European Scientist • 12th April 2024

Fleas, ticks and worms: why owners must be vigilant against these hidden challenges to their pet's welfare

How do you protect against a threat that is almost impossible to see with the naked eye? With climate change aiding the spread of harmful and disease-carrying parasites around the world, that’s a question Europe’s pet owners will increasingly be asking.

Parasites, including various species of fleas, ticks, and worms, are the often-unseen challenges to our pet’s health and welfare – yet too many pets remain vulnerable and exposed.

As prevention is always better than cure, pet owners must take s

World Economic Forum • 11th April 2024

Combating antibiotic resistance will be a huge achievement

Some estimates forecast a potential 10 million deaths per year due to antimicrobial resistance by 2050. At the same time, a rise in drug resistance in animals could lead to painful, untreatable illness and cause an 11% drop in livestock production in low-income countries, jeopardizing livelihoods and food security. Antimicrobial resistance could also lead to sick pets requiring costly levels of care, setting families back thousands of dollars and weeks of treatment for what should otherwise be e

FairPlanet • 29th March 2024

Adapting Africa: The urgent climate fight in agriculture

Safeguarding food systems from the rising tide of climate change is nowhere more urgent than in Africa. The continent is significantly exposed to climate threats, exacerbated by unprecedented weather extremes. Beyond the agricultural sector, the adverse effects of climate change are permeating critical development areas, including energy, industry, health, mining, tra

BusinessGreen • 20th March 2024

Why carbon markets must adapt to avoid forfeiting valuable climate finance

Businesses, as the linchpin of the global economy, are vital actors in ensuring the world meets its shared goals for climate action. Yet, to achieve these goals, they must be incentivised to unlock and...

CNBC Africa • 19th February 2024

Commitments don’t grow crops: why Africa needs action to tackle hunger once and for all

The meeting of our leaders in Addis Ababa at the African Union Summit this month, therefore, takes place against dire, if not entirely unprecedented, circumstances. For instance, my own country of Sierra Leone is among the most exposed to the escalating impacts of climate change. These changes in the climate – from unpredictable rainfall to rising temperatures – disrupt agricultural yields and food systems at large.

These challenges arise at a critical time when over 50 percent of the household

Fortune • 23rd January 2024

The world needs an International Decade for Data–or risk splintering into AI ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots,’ UN researchers warn

The rapid rise in data-driven technologies is shaping how many of us live–from biometric data collected by our smartwatches, artificial intelligence (AI) tools and models changing how we work, to social media algorithms that seem to know more about our content preferences than we do. Greater amounts of data are affecting all aspects of our lives, and indeed, society at large.

This explosion in data risks creating new inequalities, equipping a new set of “haves” who benefit from the power of dat

African Business • 15th December 2023

How Africa’s cotton markets could help to boost continental growth

Africa’s reputation as a resource-rich powerhouse is well-known. The continent is famously abundant in a wide variety of sought-after natural resources that are produced for international export, from coffee and cacao to diamonds and the rare materials that power modern smartphones and electric batteries. Can Africa’s cotton sector also become a major export revenue source for the continent and boost continental growth?

Recent trends are discouraging – Africa’s global exports of cotton products

FairPlanet • 7th December 2023

Reducing food loss and waste: A hidden solution to the climate crisis

Question: What does food have to do with climate change?

Previously misunderstood or ignored for too long, there’s now a growing awareness of the integral connection between global food systems and the climate crisis.

We see the link in the surge of storms and floods that disrupt food supplies. We see it with extreme heat and droughts that devastate agricultural production. We see it in the rise of diseases and pests, like locusts, that harm livestock and crops.

Meanwhile, food production and

African Business • 30th October 2023

How ambitious AfCFTA implementation can drive agricultural trade growth for Africa

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which entered into force in May 2019, promised to unlock the full potential of Africa’s agricultural sector and accelerate sustainable economic growth and food security throughout the region. However, recent crises, from the conflict in Ukraine to the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and the accelerating impact of climate change, have given rise to significant setbacks for continental food security and prosperity.

Still, government

The Telegraph • 13th October 2023

Underground colonies of fungi could help us grow stronger, more plentiful food crops

If scientists can ensure continuous colonisation of plants by fungi, even where sufficient nutrients are present, by using modern genetic engineering techniques, it could result in substantially less chemical fertiliser being needed, as more will be absorbed after each application.

Likewise, researchers are looking to better understand a soil bacteria called rhizobia, which has a unique ability to convert, or ‘fix’, nitrogen from the air into a form that can be absorbed by plants.

Currently, t

The Conversation • 5th October 2023

How dormant plant traits could be reawakened to unlock fertiliser-free farming

FPlants are among the most intrepid explorers on Earth. Roughly 460 million years ago, the first plants started leaving lakes and rivers and appeared on land. At that time, the surface of Earth was mostly bare rock.

These pioneers had to overcome extraordinary challenges as they transitioned from their aquatic lifestyle. The crops we grow to feed ourselves now are struggling to adapt to the new extremes in our climate. But there is a way to help protect them: reawaken their ancient resilience.

CNBC Africa • 26th September 2023

Gender equality can accelerate Africa’s food systems transformation – Here are 5 ways to make this happen

Beautiful African agriculturist in the farm using laptop There is more than enough evidence that gender inequality has far-reaching ramifications for various sectors, with the toll heavily borne by women, limiting their potential to be agents of change. Tackling the inequalities facing women is not only a moral imperative; it just makes economic sense. If women had equal access to and decision-making power over productive resources, income-generating activities, education, and services, there wo

FairPlanet • 8th August 2023

How to unlock African women’s power in the agri-food business

Countries across Africa are making progress towards gender equality in the agriculture sector, but challenges such as COVID-19 and conflict have undermined these efforts.

