Floods have ruined 13 per cent of crop areas in Thailand, 12 per cent in Cambodia, 7.5 per cent in Laos and 6 percent in the Philippines, according to the FAO. Continue reading »
Aug 282010
Global food prices are projected to rise in future as a result of changing weather patterns, water scarcity, higher oil prices and increased demand from emerging markets like China and India.
Agricultural research station, Thailand
As if that’s not enough, financial speculators are turning their attention to agricultural commodities and gambling on food products. See the Spiegel article here and the Green World Investor blog here.
We were warned in 2008 of a global food crisis. But have we learned any lessons? Are we doing enough to promote food security and sustainability in Malaysia (other than corporate agriculture)?
While we are obsessed with FDI, are we doing enough to chart out a sustainable – and the key word is sustainable or organic – agriculture blueprint that would meet the needs of our people in the future? Continue reading »
Oct 132009
After attending a conference on climate change and the food crisis in Penang, I was supposed to write an article and that left me wondering how I should write the introduction.
And then it struck me that even as the conference was taking place, the climate was wreaking havoc in the region. Among those worst affected are the farmers, who rely on disctinctive seasons for an optimal harvest. How are they coping?
PENANG, Malaysia, Oct 9 (IPS/IFEJ) – When organisers of an international conference on climate change and the food crisis first scheduled the event here for late September, little did they realise the event would be sandwiched by two typhoons buffeting the region. Ironically, the first typhoon, ‘Ketsana’, delayed the arrival of conference delegates from the Philippines.
