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Valentine's chocolate is bitter-sweet

American consumers are expected to spend over $12 billion on Valentine's Day this year, according to the National Retail Federation. America is the world's largest chocolate consumer, consuming 3.3 billion pounds of chocolate in 2000 alone. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association predicts more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold this Valentine's Day. Why then is the picture so bleak for most of the world's cocoa farmers who grow the crop that becomes everybody's favorite candy?

http://www.cs.org/publications/win/win-article.cfm?id=271&highlight=Valentines%20chocolate%20is%20bitter-sweet

(Added: Wed Feb 11 2004   Modified: Tue Sep 12 2006   Hits: 354)

Donor Shortfall Forces WFP To Cut North Korea's Food Aid

UN Wire, Tuesday, January 20, 2004. A lack of foreign contributions has forced the World Food Program to start cutting its food aid to more than half of North Korea's 4.2 million neediest people, an agency spokesman said yesterday. Although the WFP has received new aid pledges from the United States, the European Union and Australia following a December appeal, those supplies could take up to three months to arrive, according to the WFP's Gerald Bourke. "In January, 2.7 million of our 'core beneficiaries'" - children, pregnant women and the elderly - "are not being fed," said Bourke. Already in December, he said, "there were quite a few people we were not able to feed."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/9190c0c995fb9c631227b5e44a2dd4e4.htm

(Added: Wed Jan 21 2004   Modified: Thu Jan 11 2007   Hits: 232)

Global Food Security: Challenges and Policies

(Science Magazine) By Mark W. Rosegrant and Sarah A. Cline, International Food Policy Research Institute, 12 Dec 2003. Global food security will remain a worldwide concern for the next 50 years and beyond. Recently, crop yield has fallen in many areas because of declining investments in research and infrastructure, as well as increasing water scarcity. Climate change and HIV/AIDS are also crucial factors affecting food security in many regions. Although agroecological approaches offer some promise for improving yields, food security in developing countries could be substantially improved by increased investment and policy reforms.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/302/5652/1917?ijkey=BgKwEqsDH2dQk&keytype=ref&siteid=sci

(Added: Thu Dec 18 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 126)

Teaming up to Takle Hunger

The United Nations World Food Program has teamed up with the Rugby World Cup and the past 4 winning captains to takle hunger by raising awareness of the worlds biggest challenge - feeding 800 million hungry people. Browse the website to learn more and help support the winning team.

http://www.tacklehunger.com/

(Added: Fri Nov 14 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 176)

Bill Gates' Rescue Package: Flogging a Dead Horse

Bill Gates donation of U.S. $25 million for biofortification - breeding crops with higher levels of micronutrients - is an effort to provide a life-saving shot to the dying family of public-sector international agricultural research institutes. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), responsible for ushering in the green revolution technology, is now seriously grappling for survival. Faced with huge staff layoffs, drastic cuts in research programmes, declining research output, vanishing financial commitments, the CGIAR is contemplating a series of mergers to stay afloat. Gasping for breadth, the CGIAR is even considering the merger of two of its premier institutes - the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at Los Banos, in the Philippines, and the International Crop Research Centre for Wheat and Maize (CIMMYT), in Mexico City.

http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/global/devsh2.html

(Added: Thu Nov 06 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 311)

United Nations Launches International Year of Rice 2004

(FAO) 31 October 2003, United Nations, New York -- The United Nations today launched a major international drive to increase the production of rice. Launching the International Year of Rice 2004, the Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Dr. Jacques Diouf, said that rice "is the staple food for over half of the world's population" but warned that "its production is facing serious constraints."

http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2003/24159-en.html

(Added: Mon Nov 03 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 129)

Not Eligible: The Politicization of Food in Zimbabwe (PDF)

Human Rights Watch, October 24, 2003. Zimbabwean authorities discriminate against perceived political opponents by denying them access to food programs, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. International relief agencies in Zimbabwe fail to ensure that access to food is based on need alone and is not biased by domestic or international political concerns. The 51-page report, "Not Eligible: The Politicization of Food in Zimbabwe," documents how food is denied to suspected supporters of Zimbabwe's main opposition party and to residents of former commercial farms resettled under the country's "fast-track" land reform program. The report examines the widespread politicization of the government's subsidized grain program, managed by the Grain Marketing Board, as well as the far less extensive manipulation of international food aid. (.3Mb)

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/zimbabwe1003/

(Added: Wed Oct 29 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 213)

Dissecting Brazil's Zero Hunger

In Brazil, a country of abundance, the existence of mass hunger is a fact to which few of Brazil's urban middle classes have assented. Brazil is the fourth largest food exporter in the world. Yet as Minister of Food Safety, José Graziano da Silva states "Nearly a third of the Brazilian population is in a situation of food insecurity."

http://www.brazzil.com/2003/html/news/articles/sep03/p104sep03.htm

(Added: Mon Oct 06 2003   Modified: Tue Dec 20 2005   Hits: 202)

