Big Ideas and Emerging Innovations
Food 2.0: The Future of What We Eat
It was perhaps inevitable that food would become the next industry to face the bright heat of Silicon Valley disruption. The innovation driving the latest wave of food start-ups rests less on the discovery of a brand-new magic ingredient and more on a combination of data science, marketing, and sheer ambition.
Biogas, a Low-Tech Fuel with a Big Payoff
Around the world, household-run operations and industrial-scale facilities are using centuries-old technology to extract a fuel known as biogas from crop waste, manure, kitchen scraps, and even sewage. Proponents cite the benefits of harnessing biogas, such as reducing emissions, cutting waste streams, and saving the lungs of those in poor countries who would otherwise burn wood indoors.
Thirty Percent of World's Food Wasted, New Online Platform Seeks Savings
The Global Community of Practice of Food Loss Reduction web portal allows users to get information about ways of reducing waste. In developed countries, food waste usually occurs in homes or restaurants. Most of the developing world's spoilage happens during storage or transport, as infrastructure for refrigeration and preservation is often inadequate.
Nestlé Milk Factory Shake-up Aims to End Drain on Water Resources
Nestlé’s milk plant in central Mexico is the first of its kind in the world not to rely on external water sources, instead, it runs on “cow water”. By recycling the waste fluid extracted from milk when it is powdered, the company has already slashed its global water use by a third since 2005. Nestlé aims to roll out the zero-water technology in other plants worldwide.
About
The Global Food and Agriculture Program aims to inform the development of US policy on global agricultural development and food security by raising awareness and providing resources, information, and policy analysis to the US Administration, Congress, and interested experts and organizations.
The Global Food and Agriculture Program is housed within the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent, nonpartisan organization that provides insight – and influences the public discourse – on critical global issues. The Council on Global Affairs convenes leading global voices and conducts independent research to bring clarity and offer solutions to challenges and opportunities across the globe. The Council is committed to engaging the public and raising global awareness of issues that transcend borders and transform how people, business, and governments engage the world.
Support for the Global Food and Agriculture Program is generously provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Blogroll
1,000 Days Blog, 1,000 Days
Africa Can End Poverty, World Bank
Agrilinks Blog
Bread Blog, Bread for the World
Can We Feed the World Blog, Agriculture for Impact
Concern Blogs, Concern Worldwide
Institute Insights, Bread for the World Institute
End Poverty in South Asia, World Bank
Global Development Blog, Center for Global Development
The Global Food Banking Network
Harvest 2050, Global Harvest Initiative
The Hunger and Undernutrition Blog, Humanitas Global Development
International Food Policy Research Institute News, IFPRI
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Blog, CIMMYT
ONE Blog, ONE Campaign
One Acre Fund Blog, One Acre Fund
Overseas Development Institute Blog, Overseas Development Institute
Oxfam America Blog, Oxfam America
Preventing Postharvest Loss, ADM Institute
Sense & Sustainability Blog, Sense & Sustainability
WFP USA Blog, World Food Program USA
Archive
Photo of the Week
Farmers in Maraka, Kenya, plant maize using a hand hoe and a pre¬measured planting string to help them properly space their seeds.
Commentary - Saving Lives Through Efficient Food Aid Delivery
Early this year our government made real progress in improving the way we provide food aid to chronically hungry people and those in crises. Unfortunately, recent actions by the House of Representatives threaten to undermine important reforms that would make food aid programs more effective and efficient.
Photo of the Week
Silas Niyimpa of Ngobi, Rwanda, harvests cassava roots he planted in 2013.
2014 National Climate Assessment
Does climate change poses a major challenge to U.S. agriculture?
Commentary - Using Science to Drive Adoption of New Technologies
In many ways, we’re experiencing a new golden era for agriculture and food security.
Video: Could climate change lead to more wars?
Retired Navy Rear Admiral David Titley, who is a professor of meteorology at Penn State University, joins Consider This host Antonio Mora to discuss how climate change could increase global instability and conflicts.
Food Wastage Footprint Video from Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization says 30 percent of global food production is lost or wasted along the value chain every year.
Photo of the Week
One Acre Fund farmer Elias Ndinduyubwo of Kagabiro, Rwanda, shows off maize he has harvested with his family.
Video: Zero poverty. Think again
A new paper by the Overseas Development Institute reviews what is known about the impacts of climate change on eight development goal areas, and shows that it is essential for climate change to be addressed in order not to compromise development efforts.
World Bank to Finance 19 Centers of Excellence in Africa
Last week, the World Bank approved US$150 million to finance 19 university-based Centers of Excellence in seven countries in West and Central Africa.
The 2014 QDDR: Driving a Smarter, More Effective Approach to Development and Diplomacy
Four years ago, the first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) offered a sweeping assessment of how the U.S. State Department and USAID could become more efficient, accountable, and effective in a changing world.
Photo of the Week
One Acre Fund group leader Pauline Keya demonstrates how much chlorine to add to water to make it safe for drinking.
Photo of the Week
Martin Ugiraneza, of Rwamiko, Rwanda, was able to purchase a cow after his 2013 harvests.
USAID Ending Extreme Poverty
Through the narration of Presidents Kennedy, Clinton, Bush, and Obama, the film depicts America's progress, mission, and means by which we intend to end extreme poverty over the next two decades.
Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability
Working Group II assesses the scientific, technical, environmental, economic and social aspects of the vulnerability (sensitivity and adaptability) to climate change of, and the negative and positive consequences for, ecological systems, socio-economic sectors and human health, with an emphasis on regional sectoral and cross-sectoral issues.
