Tanzania and Uganda have improved gender integration in agriculture policy. But a lot still needs to be done in the allocation of resources and transformation.
A fisherman shows an oil slick close to the Niger Delta following a large spill in 2013.
REUTERS/Stringer
The move by the African Union to develop a policy to regulate the impact of firms on human rights puts it ahead of other regions as it seeks to guide companies conducting activities on the continent.
Large livestock farms, known as CAFOs, have polluted air and water in many communities. A recent court decision will force CAFOs to report their air emissions from manure and other sources.
With so many choices for coffee, it’s hard to know which is the environmentally healthy option.
Shutterstock
Danielle Resnick, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
The harassment of informal food vendors by national and municipal governments remains a major impediment to improving the resilience of the urban poor in African cities.
Protests by farm workers in the Western Cape added to pressure for a minimum wage.
EPA/NIC BOTHMA
As South Africa prepares to introduce a national minimum wage, a new study shows that it will have a varied impact. Some parts of the economy are likely to be negatively affected.
The declining fishing yield in the Lake Tanganyika region is being exacerbated by an influx of refugees.
Reuters/Sala Lewis
The western media’s focus on events at home like the US elections and the UK Brexit referendum has come at the expense of reporting on the famine that’s unfolding in Africa.
Farmers are turning to natural bacteria to improve crops like cane – but they might be getting rubbish.
Gavin Fordham/Flickr
Crop probiotics are natural, eco-friendly and could provide huge benefits for Australian farmers. But our loose regulations means genuine products are competing with snake oil.
When communities feel alienated, they are less motivated to join conservation effort.
CIF Action/Flickr
To help feed a growing world population, restore biodiversity and slow climate change, a geologist calls for a moon shot effort to restore healthy soil around the world.
The impact of plant disease may be reduced if people are made aware of the many pathways for plant-killing microbes – and why preventing their spread matters to us all.
Whether or not farmers believe human activities are changing the climate (many don’t), an agriculture specialist urges them to pursue payments for techniques that return carbon to the soil.
Bowen’s market gardens supply some 13% of Australia’s perishable vegetables.
Sydney, Melbourne and many other areas can expect to pay more for veg from next month, after widespread crop losses in Bowen, a major source of winter vegetables such as tomatoes, beans and capsicum.
Planting a diverse blend of crops and cover crops, and not tilling, helps promote soil health.
Catherine Ulitsky, USDA/Flickr
Conventional wisdom says we need industrial agriculture to feed the world. Not so, says geologist David Montgomery: Practices that focus on creating healthy soil can transform agriculture.
Managing Director, Triple Helix Consulting; Chief Executive Officer, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; Professorial Fellow, ANU Fenner School for the Environment and Society, Australian National University