Poor countries under threat from surging food import costs
The cost of global food imports, including shipping, is expected to increase 12% to reach a record US$1,71 trillion (about R24,55 trillion) this year, up from US$1,53 trillion (R21,59 trillion)...
High-tech greenhouse boom in China following COVID-19
Workers at a new glass greenhouse facility operated by Dutch company FoodVentures on Chongming Island just outside Shanghai in China, recently harvested their first batch of tomatoes and cucumbers.
Global beef prices benefit from soaring demand in China
Beef prices are surging around the world, which is contributing to global food prices skyrocketing to their highest level since 2014.
EU agriculture reforms aim to save small farmers
Negotiations about sweeping reforms to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is being concluded this week.
Vietnamese shrimp fortunes have fallout for the environment
Farmers in the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam are being forced to adapt to increasing intrusion of salt water by replacing rice production in one of Asia’s largest rice-growing regions...
Burying underwear down under to help the earth
As part of a new global movement, farmers and schoolchildren in Australia and New Zealand are burying their cotton underwear in the soil and digging it up again eight weeks...
India’s anti-farm law protests continue amid COVID-19 surge
The tens of thousands of farmers in India who have been protesting against new agricultural laws are seemingly undeterred by the second, more devastating wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in...
US farming machinery supply under pressure
Disruptions to global supply chains have resulted in a shortage of the steel, plastics, microchips and tires that US machinery manufacturers need to produce tractors and combine harvesters.
French government steps in to assist frost-ravaged farmers
The French government will increase the upper claim limits of the country’s agriculture catastrophe fund to compensate farmers for the recent extensive damage suffered to their crops due to unexpected...
African swine fever takes new toll on China’s pig herd
At least 20% of the breeding herd in northern China have been wiped out by a new wave of African swine fever outbreaks this year.
Australian farmers reeling from natural disasters
The La Niña weather phenomenon that brought six months of heavier than usual rainfall and lower than average temperatures to the east coast of Australia has come to an end.
Global edible oil price rally nearing its peak
A combination of production challenges has resulted in vegetable oil prices, such as palm and soya bean oil, reaching multi-year highs since 2020.
China to accelerate agri reform in the next five years
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has released a policy document in which it outlines a five-year plan from 2021 to 2025 of how it aims to boost...
World’s freshwater supply dwindling fast
The increasing restraints on freshwater supplies is threatening global food security. Urgent action is therefore needed to make water use in agriculture more sustainable and equitable.
Global coffee market expected to remain stable in 2021
Although global coffee exports fell 3,4% year-on-year in January to 10,21 million bags, total exports for the first four months of the 2020/2021 season, which runs from October to September,...
Livestock shipping ethics again in the spotlight
More than 850 head of cattle are to be culled after spending more than two months aboard a ship adrift in the Mediterranean Sea, as they are no longer deemed...
Weak appetite for Bill Gates’s lab-grown meat solution
US Billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates’s solution to an impeding climate change disaster, which involves switching from consuming real meat to consuming synthetic meat, has been met with strong reactions...
US cannabis stocks start the year on a high
Cannabis stocks in the US started the year on a high with producers in the US and Canada issuing stocks worth US$1,38 billion [about R20 billion] in the first five...
UN highlights vulnerabilities in global food chain
Vulnerabilities in the global food supply system have been exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which have led to concerns from global leaders about famine and mass migration.
Malaysia files dispute with WTO over EU palm biofuel curbs
Malaysia is in the process of instituting legal action at the global trade watchdog, the World Trade Organization (WTO), against the EU and member states France and Lithuania, in particular,...
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