Worldcrunch
-Analysis- BUENOS AIRES — Everything suggests that in the future, the world may want practically anything Argentina can produce. The question is whether the response to this demand should be simply augmenting current productivity, or seeking wholly new approaches. Recently, we noted that China, the chief trading partner with which Argentina has just clinched a […]
As the world moves to reduce the role of hydrocarbons, Argentina must exploit the biofuels potential of its vast farming sector, not entertain dreams of becoming a regional oil power like Venezuela.
As more men are migrating into cities in search of a living, women are left with all the weight of the farming and family. That is not a sustainable model.
ALBI — During a walk through the heart of the cathedral city of Albi, fruits and vegetables seem to be planted everywhere. And for good reason. A year ago, the city was given the objective of attaining food self-sufficiency by 2020. In concrete terms, the goal is to allow the 52,000 residents to feed themselves […]
FUKUSHIMA — In 1970, electronics company Panasonic inaugurated a factory in the Japanese city of Fukushima to assemble radio sets. In the 1980s, when Japanese electronics were at their peak, the site expanded to produce video material and CD players. In 2011, the earthquake that destroyed the Daiichi nuclear power plant left the Panasonic factory […]
-Analysis- BOGOTÁ — Decades of civil conflict and the formation of the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could be attributed in part to the struggle for land in this Latin American nation. That’s why land was one of the most important issues in FARC’s peace negotiations with the government. A historic deal was […]
Cooked in Asia for centuries, this protein-rich marine plant is making its way onto our plates.
Researchers say they would like to learn more about the full contribution these women make, and what the rise of women farmers means for the future of farming and ranching in the United States.
With help from agencies and the government, locals from Monte de María in northern Colombia are breathing new life into the land stripped by abuse and violence.
A new surge in deforestation can be traced to an unauthorized road connecting La Macarena to San Jose del Guaviare. What is the origin? What will be done?
Making charcoal requires cutting down trees and burning them in the ground, destroying in the process not only trees but also the fertility of the land. Farming output is on the decline, and environmentalists are signaling the need for change.
NAUBISE — In the village of Naubise, about 90-minute drive from the capital Kathmandu, farmer Nirbhaya Sapkota is experimenting with crop rotation, mixed cropping and even intercropping — anything to maintain soil fertility and moisture. Sapkota, 45, and others this area are contending first-hand with the effects of climate change, which is particularly hard-hitting in Nepal because of its high poverty rates and low adaptive capacity. The major earthquake that struck in April has complicated matters even more. But in this community, at least, Sapkota and other smallholder farmers refuse to go down without a fight. With the help of […]
This article is part of sponsored series from the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity EL BRECHOUA — A small but significant revolution is underway amidst the golden wheat-covered hills of the Moroccan municipality of El Brechoua, 60 kilometers from the capital of Rabat. The fields of wheat extending as far as the eye can see […]
A Russian embargo bans imports of French cheese and other Western products. But one farmer has the answer: bring in French cheesemakers to teach him to make his own.
As vegetable wholesalers around Buenos Aires ignore government calls to moderate prices, angry shoppers may resort to their last weapon.
Pope Francis’ recent encyclical on the climate had a major blind spot: cattle farming and meat consumption. Nowhere is the damage more evident than his native Latin America.
The 12th Shanghai International Tea Culture Festival ended last week in the Chinese megalopolis. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world came to buy, taste and learn more about the ancient and ever-popular beverage. But where does tea come from and how is it produced? Here are five facts tea drinkers can ponder […]
Unchecked urbanization is destroying what’s left of the Mexican capital’s pre-Aztec chinampas.
YOTVATA — There are mud huts to block out the heat, solar micro panels for cooking, bio-gas production from waste, and wet mattresses to grow vegetables and flowers in the desert. This is the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Yotvata, the most torrid and depopulated area in Israel’s Negev desert, where a community of […]
Ireland’s gassy cows emit so much methane gas that the country wants to be treated as a special case when it comes to greenhouse gas levels. EU leaders met overnight Thursday and agreed to cut emissions 40% by the year 2030, compared with 1990 levels. Between 10-12% of greenhouse gas emissions come from global agriculture, […]
Villagers in the mountain outpost of Melung are among the few in rural Indonesia who can solve daily problems – and sell their products – thanks to an onsite Internet connection.
