More than half of Yemen’s population already lacks food security.
Yahya Arhab / EPA
Feeding nine billion people by 2050 is possible – if we start applying some science.
Researchers at several institutions are searching for microbial solutions for Africa’s low-performing staple crops.
Shutterstock
Microbial-based solutions are perhaps the best-kept secret in agricultural innovation.
Could this be the livestock feedstock of the future?
CSIRO
The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, could help solve global food shortages by feeding livestock. It can even be used to make diesel fuel.
Climate change and the current El Niño have left Africans more vulnerable than ever to hunger.
Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters
Economic growth alone won’t end hunger. Good policies and programmes are needed, too. Scientists and researchers have a role to play in these initiatives.
D Marks
Packed with protein, cheaper than meat, and with minimal effect on the climate…what’s not to like?
Hungry children stretch out their hands at a Somalian refugee camp in 2011.
Sadik Gulec/Shutterstock
Talking about food is a productive way to understand a complex world. The dinner table is a place where the shame of poverty is most acutely experienced.
‘Hic.’
Shutterstock
We should celebrate these amazing insects, not splat them.
Some farmers are suspicious of technological innovation. But technology can really help them.
Mike Hutchings/Reuters
It’s been proved that prizes can boost cultural innovation. The same is certainly true for innovation in agriculture – which Africa desperately needs.
Sorghum and legumes could help children reach their required protein intake.
Shutterstock
Pulses – or grain legumes – are indigenous foods that can play a massive role in tackling food security on the African continent.
We’re used to abundance, but Brexit makes it all seem more fragile.
Eric/Flickr
We only have enough food stocks to last 3-5 days, and Brexit has suddenly made things seem worryingly fragile.
Africa must adopt an integrated approach to effectively reduce hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.
Shutterstock
There are a number of efforts on the African continent aimed at helping people overcome food insecurity. Even though some progress has been made, the situation remains bleak.
Fields showing little signs of plant emergence at a late stage of the season, indicating a near total crop loss in Zimbabwe.
Chris Funk
Satellite rainfall data can be used to predict harsh climate events – and to identify food-insecure populations before disaster strikes.
avemario / shutterstock
Ensuring the next 10 billion people are fed fairly will require a radical restructuring of global agri-tech.
Crop production can play a crucial role in helping improve nutrition through dietary diversity.
Sheryl Hendriks
People living in rural parts of South Africa lack diversity in their eating because a starch based diet is perceived as cheaper and is very common.
Tensions between cattle herders and crop-farming communities in Nigeria have escalated in the past few months.
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
Escalating clashes between herders and farmers in Nigeria threaten the country’s national and food security. A response based on innovation, sustainability and political will is urgently needed.
Food security efforts need to look beyond urban agriculture.
Jane Battersby
It’s important to question whether the promotion of urban agriculture can actually help people, or whether other solutions should be explored.
Getting healthy foods on shelves is only part of the solution.
Lynn Friedman/Flickr
Does making healthy food accessible actually affect what people purchase and what they eat? The answer is a little more complicated than you might think.
Africa contributes the least of any continent to climate change – but it also has the least resources to manage it.
Shutterstock
Scenarios on global trends over the next 20 years point to some serious challenges for Africa. Whatever actually happens, it’s important for the continent to put in place mitigation strategies.
Women make up the majority of an estimated 6000 urban farmers in Cape Town.
Green Renaissance
In Cape Town’s Cape Flats, female urban farmers are vital for food security and strengthening social capital.
Can we learn to feed the multitudes?
Bread loaves via www.shutterstock.com
About one in seven Americans report going hungry at some point during the year, a fact apparently far from the minds of the presidential candidates.