'Global food prices are up 83 per cent compared with three years ago. The resulting food price crisis constitutes an unprecedented threat to the livelihoods and well-being of millions of rural and urban households who are net food buyers.

This briefing note sets out a series of steps, both short- and medium-term, to deal with the current food crisis, and to put in place the reforms required to prevent future repetitions.'

'The current biofuel policies of rich countries are neither a solution to the climate crisis nor the oil crisis, and instead are contributing to a third: the food crisis. In poor countries, biofuels may offer some genuine development opportunities, but the potential economic, social, and environmental costs are severe, and decision makers should proceed with caution.'

Promoters of bio-fuels need to come up with second and third generation energy crops that will not compete with food crops, African Development Bank (ADB) president Donald Kaberuka has said. Kaberuka has implored southern African countries to pool their resources and address the energy crisis through regional investment in energy infrastructure instead of trying to implement efforts individually. Featuring on the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation, Kaberuka said Africa must be extra more...

Poor rural farmers and herders in developing countries that bear the brunt of land degradation and desertification are also part of the solution, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The proposed 1000 MW coal-fired power plant at Chamalapura, Mysore, to be located on agricultural land and within 30 kilometres of the Nagarhole and Bandipur national parks, evoked strong protests last year. Recent announcements indicate that the government is going slow.

Farm workerThe global biofuels boom risks harming poor people in poor countries by forcing them off land they depend on, says a report published today (2 June) by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. But the report adds that biofuels are not all bad, and shows that their production can also allow poor groups to increase their access to land and improve their livelihoods if the right policies are in place.

Brazil will launch a satellite in 2011 to monitor deforestation and urban expansion around the world, it has been announced. The United Kingdom–Brazil collaboration was announced last week (14 July) at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for Progress in Science. It is part of the continuing UK–Brazil Partnership in Science and Innovation, and stems from discussions between governments and research partners that began in 2007 during the UK–Brazil Year of Cooperation on Science more...

This new paper from the International Food Policy Research Institute analyzes the on-site and off-site economic impacts of various sustainable land management (SLM) practices in Kenya. Long-term trial data are used to establish the relationship between SLM practices and maize yield. The analysis of on-site effects focuses on the profitability of maize production at the farm level, while the examined off-site effects include carbon sequestration and siltation from maize farms, which increase the more...

We are in the midst of a sustainable energy and climate change revolution, directly linked to the other major transformational trends of our time-the rise of the world's emerging economies, the world's rapid urbanization and the revolution in biotechnology. While not a panacea, biofuels represent one important choice in an increasing array of energy options. They have a significant role to play in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from transport, developing rural economies, and attractin more...

As competition between food and fuel threatens to become a pressing constraint on the current biofuel industry, the biofuels world is starting the transition to next generation biofuels. Emerging powerful market drivers and strong political influences are moving ethanol to the next stage and there is huge interest in the next generation of biofuels from the oil majors. Could this be the beginning of a new branch of industry that could grow bigger than the existing 1st generation fuel ethanol i more...