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This week's round up of the latest news, research, and policy developments from across global agriculture.
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CONTENT
January 5-11, 2018
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Outrage and Inspire with Roger Thurow – The Most Perilous Day, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, January 10
The outrages of hunger are many. But so, too, are the inspirations of people who confront—and conquer—hunger and malnutrition. With this podcast series, we open a new front in our storytelling. In this episode from Council senior fellow Roger Thurow, we hear from new mom Esther as she prays for her child to be born before the clinic's electricity fades away at night. Meanwhile, the midwife prepares for birth by cellphone light.
Bill Gates Says Private Sector Can Profit from Public Health, Bloomberg, January 8
Gates told private sector companies that they have much to gain from pursuing breakthroughs in global health. The traditional approach has been to tap into the corporate social responsibility activities of private companies. The Gates Foundation’s distribution networks and political relationships in China, India, and Africa are strengths that corporations could leverage in a partnership
Will Trump Punish the Farm Belt?, Editorial, Wall Street Journal, January 8
Highly efficient and productive, US farmers thrive in a competitive global market but tariffs raise costs for US producers and consumers. The greatest danger to the Farm Belt is that President Trump might withdraw from the NAFTA. This would harm the United States the most since Canada and Mexico have higher tariffs under WTO rules than the United States.
SEE ALSO: Trump Tells Farmers He Wants a Better NAFTA, Wall Street Journal, January 8
SEE ALSO: Trump Heads Down to the Farm (Bureau), Roll Call, January 8
Scientists Say 'Dead Zones' like Those in Chesapeake Have Grown Four-Fold across Oceans, Threaten Marine Life, Baltimore Sun, January 7
The Chesapeake Bay has struggled for decades with dead zones—areas in which the water contains little or no oxygen, which sometimes causes massive fish kills. But while the problem has eased here in recent years, it has developed and worsened elsewhere around the globe. “This is really a global issue—it’s not just a local issue,” said marine ecologist Denise Breitburg.
SEE REPORT: Declining Oxygen in the Global Ocean and Coastal Waters, Science, January 5
Yemen Could Be 'Worst' Humanitarian Crisis in 50 Years, Al Jazeera, January 5
The Arab world's poorest country has endured nearly three years of war between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed forces loyal to the exiled president. The conflict is having a devastating effect, causing widespread food shortages and a major cholera outbreak as well as leaving millions in need of humanitarian assistance. The United Nations's Central Emergency Response Fund allocated $50 million to bolster the relief effort in Yemen, where more than eight million people are on the brink of famine.
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GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
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The Country with the Highest CO2 Emissions Can Help the Continent with the Lowest Fight Climate Change, Quartz, January 10
During his visit to China, French president Macron said both countries should collaborate to address climate-action while working on development projects in Africa. The African continent remains especially vulnerable to climate change due to its high economic dependence on agriculture and natural resources. Implementing climate action through agriculture promises to be particularly high impact, both in terms of climate mitigation, and in improving food security on the continent.
SEE ALSO: China, France Promise Cooperation on Climate, Security, AP, January 9
It's a New Year. But the Outlook on Some of the World's Biggest Problems Is as Dismal as Ever, Los Angeles Times, January 9
The hunger crisis is expected to intensify this year. ACAPS, a Geneva-based think tank that monitors global humanitarian situations, predicted that food security was “likely to deteriorate” in northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Yemen, and that all faced a risk of famine in areas where conflicts are simmering.
China’s War on Poverty Could Hurt the Poor Most, Foreign Policy, January 8
President Xi Jinping renewed a lofty pledge to lift 70 million people out of poverty by 2020, which will require a complete overhaul of the country’s social welfare system as well as trillions in new debt. Chinese officials are encouraging, sometimes forcefully, rural residents to move to complexes on the outskirts of second- and third-tier cities. With limited experience outside of farming, many rural transplants have difficulty finding and maintaining jobs.
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Seeds of Hope, DipNote, January 9
To break the cycle of extreme poverty and food insecurity, USAID organized the Farmer’s Fest in India. Farming families were selected from across villages to receive high-yielding rice seeds along with training in modern sowing and farming methods. The program helped raise farm productivity, and with it, farmers’ incomes—an important step in breaking the cycles of extreme poverty and food insecurity.
US Strikes Deal with UN Agency on Funding for Minority Groups in Iraq, Hill, January 8
USAID said that $55 million of a $75 million tranche of aid money to the UNDP's Funding Facility for Stabilization will go to addressing minority groups in areas of northern Iraq retaken from the Islamic State. The United States pledged $150 million to the Iraqi stabilization fund in July.
