 | | | |  |  The Supermarket Revolution in Developing Countries Thomas Reardon and Ashok Gulati/IFPRI The supermarket revolution has progressed far and will continue apace for years to come in developing countries. This revolution will present opportunities for small farmers who have access to infrastructure and possess needed nonland assets, but it will present a challenge for asset-poor farmers and traditional retailers. It is important for governments to build policies and make investments that prepare farmers and retailers to face the challenges and meet the requirements of the modernized food markets whose development is spurred by the supermarket revolution
| | |  | Africa Progress Panel demands action on global food crisis APP The Africa Progress Panel’s report, being launched today by Kofi Annan, Michel Camdessus and Tidjane Thiam in London, states that the world food crisis ”threatens to destroy years, if not decades, of economic progress” as “100 million people are being pushed back into absolute poverty”. “Unless some way can be found to halt and reverse the current trend in food prices there will be a significant increase in hunger, malnutrition, and in infant and child mortality”.
| | |  | Biofuels and Grain Prices - Impacts and Policy Responses IFPRI Recent dramatic increases in food prices are having severe consequences for poor countries and poor people. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that food prices rose by nearly 40 percent in 2007 and made further large jumps in early 2008. Nearly all agricultural commodities—including rice, maize, wheat, meat, dairy products, soybeans, palm oil, and cassava—are affected. In response to the price hikes, food riots have occurred in many developing countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Haiti, Indonesia, Senegal, and Somalia. According to the FAO, 37 countries are now facing food crises.
| | |  | Crucial Nuclear Treaty Negotiations ISS Zimbabwe’s permanent representative to the United Nations, ambassador Boniface Guwe Chidyausiki, has been elected to chair the next preparatory committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Due to be held in New York in May 2009, this will be the third session of the preparatory committee that will be held prior to the Review Conference.
| | |  | NAMIBIA: Corruption Tracker - Feb 2008 Windhoekers are used to seeing government vehicles in strange places – dropping children at school, outside shebeens, and even occupying the disabled parking spot outside Game. The bad news is that beyond Windhoek, the situation is even worse.
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