Highlights

日期：2015年2月09日

What did you spend your free time doing when you were a teenager? Most of us can’t say we were dedicating ourselves to solving some of the world’s greatest challenges, but that’s just what Ciara Judge, Émer Hickey and Sophie Healy-Thow – all 17 years old – set out to do when they entered the 2014 Google Science Fair with a cutting-edge approach to tackling global hunger through better agricultural productivity.

Their project, which won the grand prize among a field of 18 finalists, found that a naturally occurring strain of bacteria can prevent seeds from rotting in the soil before they have a chance to grow, a problem that is particularly prevalent in damp climates. In their experiment, seeds treated with the bacteria germinated about 50 percent faster, resulting in a 74 percent increase in cereal crop yields.

日期：2015年2月04日

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By Ayesha Constable, University of the West Indies and Youth Facilitator on the post-2015 Development Agenda

日期：2015年1月28日

Lower oil prices – you can hardly move without running into news of new lows, which should be good news for us all, right? They should reduce the cost of producing goods and delivering services, in addition to offering relief at the pump. But while the latter may hold true, the picture for goods and services is less clear. Yes, production costs will come down, although it turns out that the way savings are shared along supply chains and reach consumers is complex. In short, don’t expect big savings to hit your wallet soon.

The global food and agriculture industry is faced with a considerable conundrum. The current economic malaise has created an operating environment characterised by sluggish growth, soft demand and ample supply. Seemingly, consumers are the winners, as they reap the benefits of lower prices. Meanwhile, the thumbscrews have been put on retailers, producers and farmers: margins are being squeezed and confidence in businesses is ebbing away.

日期：2015年2月06日

Climate change threatens a creaking food system in which harvests are already lagging behind rising demand^1, 2. A sustainable supply of food hinges on agricultural innovation, but current investments neglect a key area for improving yields.

Since the 1970s, agricultural research and development (R&D) has invested mainly in a few research institutes equipped with cutting-edge instruments. For example, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, responsible for much of the public research spending in food security in the United Kingdom, invested 27% of its 2010–11 budget in just three institutes. Multinational seed and agrochemical companies invest billions of dollars to develop products in hopes that they will be used by millions of farmers.

日期：2015年2月04日

The CGIAR’s Strategy and Results Framework (SRF) is an important document for all of us involved with, and committed to, sustainable agricultural development. CGIAR, in developing this framework for its next decade of research, is working through GFAR to reach out to all the Global Forum’s stakeholders, to ensure that the new SRF is robust and reflects the GCARD Road Map that we all developed together through GCARD1, back in 2010. This six-point practical plan for transforming agricultural research for development around the world requires actions from all involved in the generation, access and use of agricultural knowledge.

Click here to read the full news published by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR).

日期：2015年1月28日

Wanda Organic founder-director Marion Moon, a visionary young Kenyan entrepreneur, sees a peaceful and prosperous Africa, in which our resources are managed sustainably for the benefit of all people and the secure future of our planet. She recognizes real opportunity in the challenges presented by issues of global food security, climate change, and population growth.

Wanda’s focus is on the most abundant natural resource we have, the soil. By bringing farmers, the very latest in bio-organic soil fertility technologies, Wanda enables them to produce more and better food than ever before, thus increasing profitability and family incomes, improving nutrition, creating new employment, developing rural economies, while restoring and strengthening the health of Africa’s soil.

日期：2015年2月06日

Dear YPARD members,

This is a special invitation to join a seminar on Closing the gender gap in farming under climate change on 19 March in Paris.

日期：2015年2月02日

Food security and the environment are threatened by pests moving in trade creating unprecedented impacts. For instance, olive trees are under attack in southern Italy by the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa, reducing harvest by 40 to 50%. Eradication measures against fruits flies (Bactrocera spp.) cost annually several million dollars to maintain agricultural production. The Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), an invasive aquatic plants that disrupts sensitive aquatic ecosystems, causes biodiversity loss and affects health and food security of local populations.

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) aims to protect cultivated and wild plants by preventing the introduction and spread of pests. In order to raise awareness on why preventing pests is essential for protecting agriculture and the environment, the IPPC Secretariat is launching the photo contest “Pests without Borders” to highlight three thematic areas:

日期：2015年1月27日

I’ve received several requests from fellow young persons with regards which commodity value chains to explore in Ghana when deciding to embark on their agribusiness entrepreneurial journeys.