Markets=Famine

by Yves Engler July 08, 2003, ZNet Africa. If the western mainstream media told the truth about Africa, stories in our newspapers would be much different. "Market ideology causes Ethiopian Famine," the New York Times headline would blare. "130 years running and imperialists still mix with bad weather to kill millions," the Globe and Mail would report. Instead, when the mainstream media decides to take notice of the 12 million Ethiopians who are currently desperate for international food aid, we get simplistic reports about bad weather and the kindness of Western aid agencies. Interestingly, the only mainstream media outlets that come close to telling the real, more complicated story about Ethiopia and other African countries are business newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=3883

(Added: Fri Jul 11 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 111)

Independent Science Panel

The Independent Science Panel (ISP) is a panel of scientists from many disciplines, committed to the Promotion of Science for the Public Good, committed to the following: 1. Promoting science for the public good, independent of commercial and other special interests, or of government control. Maintaining the highest standards of integrity and impartiality in science. 3. Developing sciences that can help make the world sustainable, equitable, peaceful and life-enhancing for all its inhabitants.

http://www.indsp.org/

(Added: Wed Jun 18 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 120)

Lula to Wealthy Nations: "Hunger Cannot Wait"

By Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Translated by Narco News, June 2, 2003. As the first salvo leading up to his June 20th meeting, in Washington, with U.S. President George W. Bush, Brazilian President Lula da Silva gave a speech on Sunday to the leaders of the "G-8" countries - the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy and Russia - that called for an international tax on weapons sales, among other bold solutions, to end hunger on earth and create the conditions necessary worldwide to solve "especially, narco-trafficking and terrorism."

http://www.narconews.com/Issue30/article797.html

(Added: Tue Jun 10 2003   Modified: Tue Dec 20 2005   Hits: 133)

Food First

The Institute for Food and Development Policy better known as Food First--is a member-supported, nonprofit 'peoples' think tank and education-for-action center. Our work highlights root causes and value-based solutions to hunger and poverty around the world, with a commitment to establishing food as a fundamental human right. As a progressive think tank, Food First produces books, reports, articles, films, electronic media, and curricula, plus interviews, lectures, workshops and academic courses for the public, policy makers, activists, the media, students, educators and researchers. We participate in activist coalitions and furnish clearly written and carefully researched analyses, arguments and action plans for people who want to help change the world. Food First provides leadership to the struggle for reforming the global food system from the bottom up, offering an antidote to the myths and obfuscations that make change seem difficult to achieve. Food First was founded in 1975 by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, following the international success of the book, Diet For a Small Planet. The FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) is the action and campaigning partner of the Institute.

http://www.foodfirst.org/

(Added: Fri Apr 11 2003   Modified: Thu Aug 17 2006   Hits: 201)

Dietary Diversity as a Household Food Security Indicator (PDF)

By John Hoddinott, Yisehac Yohannes, May 2002, USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) / Development Experience System (DEXS). This paper examines whether a proxy indicator, dietary diversity, defined as the number of unique foods consumed over a given period of time, is a good measure of household food access. It draws on data from ten countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, and the Philippines. It uses linear regression techniques to investigate the magnitude of the association between dietary diversity and household food access as well as correlation coefficients, contingency tables and Receiver Operator Curves.

http://www.dec.org/pdf_docs/PNACQ758.pdf

(Added: Mon Mar 31 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 152)

At the heart of Hunger

Christian Science Monitor. Photographer Andy Nelson and reporter Danna Harman investigated the causes of the crisis in Southern Africa: drought, AIDS, protectionist trade and concern about genetically modified food.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1112/p01s03-woaf.html

(Added: Wed Mar 26 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 173)

Monitoring & Early Warning

Food Assessment by Satellite Technology [FAST]. Synoptic, objective, near real time and validated data

http://www.earlywarning.nl/

(Added: Thu Feb 20 2003   Modified: Wed Mar 26 2008   Hits: 140)

RESULTS

An international grassroots citizens' lobby, creating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty, and empowering individuals to exercise their personal and political power.

http://www.results.org/

(Added: Fri Jan 31 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 153)

More food, more hunger

On the other side of the world, in Argentina, the agonizing experience of starvation amidst plenty echoes India's continuing agricultural disaster. Amidst reports of gnawing hunger and starvation deaths in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa that hit the national headlines a few weeks back, India continues to make room for exporting surplus foodgrains.

http://www.indiatogether.org/agriculture/opinions/dsharma/followarg.htm

(Added: Thu Jan 02 2003   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 174)

Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS)

FIVIMS are networks of national information systems that assemble, analyze and disseminate data on food insecurity and vulnerability. FIVIMS Aims to: Raise awareness about food security issues; Improve the quality of food security related data and analysis; Facilitate integration of complementary information; Promote better understanding of users' needs and better use of information; Improve access to information through networking and sharing.

http://www.fivims.org/index.jsp

(Added: Mon Dec 16 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 191)

Development Gateway: Food Security

What we do: The food security page on the Development Gateway portal is an online community that shares information on how developing countries can leverage knowledge for economic competitiveness. Currently you can find over 2 000 reports, news items, and other resources in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese; network with more than 5 900 practitioners; post your own information; and access the AiDA database with more than 14 481 records on food security development projects. Who we are: The site is managed by food security specialist, Jean-Charles Le Vallee, in collaboration with the Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Mapping Systems (FIVIMS), Resource Center on Urban Agriculture and Forestry (RUAF), FAO's World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT), and a team of expert advisors.