In fact, in 2021, Africa was the region with the highest global increase of people suffering from severe or moderate food insecurity. This inhibited progress affects the continent as a whole, with dire ramifications for women. Recognising women as agents of change and leveraging their contributions to Africa's agrifood systems

The Hill • 13th July 2023

Amid worsening global crises, children need a new safety net

From a myriad of armed conflicts to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shocking impact of climate change and dire cost-of-living hardships, the world is living through a polycrisis that is impacting all corners of the world like never before.

Yet amid this all, we must not forget that it is children — especially those who are growing up alone, in fragile family environments or without adequate care — who suffer the most. It is therefore urgent to focus on providing a new safety

FairPlanet • 11th July 2023

Three ways the world is finally making progress on food waste

One of the most pressing global challenges is built on a paradox: more than 828 million people are facing hunger in the world today, yet one-third of all food produced for human consumption worldwide continues to be lost or wasted each year. From inadequate storage infrastructure to oddly shaped vegetables or simply misleading “sell by” dates, too much good food ends up in landfills.

Food banks are one solution that can play a critical role in both supporting people and reducing food waste. But

Agri-Pulse • 7th July 2023

Opinion: Insect-resistant cowpea two years on: Scaling a best-practice agricultural innovation to feed a growing African population

Two years ago, Nigeria commercialized SAMPEA 20-T, a breakthrough new variety of insect-resistant cowpea – a critical crop for nutrition and livelihoods throughout sub-Saharan Africa. This breakthrough not only illustrated how advances in crop innovation are reaching smallholder farmers – but also the significant work that remains in scaling uptake to reach more communities, more effectively.

Eaten by roughly 200 million Africans, predominantly in West Africa, cowpea is commonly referred to as

Farming First • 6th July 2023

From ‘Gateway to the West’, St. Louis blazes new trail as major agtech hub

Known originally as the “Gateway to the West” as it meets the confluence of the great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, St. Louis is now increasingly recognized for the flow of scientific advancement that is transforming its role into that of a major agricultural technology capital.

Tackling rising global hunger in the context of complex challenges like climate change requires the right mix of research institutes, industry and start-up agility. Thankfully, this “frontier” spirit of innovation is

Fortune • 22nd June 2023

Malawi’s former president: ‘Africa’s food systems are in danger of failing due to high debt and climate change. A new financial pact can reverse this’

Agriculture is the cornerstone of African communities and economies. Not only is the majority of the continent’s working population employed in the sector, but just under a quarter of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP is generated by the work of its farmers. Yet, climate change is now undermining what progress has been made across the continent in the last few decades–with hunger, malnutrition, and poverty all on the rise.

Amidst these challenges, the significant debt servicing obligations that African

Al Jazeera • 17th June 2023

Foodbanks can help tackle East Africa’s hunger crises

Foodbanking builds on African traditions of generosity and communal help and can play a key role in redistributing food in times of drought.

Facing a sixth consecutive failed rainy season, countries in the Horn of Africa are staring at the region’s worst drought in at least 70 years. This, research shows, would not have happened without climate change.

As crops fail and livestock dies out, families are being forced to go without food. More than 20 million people now face severe levels of food

The Telegraph • 8th June 2023

A crop pandemic could devastate the Global South. Here’s how to limit the risk

While the spread of plant disease may be difficult to prevent, the consequences on food security and economies needn’t be. Donors, particularly in developed countries, which have access to many of these tools, must support the scaling up of essential disease monitoring and prevention systems in low- and middle-income countries.

After all, as we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic, preventing outbreaks anywhere is in everyone’s interests everywhere.

To begin with, donors and aid-giving countries s

Farming First • 26th May 2023

How a Data and AI Revolution is Helping Africa’s Farmers Build Resilience and Productivity Through More Accurate Predictions

Dr. Racine Ly, Director, Department of Data Management, Digital Products, and Technology, AKADEMIYA2063, discusses how the emerging technology revolution is helping Africa’s farmers build resilience through innovative crop production predictions.

From climate change and conflicts to health crises, plant disease, and pest outbreaks, Africa’s food production systems are constantly battling numerous threats. Countering these shocks would require accessible data and quality evidence, not only for A

African Business • 19th May 2023

African farmers have a data problem – but modern technology can help

From automated tractors, temperature and moisture sensors, all the way to aerial imagery and drones, farmers in most advanced agricultural systems are in an increasingly digital world, with a range of vital data available at the touch of a button.

Yet, despite increasing threats such as climate change and the spread of new pests and diseases, farmers in Africa with access to data remains limited – often passed down from the previous generation or fellow farmers – to inform what and how they gro

BusinessGreen • 8th May 2023

Lessons from Peru: How food firms joined forces with 'potato guardians' to protect biodiversity

Dotted across the country's highland regions, the lives of Peruvian smallholder potato farmers would, at first glance, seem remote from the concerns of multinational agri-food businesses. Yet, with...

Inter Press Service • 3rd May 2023

How the Rise of Timor-Leste’s Aquaculture Sector Is a Blueprint for Other Small Island Nations

How the Rise of Timor-Leste’s Aquaculture Sector Is a Blueprint for Other Small Island Nations

PENANG, Malaysia, May 3 2023 (IPS) - For Timor-Leste, as with most other islands in the Pacific, fortunes are to be found in fish – an equity food available to all regardless of status.


Nevertheless, the island is highly exposed to the impacts of climate change, hampering domestic food production and contributing to Timor-Leste’s ranking of 110th out of 121 countries for malnutrition. Meanwhile, th