In Uganda, people grow coffee to export but rarely consume it themselves. Now a push to dispel myths about the beverage and introduce new ways to use the beans is changing that.
Tag: agriculture
As avocado production stifles biodiversity, depletes water reserves and takes over once-forested land, farmers and environmentalists in Jalisco warn that Mexico’s “green gold” may not be so green after all.
Saffron is well-known for its flavor and its expense. But in Kashmir, one of the flew places it grows, cultivation has fallen dramatically thanks for climate change, industry, and farming methods.
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Sowing The Seeds Of Paranoia
“They must be dumping garbage — good, it makes for good fertilizer!”
There are too many animals for the available water supply in the Gobi desert region. The situation worsens each year.
When the pandemic disrupted livelihoods and supply chains, young urban Mexicans decided to learn to grow food themselves.
The droughts and extreme temperatures due to climate change, together with the abandonment of the countryside, have caused fierce fires in Spain that have devastate the livelihoods of the few people who still live there.
When Sri Lanka banned agrochemicals last year, the law’s impact on the island’s ability to feed itself was immediately evident. As political upheaval continues in the capital, here’s a related back story in the countryside with global implications.
As anti-vax protests fade from public debate, “alternative media” have found an unlikely new hot topic: Dutch farmers. And across the Atlantic, some sources claim a convenient would-be connection to Canadian truckers who blockaded trade earlier this year.
Digital currencies may be volatile, but one company in Argentina has found a way to allow farmers to purchase goods and services online using surplus grain.
With Mexico’s prized cash crop increasingly targeted by criminal networks, local police have begun to provide protection for those delivering them to wholesalers and markets. Prices have risen more than 200% in the past two months.
Prices have tripled on the staple product, as farmers and the government blame each other while ordinary Algerians struggle to put food on the table. It’s yet another crisis between economics and politics in the troubled North African nation.
The disappointment with last month’s COP26 outcome was focused on the failure to deliver on the promise of eradicating fossil fuels, opting instead for a watered-down compromise that merely “reduces” reliance on the polluting energy sources that cause climate change. But the world leaders in Glasgow also missed another crucial opportunity: to squarely address the […]
Amid post-pandemic trade distortions and changing consumer habits, Latin American countries seeking to boost coffee exports should eye a growing specialty market in prosperous Asian countries.
ISMAILIA – Every year during the month of July, crowds gather in the mango farms of Ismailia, in northeastern Egypt, to pick the delectable summer fruit during its relatively short harvest season. But this year, as a result of erratic weather patterns throughout March and April, the usual bountiful mango harvest was severely affected with […]
Let’s not underestimate the impact on the planet of industrial, intensive agriculture, focused on exploiting machines, pesticides and fertilizers across wide tracts of land.
CERVERE — It hasn’t rained in two months. The corn has not grown. Six out of ten hectares of this plain field are completely parched. “It’s late now,” says Giovanni Bedino, running his dark fingers through the dry leaves of the corn. The farmer, now 59, has been working the land since he was 15. […]
The Hass avocado, fast becoming one of Colombia’s big export earners, is threatening local ecosystems and causing water shortages.
On this subtropical island, Chien-hao Chen fought typhoons and monsoons to develop his vineyards — and to produce wines admired by some of the most important oenologists.
While drilling deep for water last week in his field near Ouled Rahmoune, in northeastern Algeria, a farmer was surprised to see a liquid pouring from the pipes of a very different consistency, smell, color — and worth! Oil. What makes the discovery all the more unusual is that Algeria’s most important known deposits of […]
The decline of agriculture in Iran after the 1979 revolution and absence of proper farming policies are exacerbating the pandemic’s effects to threaten its food security.
Soup cans don’t grow on trees. Of course some of the ingredients inside them do, as well as in the ground and on plants and vines. But by the time all those natural products reach your stomach, too often they’ve undergone processing, been transported hundreds (or thousands) of miles and generally bear little resemblance to […]
It’s time for dinner — what will you prepare? The factors in your decision may include any or all of the following: your appetite, your beliefs, budget, schedule, location … or maybe just your mood. What you might not realize is that the very choices you end up making tonight will also influence what will […]
A growing number of women — farmers, students, ASHA workers and others — have joined the demonstrations. Others support the effort by staying home to tend family farms.
Even in our sprawling, globalized world, it’s possible to produce nutritious, wholesome food without negatively impacting the planet or undermining its myriad cultures and farming traditions that rely on local resources: land, water, seeds and the many benefits of biodiversity. While this may seem idealistic as we’re told that a handful of multinational companies are […]
Technology itself is neither plague nor panacea for our sustainable, inclusive food future. It is always humans who choose which innovations to pursue, and how to use them. The revolution of digital technology presents this challenge in new and old ways, and our choices must be guided by clear morals that view food production and […]
A new crop of Tunisian engineers are coming up with clever ways to help farmers streamline their operations and adjust to a changing climate.
With July recorded as the driest month since 1959 in France, farmers — who make up half of water consumption in the country — face a problematic water shortage. The agricultural world is now working on solutions to better manage this precious resource.
Globalized supply chains may be good for businesses, but they’re not always ideal for consumers, especially when they’re suddenly disrupted.
Taiwan’s success in containing the coronavirus is certainly cause for celebration, and to really emphasize the point, farmers in one agricultural region decided this week that it’s high time to break out the… watermelons? After a string of six straight days with no new confirmed coronavirus cases, a group of farmers in Changhua, in central […]
The facility’s peculiar focus may seem a bit funny at first. But as visitors are quick to discover, having access to hygienic toilets is no laughing matter, especially in India.
Going vegetarian or vegan is not just to stop eating meat, but a progressive rejection of the globalized food industry.
A group of dedicated growers grapple with difficult terrain, scorching heat and the area’s gradual population drain to produce a unique variety of wine called Armacìa.
Peruvian coffee farmers desperately need help — from both the public and private sectors — to improve quality and bring down production costs.
Already known for its agricultural output, the South American country would do well to grow its reputation as a leader in sustainable food production.
A pair of agro-engineers from Argentina are helping a U.S. company boost crop yields in Uganda, and help local, small-scale farmers in the process.
Ancestral agricultural practices can provide a sustainable and creative way to boost rural economies in Latin America. And China could help.
A right not to starve is as basic a fundamental human right as there can be.
Colombia’s biggest project to make livestock farming sustainable is showing that farmers can raise cattle and even boost dairy production without destroying the forest.
A sociologist is helping underpaid, over-worked agricultural laborers organize in the city of Latina, southeast of Rome.