Four years into Syria’s conflict, cannabis has become an unlikely key source of financing for a number of groups in the opposition-held north. It’s used mostly to buy weapons. Jabal al-Zawiya in the province of Idlib is a mountainous area close to the Turkish border. Once famous for growing olives, it is now used to grow pot. Farmers here say the plant grows quickly, and yields higher revenues than olives. Most villages in Idlib province are living off the spoils of goods smuggled between Syria and Turkey, and many basic commodities available for purchase here now come from Turkey, too. […]
SHARM EL-SHEIKH — Abu Saleh (not his real name) used to earn his money giving camel tours to tourists. But now the Egyptian Bedouin farms his 340-square-meter opium field. It’s not legal, which is why he covers his face, although he notes that the police are looking the other way. When Saleh took his camels […]
A dozen Paolo Parisi eggs can cost you 20 euros. But it’s a small price for the finest Italian chefs, who can taste the difference when an egg comes from a hen fed on goat’s milk.
RÍO BUENO — Sixty-seven cows were killed earlier this week after they were electrocuted by a lightning bolt during a powerful electrical storm in southern Chile. Local news sources reported that the single bolt on Sunday night was so strong it split a tree in two, and caused internal burns on the animals that proved […]
ALCORTA — Walter Canzani’s farm is in one of the most fertile zones of Argentina’s Pampas region. Still a proud gaucho (cowboy), this son of Italian immigrants knows, however, that the cows that made Argentina’s beef the most famous in the world are no longer the big money-maker. Although Canzani still keeps some 50 heifers […]
Organic fever has been taking over the world over the past few years, appealing to some but shunned by others. Sustainability is a word often linked with organic, as well as all things environmentally-friendly, that surely must benefit all of us. Here’s a short profile of five places embracing both concepts with the aim of […]
The legendary founder of the Slow Food movement lays out his vision for preserving the world’s biodiversity by returning to ancient forms of agriculture. The future of the planet is at stake.
BUKAVU – For the past two years, agricultural production has been increasing in the province of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And at least part of the credit goes to shopkeepers across the border in Rwanda. The neighboring store owners have been providing Congolese farmers with phytosanitary seeds and products that […]
-OpEd- GUATEMALA CITY – In Guatemala, we know about the damage done by gangs and drug traffickers. We see them paraded across the national and international media as the embodiement of “evil,” with their steely glares and tattooed arms. But too often, simply blaming the gangs and drug trade ignores the complex set of elements […]
PARIS — Conflict, scandal, disrepair: the bad news must be reported, wrongdoing exposed. Still, journalism too often is obsessed solely with what is broken — the breaking news, in every sense of the word. Worldcrunch Impact takes a different starting point, with another question that journalists should ask: How might things get better? How can […]
As the country plans to seize farmers’ land and move them into more populous, resettled areas to drive the economy, it’s clear who the losers will be.
Since the 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal, little has changed in the Chinese dairy industry. Interest groups and nationalism are to blame.
Some 1.2 million were forced to relocate by China’s massive Three Gorges project. Moving to unfamiliar land, many of these internal migrants struggle. Some tell another story.
The future of Bhutan“s agriculture industry will be organic. The country, which mainly grows oranges, apples, rice and potatoes, had decided to become 100% organic in the next 10 years. Situated in the craggy foothills of the Himalayas, only 3% of the kingdom’s territory is actually farmland. However, 80% of the population of Bhutan, a […]
BENI – In the early morning hours, John Kasongo Muhowa, a tractor driver from North Kivu agricultural cooperative, is clearing the undergrowth, plowing up weeds around a two-hectare (5-acre) field where peanuts and corn will be planted. Twenty or so young men from the nearest town are waiting in line to use the tractor, one […]
SAO PAULO – While the U.S is suffering the worst drought in decades; Brazil is expecting a record-breaking grain harvest this year. But is the country’s infrastructure up to the task? Good prices for raw materials means Brazilians will be planting more soybeans and hiking their investments on technology, which will contribute to an unprecedented […]