'Rambo' plant set to blossom as Africa's top crop
Scientists say the long-neglected cassava root becomes even more productive in hotter temperatures and could be the best bet for African farmers threatened by climate change.
Scientists from the Colombia-based International Centre for Tropical Agriculture praised cassava as the “rambo of the food crops” after publishing findings Monday in the scientific journal Tropical Plant Biology.
The study said starch-rich cassava thrived in tests using a combination of climate prediction and crop suitability models also tried on potato, maize, bean, banana, millet and sorghum.
The scientists found that with expected temperature increases of up to 2° C, cassava production in East Africa would increase 10% and it would find more hospitable climes in southern Africa. — Sapa-AP
Somalia food crisis recovery will take two years – ICRC
The food crisis in Somalia is no longer at emergency levels but the needs remain “huge” and it will take at least two years for the country to recover, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.
Malnutrition rates in some areas of the drought-hit Horn of Africa country have improved, the ICRC said, but the charity warned an ongoing conflict between the Kenyan army and Islamist al Shabaab rebels could precipitate the situation.
“The food crisis (in Somalia) has probably now stopped,” Daniel Duvillard, head of operations for the ICRC in the Horn of Africa, told AlertNet. “There are still huge needs of course. Rains were quite good but one good harvest won’t solve the problem for the Somali people,
“In some areas you can see there has been an improvement in terms of malnutrition rates. The only question mark is the impact of the military offensive against al Shabaab now but it is too early to assess,” he said.
A deadly combination of war and drought has left the chaotic nation at the epicentre of a hunger crisis affecting 13 million people across the Horn of Africa. Tens of thousands of Somalis have died from famine, which was declared in July.
This meal shows the average amount of food purchased, and wasted, per person in the United States during the course of a year.
Climate to wreak havoc on food supply, predicts report
This map represents the density of children in food crisis over the next 40 years should climate change continue on its present course.
But the evidence does, in fact, suggest that what we’re getting now is a first taste of the disruption, economic and political, that we’ll face in a warming world. And given our failure to act on greenhouse gases, there will be much more, and much worse, to come.” Paul Krugman: Droughts, Floods and Food
Other countries are reneging too. Less than one-third of the promised $20 billion for agriculture turns out to be new money. Much of that has not arrived. A big cause of food-price rises is trade bans by exporters. The G20 has asked the Russian government to study how to block these. But Russia is one of the chief culprits: Foxes Inc regulating hencoop security.” Hungry for votes: How much do rich governments really worry about feeding the world?
Worldwatch report highlights how lopsided discussion is about Africa, food, and biotechnology
So much of the discussion about agriculture in Africa focuses on production. Plant more. Increase yield. Improve seed technology. But there is really no silver bullet when it comes to food production and access, and the relentless focus on technology ends up being lopsided and incomplete — as I saw in Zambia. The nation produces more than enough food, much of it by small-scale farmers without tractors, irrigation, or any form of transportation. But this excess food ends up rotting in warehouses and causes price crashes when it hits the market — good for buyers but dismal for small-scale farmers who depend on these sales for their meagre income.
Even so, some areas of the country still suffer from malnutrition and shortages. Why? There are many reasons, inadequate roads and supply networks among them, since it isn’t always easy to get the food from areas where it is surplus to areas where it is in short supply. In this reality, high-tech seeds are the least of the nation’s problems. And yet, on op-ed pages, that often seems to be the focus of discussion. How come we hardly see op-eds on what paved roads, improved sanitation, more efficient distribution networks, soil conservation, and a reduction in food waste might do for world hunger? Fifteen percent of the grain harvest is wasted in poorer countries, according to a researcher quoted in this report. Even cutting that in half would amount to an enormous yield gain.
Barton Seaver, chef and seafood expert
