Agriculture

Resolving the Food Crisis: Assessing Global Policy Reforms Since 2007

Executive summary

United Nations squanders opportunity for binding commitments to end hunger sustainably

On Thursday, September 23, the United Nations will host a one-day summit meeting in New York on food systems. You would think they had it all — a great topic (who does not eat?) and great timing, too, as the collective failure to halt the pandemic continues to push the number of people living with food insecurity higher, while unprecedented experiments with social protection programs and universal income point to the potential for transformative change and a redefinition of the social contract that binds citizens and their governments.

United States and European Union methane pledge a positive first step, lacks serious consideration of industrial agriculture’s emissions

MINNEAPOLIS/BERLIN—Today, the United States and the European Union announced a joint pledge to reduce methane emissions 30% by 2030.

Time to transition to agroecology in Africa

As COVID-19 threatens farming communities across Africa already struggling with climate change, the continent is at a crossroads. Will its people and their governments continue trying to replicate industrial farming models promoted by developed countries? Or will they move boldly into the uncertain future, embracing ecological agriculture?

Important new United Nations report calls for redirection of public finance for agriculture

This week, three United Nations agencies released an important report examining public subsidies for agriculture in 88 countries around the world. According to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), the report is timely and important.

Closed out: How U.S. farmers are denied access to conservation programs

According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), between 2010 and 2020, just 31% of farmers who applied to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and only 42% of farmers who applied to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) were awarded contracts. Overall, EQIP turned down 946,459 contracts and CSP denied 146,425 contracts, at least partially for lack of funds.

Farmers in all 50 states routinely closed out of climate-friendly conservation programs, new report

A new report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) finds that 67% of farmers who applied to access critical government conservation programs from 2010-2020 were rejected, due in part to lack of funding.

Companies: dominating the market from farm to display case

Read the full Meat Atlas 2021: Facts and figures about the animals we eat, by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Friends of the Earth Europe and BUND. The following is an excerpt contributed by IATP.

Africans publicly challenge Green Revolution backers

The following article was originally published by Food Tank on September 7, 2021.

Fiddling in Nairobi while Africa goes hungry

The following article was originally published by IPS News on August 31, 2021. As the United Nations gears up for its Food Systems Summit September 23, the urgent need for structural changes in how we grow, harvest, distribute, and consume food has never been more apparent.