Five Steps to Prevent a Repeat of the 2007–08 Food Crisis | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Five Steps to Prevent a Repeat of the 2007–08 Food Crisis | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI): "The recent volatility of agricultural commodity prices has caused some observers to wonder if another food crisis, similar to the one that occurred in 2007–08, is looming on the horizon. Three years ago, a variety of factors combined to create a “perfect storm” in food prices. This time, natural disasters—amplified by harmful trade policies—are fueling concern."

Food security entitlement act in India to provide food for the ppor | CalcuttaTube

Food security entitlement act in India to provide food for the ppor | CalcuttaTube: "India will soon be the first country in the world ‘to enact a food security entitlement act under which every family below the poverty line will get 35 kg of grain‘, says M.S. Swaminathan who is in Canada to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta.

One of the pioneers of the Green Revolution in India, Swaminathan said India cannot depend on volatile global markets to ensure its food security and it will have to ramp up its own output.

Swaminathan will receive the honorary doctorate for his contribution to food security in the world."

Predictive Power of Air Travel and Socio-Economic Data for Early Pandemic Spread

PLoS ONE: Predictive Power of Air Travel and Socio-Economic Data for Early Pandemic Spread: "Here, we examine the role of travel, trade, and national healthcare resources in predicting the emergence and initial spread of 2009 A/H1N1 influenza. We find that incorporating national healthcare resource data into our analyses allowed a much greater capacity to predict the international spread of this virus. In countries with lower healthcare resources, the reporting of 2009 A/H1N1 cases was significantly delayed, likely reflecting a lower capacity for testing and reporting, as well as other socio-political issues."

EcoHealth Alliance Study Highlights Global Strategies to Halt Pandemic Diseases like H1N1 and SARS - PR Newswire - sacbee.com

EcoHealth Alliance Study Highlights Global Strategies to Halt Pandemic Diseases like H1N1 and SARS - PR Newswire - sacbee.com: "NEW YORK, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A recent study led by Dr. Parviez Hosseini, a senior research fellow from EcoHealth Alliance (formerly Wildlife Trust), explains the importance of identifying global pandemic risk factors as early as possible, in order to predict the spread of diseases like H1N1 'swine' flu and SARS. 'Predictive Power of Air Travel and Socio-Economic data for Early Pandemic Spread,' recently published in the scientific publication PLoS ONE, examines the interplay among travel, trade, and national healthcare resources in predicting the emergence and spread of H1N1 and other viruses."

Food Miles: Starving the Poor?

Food Miles: Starving the Poor? - Ballingall - 2010 - The World Economy - Wiley Online Library: "Food miles measure the distance food travels to reach consumers’ plates. Although substituting local food for imported produce will not necessarily reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the food miles movement is widely supported by consumers and import-competing producers, especially in some parts of Western Europe. We investigate the economic implications of food miles preference changes in the UK, France and Germany on other nations using an economy-wide model."

Crisis conditions breed a virulent form of food insecurity, UN report says - The Globe and Mail

Crisis conditions breed a virulent form of food insecurity, UN report says - The Globe and Mail: "At least 22 countries in unique states of crisis are facing acute hunger issues, according to a new report by the United Nations food agency. These situations, however, are not due to sluggish development but result from what the UN deems “protracted crisis” conditions. Every country that made the list has played host to long-lasting political or civil conflict, been hit by recurring natural disasters, or both. The result? A deep brand of food insecurity that can’t be alleviated through traditional interventions such as delivering food aid or improving access to markets."

Rethinking Global Biodiversity Strategies: Exploring structural changes in production and consumption to reduce biodiversity loss - the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL)

Rethinking Global Biodiversity Strategies: Exploring structural changes in production and consumption to reduce biodiversity loss - the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL)

Further expansion of the global network of protected areas will be necessary, but will not be sufficient to attain a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss, worldwide. Structural changes in consumption and in the efficiency of production are indispensable. Changes in agriculture, forestry, fishery and energy supply are required to slow down biodiversity loss, through reduced expansion of agricultural land, stopping overexploitation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and limiting climate change.

Ellen Gustafson: Obesity Hunger = 1 global food issue | Video on TED.com

Ellen Gustafson: Obesity Hunger = 1 global food issue | Video on TED.com: "Ellen Gustafson says hunger and obesity are two sides of the same coin. At TEDxEast, she launches The 30 Project -- a way to change how we farm and eat in the next 30 years, and solve the global food inequalities behind both epidemics."

PR-USA.net - The UOC and the FAO Unite to Offer Online Programs on Food Security

PR-USA.net - The UOC and the FAO Unite to Offer Online Programs on Food Security: "The Joint FAO-UOC Certificate in Food Security: Assessment and Action was launched in March 2010 with 49 students from 26 countries including Sudan, Ethiopia, the United States and the Netherlands. Students who successfully complete the course in July 2010 will be awarded a certificate and 15 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits.

The FAO centres its attention on international activities aimed at eradicating hunger by helping developing countries to modernize and improve their agricultural, forestry and fishing practices with the aim of ensuring good nutrition for all. It pays special attention to rural areas, where 70% of the world’s poor population lives."

