Today’s agriculture offers new opportunities, suggests pathways out of poverty and remains the basis for sustainable development and poverty reduction even in the 21st century. Three out of every four poor people in the developing countries still live in rural areas. More than 40% of them live on less than more...

Agriculture is perhaps the most distorted sector, protected by high tariffs, large government subsidies, price supports, various other payments and powerful lobby groups that make reforms politically difficult. The advantages of the African countries ( land, cheap labor and good climate) are necessary but no longer sufficient conditions to secure their more...

By David Bigman, Guide

New technologies have made production of key agricultural products. In many developed countries no longer labor intensive while in other products seasonal workers from developing countries enabled their producers in the developed countries to continue their production. This widens t more...

By David Bigman
Guide, dgCommunity on Food Security

(This highlight is part of a series ‘The Changing Agricultural Sector” by David Bigman) 
The agricultural sector has a vital role in the life and food security of the majority of the population in the developing countries. Although the recent report of the UNFPA (The State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth) estimates that by the end of this decade more than half of the world more...

As agriculture production for biofuel increases, the debate between “food versus fuel” continues to heat up.  Defenders of new biofuel crops such as jatropha, the scientific name for Central America’s piñon plant, claim that the crop will not displace traditional food crops and will give farmers an economic advantage.  Foes counter that biofuel corporations are eclipsing small farmers in India and Brazil by cultivating massive plantations of non-edible crops more...

World temperatures are forecasted to rise by 2,0 - 4,5 C. Such a temperature rise will cause a huge disruption to both agriculture and food systems, and trigger more numerous and severe natural hazards. Global warming poses particular risks to farmers in developing countries and communities in the Arctic, but there are steps that producers, fishers, policymakers, civil society, international organisations and researchers can take to minimize losses more...

Political will should be given the highest priority yet it gets modest attention if any. The term is frequently used but often without substance, no definition, or lacking on ways to foster political will for food security. This paper is an attempt to address these gaps. The paper reviews developments in global and national political relations, thinking, and related institutional changes; the effect of such developments on the incidence of hunger; the ability and willingness of governments to more...

The conflict in the

Darfur region of western Sudan between the Janjaweed and the non-Baggara people began in July 2003. The estimated number of deaths in the conflict have ranged from 50 000 (WHO 2004) to 450 000 (Reeves 2006). As many as 2,5 million are thought to have been displaced. The mass media have described the conflict as both ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide.’ Below ar more...

The impact that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can have on sustainable development, and in particular, agriculture, has been highlighted through the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and other global platforms. The realization of the effective application of e-agriculture has become a ma more...