SEE ALSO: Continued US Assistance to Better Meet the Needs of Minorities in Iraq, USAID, January 8
SEE ALSO: US Allocates P330 Million More in Aid for Marawi Rehab, ABS-CBN News, January 9
Korea: Despite Agriculture Surplus, Trade Deficit Remains, Ag Web, January 5
The United States and South Korea have entered into discussions to renegotiate the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement . This trade agreement between the United States and South Korea has resulted in gains of market share US agriculture products in the Asia Pacific region. Despite the gains in agriculture products, a trade deficit exists. However, there’s an indication that the trade agreement is likely to remain intact.
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BIG IDEAS AND EMERGING INNOVATIONS
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After Devastating Cyclone, Fiji Farmers Plant for a Changed Climate, NPR, January 9
Local farmer Adi Alesi Nacoba significantly diversified her crops by planting 27 different kinds of fruits and vegetables, making it more likely for something to survive. Another local farmer Vasenai Ralulu took it upon herself to set up a co-op seed banking system for her fellow farmers. As farmers continue learning how to harvest in a quickly changing climate, their adaptations offer a model for other storm-prone communities worldwide.
For India's Farmers It's Agtech Startups, Not Government, That Is Key, Forbes, January 8
Indian agriculture faces challenges, from financing, to government support, to agricultural inputs, that are likely to worsen over the next few decades as weather patterns, available water, and growing seasons shift. Against this backdrop, technology is increasingly being seen as a solution for boosting agriculture. However, to become solutions, ideas need funding.
How the Sun Might Help Solve a Looming Water Crisis in the Arab Gulf, Bloomberg, January 8
Gulf nations use their groundwater mostly for agriculture despite earning only a tiny economic return for depleting an essential resource. Farming accounts for more than 60 percent of groundwater use in Abu Dhabi yet contributes less than 1 percent to GDP. At current consumption rates, groundwater may run out within a few decades. The plunging price of solar energy may spur a solution, however: an expansion of sun-powered desalination.
Graphene Filters Change the Economics of Clean Water, Financial Times, January 7
New approaches to filtration and extracting moisture from air promise to alleviate the world’s looming water scarcity crisis. Filtration is being transformed by thin sheets of graphene, a carbon-based material. Graphene has the potential to deliver large quantities of clean water via desalination and the removal of pollutants.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ISSUES
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Wisconsin Sees Decline in Number of Dairy Farms, AP, January 8
While the number of dairy farms in Wisconsin is shrinking as small operations struggle to remain profitable, expanding commercial farms have continued to increase the state's milk production. Wisconsin's dairy numbers have fallen more than 20 percent over the last five years. Just over 8,800 dairy herds were licensed in the state at the beginning of this year. A decline in farms could hurt rural communities.
Whole Ecosystems Are Collapsing, and Food Bowls Are Next, Bloomberg Gadfly, January 8
Rising populations and growing incomes mean demand for farm products will rise between 70 and 110 percent between 2005 and 2050. Usable land for agriculture, though, is expected to barely increase. The existing stock of land would, however, be quite adequate to meet 2050’s agricultural demands so long as farmers manage to use it more efficiently and profitably.
As Trump Appeals to Farmers, Some of His Policies Don’t, New York Times, January 7
Some of the economic policies the Trump administration is pursuing are at odds with what many in the farm industry say is needed, from a potentially drastic shift in trade policies that have long supported agriculture to some little-noticed tax increases in the $1.5 trillion tax law. Trump’s appearance at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention in Nashville will mark the first time in 25 years a president has attended.
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Deadly E. Coli Outbreak Tied to Leafy Greens Likely Over, CDC Says, New York Times, January 11
A pair of fatal E. coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens in the United States and Canada appear to be over, health experts said. American officials said that the outbreak in the United States was most likely caused by leafy green vegetables, while Canadian public health officials have specifically identified romaine lettuce as the source of the infections. At least 24 infections were reported in the United States and 42 were reported in Canada.
Government Scientists Say a Controversial Pesticide is Killing Endangered Salmon, NPR, January 11
The federal government's top fisheries experts say that three widely used pesticides are jeopardizing the survival of many species of salmon, as well as orcas that feed on those salmon. It's a fresh attack on a chemical that the EPA was ready to take off the market a year ago—until the Trump administration changed course.
SEE REPORT: Environmental Protection Agency’s Registration of Pesticides Containing Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, and Malathion, Environmental Protection Agency, December 9
The UN's Terrible Dilemma: Who Gets to Eat?, NPR, January 10
Even though the World Food Programme’s (WFP) budget is at a record high, it's not enough to keep up with the number of refugees and people in other crisis situations who need emergency food aid. WFP has already made cutbacks to the number of people it assists in some places. In other places, WFP has reduced the amount of calories that rations contain. And when the cuts are sustained—or deep—there's an increased risk of malnutrition and a suite of other health problems for refugees.
