Global

This publication by the The Economist Intelligence Unit, highlights the overlooked value of rural economies for food security and poverty reduction. The authors state that rural economic development holds the key to ensuring that the nutritional needs of a growing global population are met, and poverty in rural areas is eased, narrowing the gaps between rural and urban populations. The focus of this research project is a better understanding of the macro- and microeconomic conditions that would enable rural economies to deliver a more significant contribution to economic growth. »

A new generation of coffee professionals is urgently needed. Over the last decade, organisations in various parts of the world have launched projects to increase the number of youth involved in the coffee sector. These projects provide clear insights that can be applied in many other sectors and can potentially transform the coffee production sector. This publication by Hivos summarizes 5 case studies worldwide on good practices how to involve youth in the coffee sector, and comes up with successful strategies that attracted young people back to the coffee sector. »

This webinar by the Impact Insurance Facility looked at how governments can catalyse the development of agriculture insurance markets through a variety of interventions such as the provision, administration and management of subsidies, support for developing infrastructure for effective implementation of insurance programmes, investment in collection and sharing of data and customer education. »

This paper explores new cases for weather monitoring and forecasting through mobile phones to enhance climate resilience. The authors advocate for increasing focus and investment from mobile network operators (MNOs), value added service (VAS) providers and donors into enabling technologies that can provide more localized and accurate service. In the developing world, the availability of localized, granular weather forecasts can benefit smallholder farmers who depend on rain for their agricultural activities and food security. »

This article investigates the public perspectives and awareness about the environmental impacts of food and of eating less meat. It thereby considers the cultural and social values associated with eating meat. While reducing meat consumption is central to many of the scientific debates on healthy and sustainable diets, the social and cultural values related to meat consumption are often not evaluated. »

This article argues that to overcome food security challenges, the application of an energy, water and food nexus approach is needed. This can be done following three main pathways: employing sustainable production methods in agriculture, changing diets, and reducing waste in all stages of the food chain. »