Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Elizabeth Eames Roebling SANTO DOMINGO, May 26, 2011 (IPS) – A project to help reforest after the devastation of Hurricane David 32 years ago has grown into a plan to lift small coffee farmers out of poverty, all by the introduction of a gourmet ice cream. Hurricane [...]
COLOMBIA: Displaced Campesinos Want a Say on Land Restitution Bill
May 2, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Helda Martínez BOGOTÁ, Apr 28, 2011 (IPS) – The Colombian government has been extolling a bill on Victims and Land Restitution which is being debated in Congress and is receiving extensive media coverage. But the demands of the victims themselves, forcibly displaced campesinos, are falling on deaf [...]
A Table for Nine Billion
April 14, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Aprille Muscara* WASHINGTON, Apr 14, 2011 (IPS) – As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund convene for their annual Spring Meetings here, soaring food prices are high on the agenda, prompting some analysts to fast-forward to 2050 and the question of how to nourish the mid-century’s [...]
BRAZIL: Sugar Cane Fertilises Its Own Soil
April 12, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Mario Osava* RIBEIRÃO PRETO, Brazil, Apr 12, 2011 (Tierramérica) – The mechanisation of sugar cane harvesting, originally aimed at curbing the pollution caused by the burning of cane fields, has resulted in an added bonus: it has helped to improve soil quality, according to growers and technical [...]
BRAZIL: Sugar Cane Fields Turned into Industry in Sertãozinho
April 11, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Mario Osava SERTÃOZINHO, Brazil, Apr 11, 2011 (IPS) – "A disappointment" was his first impression of his new city. It was small, half the size of his hometown of Barretos, and had "weak lights," says Marcelo Pelegrini, remembering his family’s move to this southern Brazilian city when [...]
BRAZIL: Science and Sugar Cane Produce Versatile Harvest
April 4, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Mario Osava PIRACICABA, Brazil, Apr 4, 2011 (IPS) – For nearly five hundred years, sugar cane was used almost exclusively for making sugar, with a handful of by-products like rum, alcohol and molasses. Now, in Brazil, it has become a source of multiple derivatives, and the focus [...]
HAITI: Seeding Reconstruction or Destruction?
April 1, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Correspondents* PORT-AU-PRINCE, Apr 1, 2011 (IPS/Haiti Grassroots Watch) – Last year, tens of thousands of tonnes of tools, seeds and plant cuttings were distributed to almost 400,000 Haitian farming families, perhaps one-third to one-half of the country’s farming population. The 20-million-dollar programme – spearheaded by the U.N. [...]
Libya Uprising Hits West’s Dinner Tables
March 31, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Analysis by Simba Russeau CAIRO, Mar 30, 2011 (IPS) – Linkages between the Libyan uprising and shelling out more money than usual at a local market in the West may not at first seem apparent but the common denominator is oil. Muammar Gaddafi’s grip on power is not [...]
South African Farmers Set Up in Congo
March 29, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Arsène Séverin POINTE-NOIRE, Congo, Mar 26, 2011 (IPS) – In the hope of strengthening its agricultural production, the Republic of Congo has handed over 80,000 hectares of arable land to a company owned and operated by 14 South African farmers. "Our country is experiencing a food shortage [...]
KENYA: Women Hold the Key to Rural Prosperity
March 24, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Isaiah Esipisu KIAMBANI, Kenya, Mar 24, 2011 (IPS) – John Kyalo Mulwa couldn’t support his family from his six hectare farm, so he quit farming to open a bar. But he turned the land – and decision-making on it – over to his wife. Turns out she’s [...]
