of agriculture even in today’s modern world without any question.
The above mentioned points are few of the many factors that clearly indicate the importance of agriculture even in the current age of developments and advancements. In case, you still need to know more regarding the importance of agriculture, then UK Business Directory is surely one such platform where you can get awareness regarding any issue and can further broaden up your horizon for sure.