The Future of Food: Jellyfish, Farmed Insects, 3D Printed Meat?

Between the devastating effects of climate change and the fast advancing new technologies, it seems now evident that the future of food will change. Whether it's new foods like jellyfish, edible insects and cell-based meat, or new technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, the future promises exciting opportunities for feeding the world, says a new report.

Q&A: Next Decade Sufficient Time for a Food Revolution

In March, after the World Health Organisation first declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations activated a global corporate emergency mechanism for the first time. It had already written to all donor countries asking for $1.9 billion in front-loaded funding, and had begun emergency procurement. Its priority was to sustain life-saving assistance first.

Helping Make Education a Reality for the 75 million Children in Conflict Zones

Aryan is a 15-year-old girl from Afghanistan who lives with her family in a shelter in an undisclosed country in Europe. She doesn’t go to school. But she is hugely creative. And it shows in how she occupies her time during the day — writing poetry and making bracelets and earrings that she hopes to sell online one day.

To Uplift a Woman is to Uplift a Village

Khadija Zuberi, 23, from Ruaha Mbuyuni village in Tanzania’s central highlands, is a single mother to her four-year-old son, Hashim.

**UPDATE**Investigative Journalist Erick Kabendera Arrested

Freelancer Erick Kabendera was reportedly arrested from his home in Mbweni, Dar es Salaam, Tanziana yesterday afternoon by unknown men.

Q&A: A New Leader with a Vision to Redefine Human Rights

The human rights movement must be bigger, bolder, and more inclusive if we are to tackle today’s challenges, said Amnesty International’s first South African Secretary General.

IPS Mourns the Passing of Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan

Dear Nane Annan & Family, The IPS family would like to express our deepest condolences to you and your family on the passing of a husband, a father, a global statesman. As journalists, we find that few words can express our deep loss for a man who personalised and lived the vision and truth of a just and equal world.

Climate: Strong Commitment and New Global Action on Water Scarcity

“No country, irrespective of its size or strength, is immune from the impacts of climate change, and no country can afford to tackle the climate challenge alone.”

Mideast: ‘Climate Change Will Make a Difficult Situation Much Worse’

“Climate change will make a difficult situation much worse, and will affect millions of people in the Middle East and North Africa region,” World Bank MENA Vice-President Hafez Ghanem stated at the 22nd Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Marrakech, Morocco on 7-18 November.

1 in 3 Europeans Believe Their Lawmakers and Officials Are Highly Corrupt

One in three people living in Europe and Central Asia think that corruption is one of the biggest problems facing their country, a figure that rises to two in three in Spain, Moldova and Kosovo, showing that urgent action against the abuse of power and secret deals is needed.

Asia, Looking Beyond the Green Revolution

More than 2.2 billion people in Asia rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, but the Asian Development Bank warns that stagnant and declining yields of major crops such as rice and wheat can be ultimately linked to declining investments in agriculture. Public investments in agriculture in India, for instance, have been roughly the same since 2004.

Nurturing African Agriculture

While agriculture could be the driving force to lift millions of Africans out of poverty and alleviate hunger, its full potential remains untapped. For example, only between five and seven percent of the continent’s cultivated land is irrigated, leaving farmers vulnerable to climate shocks like the devastating El Nino-driven drought in southern Africa. That's why international agencies like the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are forging key partnerships to enhance agricultural production, sustainable natural resource management and increased market access.

Urban agriculture sprouts in favelas, Fabíola Ortiz reports

Video report “Urban agriculture sprouts in favelas” plus full contribution by IPS journalist Fabíola Ortiz. You don’t need to live in the country side to grow vegetables. It is possible to maintain an organic farming based on ‘agricology’, in the favelas or shanty towns in Rio de Janeiro a pioneering initiative is now underway. Ms. Maria Helena joined the first course of organic urban agriculture.

Cameroonians combat climate change armed with wood stoves

Cameroon’s women are making strides in the fight against climate change. For the past months local housewives have been testing “improved wood stoves”, a revolutionary cooking appliance which consumes less wood and produces less smoke than traditional cookers. In a country where people are usually too poor to have access to gas and wood consumption is on the rise, improved wood stoves can limit deforestation and help women improve their quality of life.

Asia: So Close and Yet So Far From Polio Eradication

The goal is an ambitious one – to deliver a polio-free world by 2018. Towards this end, the multi-sector Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is bringing out the big guns, sparing no expense to ensure that “every last child” is immunised against the crippling disease.

The mirage of equality. The Situation of Women in the World of Work in Mexico

It may be hard to argue that Mexico is not at the forefront of legislation in Latin America. In the last decade, abortion was decriminalised, at least in the Capital, and the possession of small quantities of certain drugs for personal consumption was also decriminalised. This country, famous for its sexist culture, has also ratified several international gender equality instruments. But Mexico hasn’t been able to translate these legal commitments into practices that impact the prevalent culture in the workplace, where discriminatory behaviours and abuses against women remain deeply entrenched.

Organic Agriculture could help Africa fight poverty

Experts say mainstreaming organic farming in African could help feed the hungry on the continent, reduce poverty and mitigate the effects of climate change.

CASEFE, a family-owned hydroponic farming operation

CASEFE, a family-owned hydroponic farming operation, is located in the province of Flores, Uruguay. Hydroponics is a sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural production method that does not rely on pesticides and can guarantee food for the future.

Akinwumwi Adesina: “Our approach to agriculture as a business is the way to make it sustainable”

Akinwumwi Adesina, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria, interviewed by IPS journalist in Zimbabwe Busani. “Agriculture is not a development program”.

Mothers Light Up Homes in Rural Tanzania

“My mother used to just stay at home, now she has come back and is an engineer and a leader. She is on the Village Energy Committee,” said a 10-year-old girl from the village of Chekeleni, in Tanzania’s southeastern Mtwara district.