We sampled sewage sludge from 13 wastewater treatment plants across three states. We found every resident adds microplastics to farmland, in dried sewage sludge (biosolids) used as fertiliser.
Sydney’s 14 wastewater treatment plants could be modified to also accept food waste, research shows. The ‘anaerobic digestion’ process would produce energy as well as nutrients for reuse.
A third of South Africa’s farming income depends on irrigation. Disruptions in power supply put huge chunks of the country’s agricultural fortunes at risk.
Many of our rivers are overloaded with nutrients from fertiliser run off and wastewater. Algal blooms, fish kills and poor water follow. One solution? Nutrient offsetting.
Several batches of palm kernel product imported for dairy farms contained certain chemicals above a safe limit – and there’s an ethical quandary in supporting an industry linked with deforestation.
Clemens Breisinger, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; David Laborde Debucquet, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ; Oliver Kiptoo Kirui, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) , dan Paul Dorosh, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Wheat and bread play a central role for food security and political stability in Sudan.