Food & Agriculture

A Disaster-in-Waiting

By Shamsuddoza Sajen
In a recent interview with BBC, India's minister of water resources Uma Bharti unveiled her government's massive plan to divert major rivers including the Ganges and Brahmaputra. According to the Guardian, the project is just waiting for a rubber stamp from the environment ministry of India. While we do not want to be alarmists, it is hard to ignore the fact that, if implemented, the project will rob Bangladesh, a riverine country, of her very lifelines.

Water Woes Put a Damper on Myanmar’s Surging Economy

By Sara Perria
The central plains of Myanmar, bordered by mountains on the west and east, include the only semi-arid region in South East Asia – the Dry Zone, home to some 10 million people. This 13 percent of Myanmar’s territory sums up the challenges that the country faces with respect to water security: an uneven geographical and seasonal distribution of this natural resource, the increasing unpredictability of rain patterns due to climate change, and a lack of water management strategies to cope with extreme weather conditions.

Bangladeshi Shrimp Farmers See Big Money in Small Fry

By Naimul Haq
Frozen tiger shrimp exports from Bangladesh, mainly to the United States and the European Union, have grown substantially over the years and the demand keeps increasing.

Water Security Critical for World Fastest-Growing Economy

By an IPS Correspondent
Lack of water management and limited access to data risk hindering Myanmar’s economic growth, making water security a top priority of the new government.

Economic Interests Harming Global Health: WHO Chief

By Lyndal Rowlands
Putting economic interests over public health is leading the world towards three slow-motion health disasters, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization’s warned the world’s health ministers on Monday.

Natural Capital Investment Key to Africa’s Development

By Busani Bafana
Plugging Africa’s funding gaps to accelerate social and economic development requires a fresh approach to using its natural capital, environment experts said on Monday.

Prickly Pears Drive Local Development in Northern Argentina

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Family farmers in the northern Argentine province of Chaco are gaining a new appreciation of the common prickly pear cactus, which is now driving a new kind of local development.

Bangladesh’s Urban Slums Swell with Climate Migrants

By Rafiqul Islam
Abdul Aziz, 35, arrived in the capital Dhaka in 2006 after losing all his belongings to the mighty Meghna River. Once, he and his family had lived happily in the village of Dokkhin Rajapur in Bhola, a coastal district of Bangladesh. Aziz had a beautiful house and large amount of arable land.

Species Loss, the Migration Hiding in Plain Sight

By Monique Barbut
Two months ago, I was in Agadez, a city in the middle of the famous Ténéré Desert of Niger. Agadez has become a major transit point on a hazardous journey for the hundreds and thousands of desperate people from all over West Africa trying to make it to the Mediterranean coast every year.

Myanmar Seeks to Break Vicious Circle of Flood and Drought

By Sara Perria
It has been two weeks now since the village of Htita, with its few bamboo houses hemmed in by parched, cracked earth and dried-out ponds, has enjoyed the novelty of its first ever water well.

When Emergencies Last for Decades

By Lyndal Rowlands
For the millions of people whose lives have been uprooted by conflict and natural disasters the average amount of time before they can return home is now 17 years.

A Precarious Fate for Climate Migrants in India

By Neeta Lal
After the sea swallowed up her home and family in the Bangladeshi coastal district of Bhola along the Bay of Bengal, farmer Sanjeela Sheikh was heartbroken. Stripped of all her belongings, her fields swamped and her loved ones dead, she contemplated suicide.

Kenya’s Young Inventors Shake Up Old Technology

By Justus Wanzala
Emma Masibo and Lucy Bwire have many things in common.

A Refugee Crisis with No End in Sight

By Silvia Boarini
"We don't want charity, we want a long-term solution."

Making Bangladesh Ready for Renewables

By Sohara Mehroze Shachi
All his life, farmer Nasiruddin saw his poverty ridden village in complete darkness after dusk, with electricity being a distant dream. That changed last year when he installed a solar lantern system.
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