A worker scoops animal feed made from recycled food waste at Agri Gaia System, a waste food recycling company, in Sakura, east of Tokyo.  JAPAN-FOOD/RECYCLED REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

Farm Animals Actually Eat People’s Leftovers – And It’s Good for the Planet
When restaurants and grocery stores end up with scraps and other leftovers that cannot be donated to food banks, what happens to them? A lot end up in landfills, contributing to the massive amounts of food waste that emit methane as they break down. But a growing amount is being used to feed farm animals. As the EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy specifies, this strategy is one of the most effective ways to deal with food waste that cannot be used to feed people.

Ethiopia Soil Map Arms Farmers with New Fertilizers in Climate Fight
A comprehensive digital map charting soil fertility in Ethiopia is proving an important tool in tackling the country’s low farm productivity, a challenge made more acute by climate change. Results have been promising, with new fertilizer combinations boosting wheat yields from around 1 ton to 3 tons per hectare on more than 40% of its agricultural land last year.

Why African Agriculture Still Depends on the 'Middle Man' – or Woman
Traditionally, a middle man role in business is considered one of exploitation, and certainly those fears exist with agro-dealers, who have the power to profit from rather than benefit local smallholders. However, new networks of agro-input shops supported by AGRA have greatly reduced the distance farmers need to travel to buy inputs and have begun to provide sales that smallholders can count on.

#AGOA2016: Women and Trade Dialogue Sparks Action for Emerging Entrepreneurs
The State Department has announced a new partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network to help emerging entrepreneurs strengthen their businesses. The announcement focuses on a universal truth now recognized in the African Growth and Opportunity Act: that women are essential to economic development. Women are farmers who feed families and communities, and job creators who train and mentor the next generation.