global food crisis

The average consumer in a developing country wastes 24 pounds of food. In comparison, the average western consumer wastes about 220 pounds. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

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Reducing Waste and Improving Global Food Security

As food prices soar, one culprit might be our relationship with the landfill.

More than 70 percent of the population in the Congo is impoverished, making the country extremely vulnerable to price shocks. Photo: Jenny Vaughan/Mercy Corps

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Food for Thought

Wildfires in Russia. Revolution in the Middle East. Rising oil prices — these seemingly unconnected events have cumulated in a weak global harvest that will place additional burden on families whose budgets are already stretched thin.

Many African countries, like Madagascar pictured here, are increasingly leasing land to foreign firms, but critics argue the deals are exploitative. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/goukely/1372969345/">goukley (flickr)</a>

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Who will profit from 'land grabbing'?

A million hectares in Uganda. Some 690,000 hectares in Sudan. And 500,000 hectares in Tanzania. These are just a few of the numbers that have appeared on the bargaining table in the past year as foreign firms scramble for land leases in Africa.

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Farmers Watch Crop Prices Plunge

The U.S. farming industry has taken quite a hit recently.

A Mercy Corps beneficiaries show off their garden in Niger. Photo: Jeremy Barnicle/Mercy Corps

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One Billion Are Hungry

Last week the UN announced that the number of people suffering from hunger now totals one billion worldwide.

By the summer of 2008, the price of rice had increased five times from the average price in 2005. Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

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Responding to the Global Food Crisis

The following post is from One Table, a Mercy Corps campaign to fight world hunger by investing in the world's women.

A rice farmer in Indonesia. Photo: David Snyder for Mercy Corps

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The Food Crisis Continued

While we all hoped that the worst of the food crisis was over, it looks like food prices are again on the rise — imperiling the health of maybe a billion people.

The U.S. Navy comes to the assistance of a Taiwanese-flagged fishing trawler been seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/opendemocracy/3055910885/">Open Democracy (flickr)</a>

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Good News (By Somalia's Standards)

After 18 years of civil war, some good news is finally coming from Somalia. The recent election of Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, as Somalia’s new president brings the country a chance for peace and stability.

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Drop in Grain Prices Hurts Africa

After suffering through last year's global food crisis, the return of grain prices to reasonable levels is widely welcomed.

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Adding Resilience as a Tool to Address Food Crises

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has developed a new tool to measure the state of a country's food system and its ability to withstand global shocks.

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Another Take on Food Aid

What is wheat from a farm in Oklahoma doing in a noodle factory in Indonesia?

It's high time to focus cash and energy on alleviating global poverty. Photo: <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/stitch/24366332/">Stitch (flickr)</a>

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It's Time for Poverty to Have the Spotlight

After a few fumbled attempts on their own, global financial leaders gathered in Washington D.C. last weekend to develop a joint plan to prevent the spread of the financial crisis.

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A Triple Threat: Food, Fuel and Financial Crises in the Developing World

First, food and fuel prices skyrocketed, causing serious problems for families in the developing world. Now, the worldwide credit crisis has delivered yet another serious blow to the economic outlook for low and middle-income countries.

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