Food Security

Microcredit helps small businesses buck the system in Madagascar

TOLIARA, 16 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Justine Sija, 60, begins her day at 4am, when she buys catch from local fishermen to hawk on the streets of St Augustin Village, in Madagascar’s southern Atsimo-Andrefana Region. The work is hard, but in the last year, access to microcredit has boosted both her business and her hope for the future. full report

Pastoralism’s economic contributions are significant but overlooked

 NAIROBI, 16 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Pastoralism is often regarded as an antiquated practice ill-suited to the modern economy, yet trade between pastoral communities in Africa - much of it informal and illegal - generates an estimated US$1 billion each year, according to a new book published by the Futures Agriculture Consortium. full report

Briefing: Egypt rethinks its subsidy system for the poor

 CAIRO, 14 May 2013 (IRIN Middle East) - The Egyptian government has taken tentative steps towards reducing the roughly US$20 billion subsidy system that supporters say provides vital aid to the one-in-four Egyptians in poverty, and critics say is unsustainable and enriches the corrupt. full report

Hunger projects stalled in Guinea-Bissau

 BISSAU/DAKAR, 9 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - The World Food Programme (WFP) has not received the money it needs to run basic nutrition and food security schemes in Guinea-Bissau, leaving projects in jeopardy or at a standstill. full report

Beating wild weather in Sri Lanka

 COLOMBO, 9 May 2013 (IRIN Asia) - Planners in Sri Lanka should do more to mitigate the effects of extreme weather in order to help those most likely to be affected, experts say. full report

“Super-fly” threatens “Rambo” cassava, food security

 JOHANNESBURG, 7 May 2013 (IRIN Global) - A tiny, rapidly breeding cyanide-munching insect, dubbed a “super-fly” by scientists, is threatening the food security of millions of Africans. full report

Less dependent on food rations

 BAGHDAD/DUBAI, 7 May 2013 (IRIN Middle East) - The number of Iraqis without secure access to food dropped by more than a quarter of a million people between 2007 and 2011, part of a generally positive trend of increasing food security in Iraq over the last decade. full report

Zimbabwe short on climate change funds

 HARARE, 7 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Inadequate funding and limited resources are frustrating Zimbabwe’s efforts to develop plans to deal with the impact of climate change, says a government progress report. full report

The long road home to South Sudan

 RENK, UPPER NILE STATE, 6 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - George Malual Deng, 24, has spent two years stuck in a transit site waiting to return to his home in South Sudan’s Jonglei state. He is among 20,000 people who have made a home of sorts in the river port of Renk, waiting for a barge to take them further south. full report

Innovative ICT helps aid workers in Afghanistan

 KABUL, 2 May 2013 (IRIN Asia) - As Asia’s poorest country and the deadliest for aid workers, rugged Afghanistan offers a considerable challenge to humanitarian work. full report

read more stories on Food Security