Food Tank has compiled a list of indigenous fruits, vegetables, and grains from many regions that are nutritious, delicious, and contribute to sustainable livelihoods in rural communities across the globe. Every day, plant species across the globe are disappearing. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that approximately 75 percent of the Earth’s plant … [Read more...]
World Water Day: Four fundamental changes needed
The United Nations recognises March 22nd as World Water Day, and this year the theme is Water and Jobs. WWF-SA calls on both the public and the private sector to more urgently address the bold changes needed to address climate change, in order to create a water-secure future with sustainable job growth. Four fundamental changes are needed within the next year if we are to … [Read more...]
First students receive new MSc degree in Sustainable Agriculture
Stellenbosch University postgraduates Busi Mahlobo, Sakeus Kafula, Tshepo Morokong and Zander Venter are all breaking new ground as being among the first students in South Africa to write the degree MSc Sustainable Agriculture behind their names. They received their degrees on Monday 14 March during Stellenbosch University’s March graduation ceremony. In December 2015, Tawanda … [Read more...]
Meet the woman leading China’s new organic farming army
We'd been driving for an hour and a half since leaving central Beijing when the car suddenly slowed to a halt. "This isn't exactly where the GPS told me to go, but I think it's the place," says the driver. I look out the window and see a simple wooden archway leading to a plain, one-storey building. The facade is bare except for some words painted in black capital letters. … [Read more...]
Bordeaux added to pesticide blacklist
Living in a famous wine region like Bordeaux sounds idyllic, but a recent investigation shows it's not such a hot idea – especially if you have kids. Recently the center of Bordeaux saw a "marche blanche", or white march, a protest against pesticides following shocking revelations this week on the French national TV documentary program Cash Investigations. The two-hour … [Read more...]
Time has come to prepare for drier conditions ahead
There is a fifth less rainfall over central-east and northern regions of South Asia, due to the warming Indian Ocean - causing the droughts of the past 3 decades. This according to a study commissioned by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences for its Monsoon Mission of India programme. The programme, aimed at improving monsoon forecasts, blames the “rapid warming” of the … [Read more...]
Western Cape needs R88m to help drought-hit farmers
The Western Cape government needs R88m to avert total disaster for farmers whose livelihoods have been decimated by the drought in parts of the province. But first, Cabinet has to officially declare a disaster in the province and national treasury must decide how much it can afford. "We cannot have black farmers who are beneficiaries of land reform... go through this … [Read more...]
Health impacts of climate change: waterborne diseases
Waterborne diseases are caused by a variety of microorganisms, biotoxins, and toxic contaminants, which lead to devastating illnesses such as cholera, schistosomiasis and other gastrointestinal problems. Outbreaks of waterborne diseases often occur after a severe precipitation event (rainfall, snowfall). Because climate change increases the severity and frequency of some … [Read more...]
GM maize most probably toxic to animals over the long term
When German farmer Gottfried Glöckner began feeding his cows on GM Bt176 maize in 1998, he noticed strange symptoms appearing in the animals. They included partial paralysis (paresis), accompanied by severe fatigue and problems in the kidneys and mucous membranes, followed by death in 10% of cases. Initially the culprit was thought to be a bacterial or viral disease. … [Read more...]
Water relief efforts intensify amid national drought
A wave of volunteers are bringing water to drought-stricken areas of our country. The South African plastics industry has joined in, with the Maitland office of Plastics|SA becoming a collection point for water donations made by members of the public and businesses from Cape Town’s southern and northern suburbs. “Low rainfall in parts of South Africa has caused severe … [Read more...]
U.N. food agency says 14 million face hunger in SA
About 14 million people face hunger in Southern Africa because of a drought that has been exacerbated by an El Nino weather pattern, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday. The worst-affected country is Malawi, where 2.8 million people, 16 % of the population, are expected to go hungry, followed by the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar where almost 1.9 … [Read more...]
Treating soil like dirt is a fatal mistake
Imagine a wonderful world, a planet on which there was no threat of climate breakdown, no loss of freshwater, no antibiotic resistance, no obesity crisis, no terrorism, no war. Surely, then, we would be out of major danger? Sorry. Even if everything else were miraculously fixed, we’re finished if we don’t address an issue considered so marginal and irrelevant that you can go … [Read more...]
Temporary drought relief for Aliwal North
Extra water released from the Katse Dam at the end of last year is expected to reach drought-stricken Aliwal North, an Eastern Cape town on the Orange River. Water and sanitation director Margeret-Ann Diedricks gave the go-ahead for the release on December 31 in an effort to stabilise water levels in the Orange River. “The water was observed yesterday near Quthing in … [Read more...]
