Reading Time: 5 minutes In many ways, South Africa is an agricultural success story. Its produce and its wines are enjoyed in many countries around the world, and the country isn’t plagued by famines or food shortages like others on the African continent. And yet beneath the apparent prosperity and stability, risks await farmers in a country still struggling […] Read more
Farm in South Africa?
The land is there, and so is the climate. But this may not be the land of milk and honey for you
Africa feeding Africa
While North America’s farmers pin their career hopes on the need to feed a hungry Africa, that continent’s farmers are making plans of their own
Reading Time: 5 minutes A core belief in North American agriculture is that our farmers must produce ever more food if we are to have any hope of feeding the world, particularly areas like Africa where the population is growing so rapidly. The numbers are indeed staggering. According to the Population Reference Bureau, Africa’s population will hit 2.5 billion […] Read more
Uber-stores for food
Businesses like Marcia Woods’ FreshSpoke are figuring out how to connect Canadian farmers with the consumers looking for ways to buy from them
Reading Time: 4 minutes Marcia Woods’ frustration at not being able to buy the high-quality food that she knew was being grown right down the road evolved into an online business that not only connects farmers with wholesalers, but also solves their transportation and cash-flow headaches. Coming from a long line of Oxford County farmers in Ontario, Woods, who’s […] Read more
The slow death of the Green Revolution
Even as the negative impacts of the great Green Revolution pile up, there is hope
Reading Time: 7 minutes It saved one billion people from starvation. It won a Nobel peace prize for its founder, and it transformed India, all by discovering new varieties of high-yield rice and wheat, and new ways of growing them. Yet today, 50 years later, the Green Revolution is sputtering. Those high-yield crops have touched off ecological disasters, and […] Read more
Taking fertilizer beyond yield
Plant breeding is the ultimate solution but in the meantime, foliar fertilizer shows promise in reducing micronutrient deficiency
Reading Time: 3 minutes While many people are focused on the fight to end hunger, Ismail Cakmak is focused on the fight to end hidden hunger. “Hunger is a lack of food and that is related to food security,” Cakmak told participants during a special seminar at the University of Manitoba this summer. “But hidden hunger means lack of […] Read more
FBC editorial chief wins major international awards
Reading Time: < 1 minute Laura Rance, editorial director of Farm Business Communications and editor of the Manitoba Co-operator, has won two major international awards for her work on African agriculture. Rance won the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Star Prize for ‘Africa’s Hunger Games,’ published in the Winnipeg Free Press in April 2015. The same piece was awarded […] Read more
Inspired to make a difference
They’re growing the kids that are going to defeat world hunger
Reading Time: 6 minutes Let’s just say that for these four Canadian high school students, the act of sitting on the floor and dipping their hands into a communal bowl of rice shared with 75 other people was an uncomfortable experience. Yet this way of eating is routine for millions of the world’s poor. “I only had to go […] Read more
Is local food good for farmers?
Canada’s social sciences council is investing $2.4 million in local food research. Here’s what they hope to learn
Reading Time: 4 minutes Alison Blay-Palmer has been studying and promoting local food systems for nearly 20 years, and her enthusiasm for the topic is greater than ever. Blay-Palmer is director of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., where she explores the big questions around sustainability. Those big questions include social justice, […] Read more
China seeks food security with friendly bid for Syngenta
Reading Time: 3 minutes Basel | Reuters — China made its boldest overseas takeover move when state-owned ChemChina agreed a US$43 billion bid for Swiss seeds and pesticides group Syngenta on Wednesday, aiming to improve domestic food production. The largest ever foreign purchase by a Chinese firm, announced by both companies, will accelerate a shake-up in global agrochemicals and […] Read more
Youth Ag-Summit: Two to represent at UN meeting
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two delegates from the 2015 Youth Ag-Summit will be jetting to Rome in October to take part in a meeting of the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security. Australia’s Laura Grubb and Kenya’s Samba Ouma were selected from 80 nominees. Ouma and Grubb are now charged with presenting the Canberra Youth Ag Declaration — […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