SEE ALSO: The UN's Food Aid Shortages, NPR, January 6
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ENVIRONMENT, WATER, AND CLIMATE
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What the Trump Administration Doesn't Understand about Ocean Conservation, Opinion, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jeff Orlowski, Los Angeles Times, January 10
The scientific consensus is that to create a fully sustainable ocean, we need to fully protect at least 30 percent of it. Currently, the United States protects 13.5 percent of coastal waters, while its ocean economy employs more than 3 million people—more than farming, telecommunications, and construction combined. If ocean ecosystems collapse, we’ll lose all of these benefits.
US: Climate Disasters Set New Record at $306 Billion in 2017, Al Jazeera, January 8
Major climate disasters in the United States smashed previous records in 2017 at a cost of $306 billion. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did not link human-induced climate change to the major disasters that struck last year. However, many scientists argue the burning of greenhouse gasses by humans has played a significant role in the increasing frequency and intensity of climate catastrophes.
SEE ALSO: US Hits Record for Costly Weather Disasters: $306 Billion, AP, January 8
SEE ALSO: Weather Disasters Cost US Record $306 Billion in 2017: NOAA, Reuters, January 8
'It May Disappear': Ocean Threatens Ivory Coast Village, Al Jazeera, January 8
Warming waters have led to an increase in storm surges, and the ocean is swallowing one to two meters of land each year. As land diminishes, the fight for scarce resources is also intensifying. Prominent local families own parcels of land and access to the crops has become a violent point of contention for many villagers. Ivory Coast says it is doing its part to fight climate change, committing at the Paris climate talks in 2015 to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent by 2030.
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GENDER AND GENERATIONAL INCLUSION
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UN Chief Guterres Gets a C Plus On First Feminist Report Card, Devex, January 11
A coalition of women’s rights organizations and former UN staffers are handing UN chief António Guterres a passable C+ grade for his work so far in making the institution a more feminist one. While the UN leader has met many of his initial promises, such as demanding gender parity at all levels, other challenges remain.
SEE REPORT: A Year of Progress, A Long Way to Go, Feminist UN Campaign, January 9
Leaving Women and Girls Behind in the Data Revolution is Not an Option, Opinion, Jemimah Njuki, Wire, January 10
Though women in Africa are far more likely to be farmers than men, they are less likely to have secure land rights. Also, what land they do have is typically in smaller plots and of inferior quality. Without data to help illuminate their plight, it is impossible to track progress or identify policies and interventions that are achieving gender equality in land access.
How a Social Enterprise Rebranded to Sell More Products and Help More Women, Forbes, January 8
Women’s Bean Project sells dried beans, biscuit mixes, dried soups, popcorn, and other wholesome fare—but it’s about so much more. This almost three-decade old social enterprise is all about providing opportunity for chronically underemployed, and often previously incarcerated, women.
Montana University Seeks to Increase Participation of Women in Agriculture with USDA Grant, EurekAlert, January 8
Data from the USDA shows that while women constitute less than 1 percent of the nation's agricultural scientists, engineers, and policymakers, they occupy the majority, about 60 percent, of lower-paid agricultural jobs on America's farms and ranches. Montana State University and Flathead Valley Community College hope to increase the percentage of women agricultural scientists, engineers, and policymakers by way of a $94,000 USDA grant.
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MARKET ACCESS, TRADE, AND AGRIBUSINESS
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Venezuela Extends Trade Ban with Three Caribbean Islands, Washington Post, January 9
Venezuela has extended its ban on air and maritime ties with Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire, blaming out of control smuggling. Venezuelan authorities allege the smuggling of products out of Venezuela to neighboring countries is one of the causes of the severe shortage of food and other basic products that the country has been facing for several years.
What’s Next for Agriculture in the World Trade Organization?, USDA, January 5
At the Buenos Aires ministerial, trade ministers and other high-level representatives from WTO member economies were unable to reach consensus on any new agricultural provisions. Today, agricultural trade is no longer dominated by a few large developed countries. Only with comprehensive and current information, can negotiators understand, discuss, and address the problems that face farmers today: high tariffs, trade distorting support, and non-tariff barriers.
Michael Gove’s Slow Revolution in Farming, Financial Times, January 5
For years, Britain’s membership in the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has meant that billions of pounds are spent each year subsidizing farmers on the basis of how much land they own. As a result, much of the cash generated by the CAP simply goes towards making rich farmers even richer. Michael Gove, the UK environment secretary, wants to use Brexit to overhaul this approach.
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