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/foodsecurity

(Added: Sat Dec 14 2002   Modified: Thu Sep 15 2005   Hits: 182)

AgBioIndia

A daily email bulletin examining the politics of food and agriculture

http://listi.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/agbioindia

(Added: Mon Dec 09 2002   Modified: Thu Dec 01 2005   Hits: 180)

African hunger and GM maize

Author(s): Dickson, D. Produced by: SciDev.Net (2002)**African states should not be ridiculed too hastily for hesitating to accept food containing genetically-modified seeds. But a more rational discourse is needed. At first sight, the initial decision by the leaders of Zimbabwe and Zambia to reject US offers of maize to feed their growing ranks of starving people appears to invite ridicule. Their decision was based on the fact that the food on offer has components that have been genetically modified (GM). But the widely-feared health dangers from consuming such food remain theoretical; not one person is known to have died from doing so. In direct contrast, the imminent starvation faced by 13 million people as a result of a deadly combination of floods and droughts across six states in Southern Africa - Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia - is very real. In such circumstances, the reported statement last week-end by President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia that "we would rather starve than get something toxic" has a ominous echo of earlier remarks by another African leader, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, about the alleged dangers of widely-accepted drugs used against HIV/AIDS. On closer inspection, however, the decision by Zimbabwe and Zambia begins to lose some of its apparent naivety.

http://www.scidev.net/Editorials/index.cfm?fuseaction=readeditorials&itemid=21&language=1

(Added: Thu Nov 07 2002   Modified: Fri Jan 12 2007   Hits: 349)

The Hunger Site

Originally launched in June 1999, The Hunger Site focuses the power of the Internet on a specific humanitarian need - the eradication of world hunger. On average over 220,000 individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the "give free food" button and help feed the hungry. The staple food funded by The Hunger Site is paid for by site sponsors and is distributed to those in need by Mercy Corps and America's Second Harvest. Funds are split between these organizations and go to the aid of hungry people in over 74 countries, including those in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.

http://www.thehungersite.com/

(Added: Tue Sep 24 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 119)

The State of Food and Agriculture 2002

Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations, Rome, 2002. The State of Food and Agriculture is FAO's annual report on current developments affecting world agriculture. It reviews policy factors underlying recent agricultural performances at the world and regional levels. It also discusses issues of current or emerging interest, and presents each year an in-depth analysis of a selected topic of importance to world food and agriculture. The report offers a worldwide as well as regional overviews of the economic and agricultural situation and trends. Two selected issues: "The role of agriculture and land in the provision of public goods" and "Harvesting carbon sequestration through land-use change: A way out of poverty?" are included.

http://www.fao.org/es/ESA/sofa.htm

(Added: Fri Sep 20 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 138)

Eat All of Your McAfrika, Honey, Because I Have a Funny Feeling There Might Be Starving People Out T

by Carol Norris, Published on Thursday, August 29, 2002 by CommonDreams.org. McDonald's recently launched a new burger-in-a-pita product in Norway: The McAfrika. And with this they have inadvertently created a brilliantly succinct metaphor for the increasingly blatant corporate takeover of the Earth - country by Mccountry, continent by Mccontinent. I wonder if McDonald's, its arches a great, snapping, golden maw, gobbling up one country's burger market share while digesting a bit of another continent's culture, created this product to honor the 12 million Africans doing their best to stave off unspeakable famine, or to pay tribute to the millions dying of AIDS, or perhaps to give a nod to the ever-growing numbers left without clean, public drinking water. It's tough to say.

http://commondreams.org/views02/0829-06.htm

(Added: Fri Aug 30 2002   Modified: Thu Jun 02 2005   Hits: 173)

Articles by Devinder Sharma

Devinder Sharma is an award-winning journalist, writer, thinker and researcher respected for his views on food and trade policy. Most of his work Through his writings, he focuses on the inextricable link between biotechnology, intellectual property rights, food trade and poverty. Having a strong voice in several international organisations and civil society groups, Sharma is at the frorefront of the a campaign against introduction of genetically engineered crops in India. He was the first one to warn against GATT policies and everything he said in his first major work "Gatt and India -- Politics of Agriculture" has come true. India is living through his prophesies made in his "In the Famine Trap" in 1997. His forthcoming book, "Keeping the Other Half Hungry," is an incisive analysis of how the globalisation is accelerating the process of marginalisation of farmers in the Third World.

http://www.countercurrents.org/archive-dsharma.htm

(Added: Wed Aug 14 2002   Modified: Thu Dec 15 2005   Hits: 210)

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