By John Thompson, co-convenor, STEPS Centre food and agriculture domain and joint coordinator, Future Agricultures Consortium The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) chose Brazil’s José…
A NEW LEADER AND A NEW BEGINNING FOR THE UN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION?
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY: THE G-20 ACTION PLAN ON FOOD PRICE VOLATILITY AND AGRICULTURE
By John Thompson, co-convenor, STEPS Centre food and agriculture domain and joint coordinator, Future Agricultures Consortium The Group of Twenty (G-20), comprised of the world’s 19 largest economies, plus the…
INEQUALITY AND FOOD: 10 TASKS FOR THE UK GOVERNMENT
by Erik Millstone, STEPS Centre Food and Agriculture co-convenor There are massive inequalities between industrialised and developing countries, and they have widened over the past 15 years, but there are…
“GOLDEN RICE”: A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY?
by Sally Brooks, Biosafety project convenor Biofortified crops, for example rice enriched with vitamin A, are claimed as a way of getting vital extra nutrition to poor people. They’ve also…
FILM: “SEEDS AND SUSTAINABILITY” OUT NOW
Our new film, “Seeds and Sustainability: Maize pathways in Kenya”, explores how to secure seeds for farmers growing maize – Kenya’s key staple crop – in drought-prone regions of the…
INVESTING IN LAND: THE WORLD BANK REPORT ON RISING GLOBAL INTEREST IN FARMLAND
by Ian Scoones, STEPS Centre co-director There is something for everyone in the long-awaited World Bank report, Rising Global Interest in Farmland: Can it yield sustainable and equitable benefits? Some…
THE LIMITS OF SOUND SCIENCE: PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS, ACCOUNTABILITY AND FALL OUT AT THE FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY
By John Thompson and Erik Millstone Co-Convenors, Food and Agriculture Domain, The STEPS Centre Brian Wynne, Professor of Science Studies at CSEC and at the ESRC Centre for Economic and…
Livestock’s Long Shadow (FAO)
Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options is published by the UN FAO (Rome, 2006). Scientists from around the globe acknowledge that the link between development/economic growth and increased meat…
YOUNG AFRICAN SCIENTISTS IN NAIROBI
By Adrian Ely The first day of the 4th TWAS-ROSSA Young Scientists’ Conference in Africa on “Science and Technology (S&T) Enterprises in Africa” provided a platform for some great examples…
MILLSTONE ON THE ETHICS OF GM CROP DEVELOPMENT
By Julia Day Under what circumstances could the trajectory of GM crop development become beneficial for poor farmers? Erik Millstone explored this idea at recent Royal Society of Chemistry meeting,…