famine

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Starving Somalia to Get Famine Designation

UN agencies poised to add 'humanitarian catastrophe' label

(Newser) - Drought and food shortages have gotten so bad in southern Somalia that the UN is almost certain to upgrade the situation from a “humanitarian emergency” to a “famine/humanitarian catastrophe,” sources tell the Telegraph . “It’s 99% certain that tomorrow we will have to declare a full...

Horn of Africa Close to Famine

An estimated 12M people in jeopardy

(Newser) - A lack of rain and rising world prices have left an estimated 12 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia in dire need of food, the Telegraph reports. The reality is especially difficult to ignore in Dadaab, a city in northern Kenya experiencing its second-lowest rainfall in 60 years. Dadaab...

N. Korea Allows Private Food Markets
N. Korea Allows Private Food Markets
Jun 18, 2010 12:10 PM CDT

N. Korea Allows Private Food Markets

Pro-capitalist policy shift comes amid growing famine

(Newser) - North Korea has effectively admitted that it can't feed its citizens by allowing people to buy food and other necessities at private markets, the Washington Post reports. Such markets have existed under the radar for years, but the government order sanctioning what amounts to capitalism "abandons all pretense of...

Geldof Enraged by Report That Live Aid Paid for Weapons

95% of donations siphoned to rebel weapons, says BBC

(Newser) - Live Aid founder Bob Geldof is furious about a BBC report that said 95% of the Live Aid money his organization raised for Ethiopian famine relief in 1985 was diverted to buy weapons for rebel fighters. It's possible that "some money was mislaid, but to suggest it was on...

'We Are the World' Sequel to Help Haiti

Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie plan 25th anniversary re-recording

(Newser) - It's "We Are the World" take 2, this time for Haiti. Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie are getting some of the music industry's top stars together for a 25th anniversary re-recording of the song, with proceeds going to earthquake victims. The gathering will probably take place in Los Angeles...

To Battle Climate Change, Look Toward Africa

Fallout from changes in weather patterns threatens hard-won gains

(Newser) - A quarter-century after the Ethiopian famine crisis, another catastrophe threatens Africa: climate change. But this time, the First World stands to gain from improving the lot of the Third World. "The inefficiencies of the hydrocarbon economy will be replaced by clean, cheap renewables," pop star and activist Bob...

Famine Fear Returns to Ethiopia

(Newser) - Almost 25 years after Live Aid aimed to eradicate famine in Ethiopia, the country is facing new threats of malnutrition and mass starvation, the Independent reports. Ethiopia's erratic rains are the main culprit, failing to fall or coming too little too late, while recession-minded donors in wealthy nations are also...

Gore's Climate Crusade Misguided, Wasteful

(Newser) - Global warming is real, but Al Gore’s crusade to curb carbon emissions is misguided and will squander money that could be applied cheaply and efficiently to those problems now, Danish statistician Bjørn Lomborg writes in Esquire. “Here’s the truth: There are better, more cost-effective ways to...

Despite Hunger, N. Korea Rejects US Food Aid

Pyongyang boots humanitarian groups ahead of rocket launch

(Newser) - North Korea will reject future US food assistance and kicked out five groups distributing American aid, a move that could make an already precarious humanitarian situation even worse, reports the AP. Pyongyang gave no reason for refusing the aid, according to the State Department. North Korea faces chronic food shortages...

Mugabe's Party Feasts While Zimbabwe Starves

Over 200 farm animals to be consumed during four-day Zanu-PF conference

(Newser) - The government of Zimbabwe has planned a decadent feast for delegates from the ruling party while starvation and cholera run rampant in the general population, Time reports. Robert Mugabe and 5,000 Zanu-PF delegates will treat themselves to 124 cattle, 81 goats, and 18 pigs across a four-day conference now...

Indian State Recommends Eating Rats

Adding rodents to menu pushed as solution to food crisis

(Newser) - Faced with high food prices and ebbing grain reserves, officials in the Indian state of Bihar have endorsed the consumption of rats, Reuters reports. The state government sees the strategy as a way to reduce the pest population as well as curb the demand for grain, and has even proposed...

Anti-'Frankenfood' Activists Should Modify Stance

Opposition to genetically souped-up crops has run its course

(Newser) - The recent destruction of a research crop of genetically modified potatoes in England highlights how attitudes towards altered crops have changed, the Economist writes. A decade ago, Greenpeace activists caught in the act of destroying food crops were acquitted because of popular fear of the consequences of “Frankenfoods.”...

'Mediator' Mbeki Visits Mugabe
 'Mediator' Mbeki Visits Mugabe 
Jun 18, 2008 3:05 PM CDT

'Mediator' Mbeki Visits Mugabe

South African president meets with Mugabe, though agenda unclear

(Newser) - South African president Thabo Mbeki visited counterpart Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe today, the Guardian reports, an attempt to play the role of mediator ahead of run-off elections June 27. With the UN warning that 5 million could face starvation in a country plagued by political violence, Mbeki's agenda was unclear—...

Scientists Work on New 'Green Revolution'

Solving food crisis will depend on a steady diet of innovation

(Newser) - Food scientists are plotting a new "green revolution" to solve a growing food crisis, LiveScience reports. Facing what a World Food Program official called a “silent tsunami” of world hunger, researchers are working on a sequel to the first "green revolution" of the mid-20th century, whose innovations...

Locusts Swarm Northeast Kenya
Locusts Swarm Northeast Kenya
Dec 7, 2007 2:28 PM CST

Locusts Swarm Northeast Kenya

Voracious pest could strip bare nation's crops

(Newser) - Threatened by the largest swarm of locusts seen in Kenya since the 1960s, authorities have begun spraying crops in affected areas in hopes of exterminating the rapacious pests before they have a chance to lay eggs. The locusts, each of which can consume its own weight in food daily, have...

Scientists Race to Save Rice Crops
Scientists
Race to Save Rice Crops
Jul 29, 2007 7:09 AM CDT

Scientists Race to Save Rice Crops

Floods, droughts, warming threaten world's most vital food

(Newser) - While much of the world focuses its attention on oil, 1,000 people in a lab outside Manila are worrying about the other staple the modern world depends on: rice. Because of drought, floods, and overproduction, Asian rice yields are flatlining, the Journal reports; as a result, the price of...

Fast Food Replaces Grandma's Cooking

Across the globe, traditional diets fade

(Newser) - Every nation has its traditional cuisines, but in today's fast-paced, globalized culture, cheap, fatty Westernized food is crowding out ancient preparations and presentations. Diets define who we are, Time reports, and in the modern world, once-unique food is becoming culturally homogenized. Global influences traditionally enriched flavors and techniques; today, the...

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