Hunger Set to Become a Key Issue in Global Politics -- BERLIN, September 28, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

Hunger Set to Become a Key Issue in Global Politics -- BERLIN, September 28, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --: "The prices of wheat and other agricultural commodities have risen yet again, following the already significant price increases of 2007 and 2008. According to the Humboldt Forum for Food and Agriculture, these are the early indicators of a latent food crisis, which will hit the world within the next ten years.
'If no decisive action is taken, the prices of key food commodities are likely to be 50 to 100 per cent higher by 2020 than they were at the turn of the millennium. This would dramatically increase the level of hunger and malnutrition, around the world,' says Harald von Witzke, president of the Humboldt Forum for Food and Agriculture, an international think tank, headquartered in Berlin, Germany."

Globally scanning for "Megatrends of the Mind": Potential futures of futures thinking

Scopus preview - Scopus - Document details: "The paper first identifies new ways of thinking within several disciplines such as science, philosophy, religion and education. New knowledge patterns are then identified in discourses that traverse disciplinary boundaries through transdisciplinary approaches such as futures studies and planetary/global studies. The paper then discusses evolution of consciousness, identifying research that theorises new ways of thinking as being related to individual psychological development and/or socio-cultural evolution. Finally, evolutionary concepts are discussed that attempt to meta-cohere the new knowledge patterns via the terms postformal, integral and planetary."

Cambridge Journals Online - Fulltext - Reduced Expectations: the political and institutional challenges of REDD

Reduced Expectations: the political and institutional challenges of REDD: "Development and environmental policies in developing countries are often based on narratives that provide an argument for a particular action or intervention based on a simplification of the world’s complexity (Hirschman, 1968; Roe, 1991). Strong narratives can become convincing arguments for change, particularly when supported by powerful agencies such as national governments, donors and international organizations, and can lead to blueprints for action that may or may not be based on effective implementation elsewhere. However, history tells us that great ideas designed to improve human societies can sometimes fail with startling results (Scott, 1998). Great ideas are not necessarily doomed to failure but they should avoid unduly simplifying the social, economic, political and institutional complexity of the problem."

Millennium development goals in an age of fear and loathing | Jeffery Sachs | Global development | The Guardian

Millennium development goals in an age of fear and loathing | Jeffery Sachs | Global development | The Guardian: "The world's continuing dedication to a set of global goals to fight poverty, hunger and disease is no small triumph in an era marked by cynicism, the fraying of social bonds and the widespread fears of economic dislocation. The millennium development goals have come through a week of UN summitry not only intact but invigorated. The goals, it turns out, are doing double duty: helping the poor countries to fight poverty and the rich countries to preserve a sense of social solidarity."

Sustainable Prosperity Research and Policy Network | Sustainable Prosperity

 

The operating system of our modern world – the capitalist market – is an incredible tool.  It links billions of producers and consumers every day, generating price signals that help people around the world decide what to make and what to buy.  But when it comes to conserving Earth’s natural environment, our markets are badly broken: we don't pay the true environmental costs of making, using and getting rid of stuff.

Sustainable Prosperity Research and Policy Network | Sustainable Prosperity

We Can End Poverty, Millennium Development Goals, 2015: UN Summit, 20-22 September 2010, New York

We Can End Poverty, Millennium Development Goals, 2015: UN Summit, 20-22 September 2010, New York: "With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), world leaders are meeting at a summit in New York (20-22 September) to accelerate progress towards the MDGs."

Trade-offs in Conservation: Deciding What to Save: Amazon.ca: Nigel Leader-Williams, William M. Adams, Robert J. Smith: Books

Trade-offs in Conservation: Deciding What to Save: Amazon.ca: Nigel Leader-Williams, William M. Adams, Robert J. Smith: Books

Science: what has it done for the Millennium Development Goals? - SciDev.Net

Science: what has it done for the Millennium Development Goals? - SciDev.Net: "When the United Nations published the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, with aspirations including the ending of poverty and hunger; the promotion of gender equality and a reduction in child mortality, there was little mention of science. Yet most people involved in working towards the goals accepted that achieving them would rely on the successful application of science. Now, five years before the deadline, and on the eve of a gathering in New York to discuss progress,"

World must rethink poverty fight: U.S. aid chief | Reuters

World must rethink poverty fight: U.S. aid chief | Reuters: "The world must rethink strategies for fighting global poverty, with new emphasis on economic growth, accountability and governance key if basic goals for helping the world's poorest by 2015 are to be met, the U.S. aid chief said.

With leaders gathering in New York on Monday for a United Nations summit on the anti-poverty fight, USAID head Rajiv Shah said the Obama administration was pushing for a new approach in a battle that thus far has brought mixed results."

Maplecroft | Home | About Maplecroft | Media Room | News

Maplecroft | Home | About Maplecroft | Media Room | News: "The Food Security Risk Index 2010, released by risk analysis and rating firm Maplecroft, evaluates the risks to the supply of basic food staples for 163 countries. It uses 12 criteria developed in collaboration with the World Food Programme, to calculate the ranking including: the nutritional and health status of populations, cereal production and imports, GDP per capita, natural disasters, conflict, and the effectiveness of government."

Water security & climate change - SciDev.Net

Water security & climate change - SciDev.Net: "Climate change will certainly impact global and regional water resources, but the exact consequences for water security remain unclear. How well can scientists predict the problems? And what can policymakers do to prepare?"