LAUNCHED TODAY! BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ARCHIVE AND NEW GM PAPER

By JULIA DAY, STEPS Centre member I am pleased to announce the launch of the STEPS Centre Biotechnology Research Archive – spanning ten years of IDS research – and a…

GM CROPS: TEN YEARS ON

By IAN SCOONES, STEPS Centre Co-director A decade ago there was much hope – and even more hype – about the potentials of GM crops. GM crops were going to…

DANGEROUS IDEAS IN DEVELOPMENT: GM CROPS AND THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

By JULIA DAY, STEPS Centre member Genetically-modified (GM) crops are sometimes trumpeted as the solution to the global food crisis, and the route to transforming developing agriculture and reducing poverty…

THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL TURMOIL ON CHINESE VILLAGES

By XIAOYUN LIANG and ADRIAN ELY, STEPS Centre From 29 November to 2 December 2008, we went to two villages in Tianmen county, Hubei province, in the middle of China….

WORLD FOOD DAY: £26 BILLION PACKAGE NEEDED

By JULIA DAY, STEPS Centre member As today’s World Food Day dawns, new research reveals £26-£48 billion package is needed to alleviate seasonal hunger – a fraction of the proposed…

CHINA RURAL REFORMS: WHAT IS A HOUSEHOLD?

ADRIAN ELY, STEPS Centre member reports with our partners professor Ding Shijun and Dr Chen Chuanbo on the challenges of conducting research in China’s changing rural areas In rural transitional…

RURAL REFORM IN CHINA: SETTING FARMERS FREE?

By JULIA DAY, STEPS Centre member On the day that the UK has nationalised some of its biggest banking institutions, China has announced bold new proposals to free up the…

FIDDLING IN ROME WHILE THE WORLD BURNS? REFLECTIONS ON THE UN WORLD FOOD SUMMIT

By JOHN THOMPSON, STEPS Centre member When the Chief Executives Board of the United Nations met in Bern, Switzerland, in late April 2008 to assess how the international community could…

UN FOOD SUMMIT: “ENOUGH RHETORIC, MORE ACTION”

By JULIA DAY STEPS Centre member News agency Reuters has put together a package of the lastest updates coming out of Rome this morning, including work on an emergency plan…