Recession Compounds World Food Crisis

The global economic downturn has compounded the food crisis, pushing more people over the brink of hunger and threatening stability around the world, the head of the United Nations’ food relief agency said March 3. Food supplies are tight and expensive, and more people in poor countries are unable to afford what they need because

Aid Groups Plan Renewed Fight On Hunger

Lost jobs, faltering banks and recession have pushed the issue of world hunger out of U. S. headlines, but U. S. aid groups are set to launch a plan to refocus attention on the issue, former U. S. senator George McGovern said Feb. 23. The plan by aid organizations including Feed the Children, Oxfam America,


Carbs, tea and sugar keep Gaza running

Blood ran freely over a cobbled Gaza street at dawn on Jan. 22, the fifth day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants. But it was a welcome sight. Family butcher Husam Nasr was fleshing a freshly slaughtered 330-pound heifer. “The meat will sell for 60 shekels a kilo (US$7 per pound),” he said.

Cyclone damage affects productivity

Tens of thousands of farmers in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta face the prospect of a thin rice harvest this monsoon season and uncertainty over whether they will be able to plant the vital summer crop. “We cultivated the fields quite late this year and we did not have enough livestock to help us either,” said


FAO urges world to rethink biofuel use

Growing demand for biofuels will boost prices of agricultural commodities in the next 10 years. The western world needs to rethink its rush to biofuels, which has done more harm pushing up food prices than it has good by reducing greenhouse gases, a United Nations report said Oct. 7. The UN Food and Agr icul