Putting “Dollars on the Data:” Map the Meal Gap Report Sheds Light on Food Insecurity in U.S.

Feeding America and Nielsen published the sixth Map the Meal Gap report to help policymakers, hunger-relief advocates, and citizens make sense of food insecurity in the United States.

Jefferson County, Mississippi, experiences the highest rate of food insecurity in the United States—38 percent of its population—while Loudoun County, Virginia, maintains the lowest rate in the country—4 percent. These are just two of many findings presented in the 2016 installation of the Map the Meal Gap report, produced by Feeding America and Nielsen.

AfDB sets aside $175m for Agric Transformation

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina,

As an instrument for consolidating its  investments in the Nigerian agriculture sector, the African Development Bank (AfDB), led by erstwhile Nigerian Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has set aside the sum of $175 million for its Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme (ATASP-I) in Nigeria’s north-western states.

Food Loves Tech to Showcase Technology from the Fields to the Future

See what’s new and upcoming in food tech with this year’s inaugural Food Loves Tech expo in New York City on June 10–12.

The inaugural Food Loves Tech Expo, June 10–12, invited guests to see just how technology is transforming the food system. Hosted by Edible Holdings and VaynerMedia, the exhibition in New York City’s West Chelsea neighborhood aims to showcase technology for sustainability, development, healthy eating, and more with a diverse audience of chefs, restaurateurs, authors, and entrepreneurs in attendance.

NIGERIA OPTS FOR IMPORTED TOMATOES

Expert

The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has resorted to a tentative solution to the tomato scarcity. Many would have thought that Tuta absoluta menace has been resolved, rather, the reappearance of tomatoes in Nigerian markets is coming largely from importation.

Feeding Two Birds with One Scone: Copia Re-Routes Food Waste and Alleviates Hunger

Copia’s founder, Komal Ahmad, endeavors to address the “world’s dumbest problem: hunger.”

Komal Ahmad developed Copia, a San Francisco-based organization which uses an algorithm-based smartphone app to re-route excess food or food that would otherwise go to waste to the needy. Bay Area organizations can use the app to send their unconsumed food to the nearest food banks or anti-hunger organizations, alleviating both the landfills and hungry stomachs of San Francisco. we  had the opportunity to speak with Komal Ahmad, founder and CEO of Copia.

Inspiring Young Farmers In Africa: An Interview with Future Young Farmers

Sande Olocho explains how the Future Young Farmers program is equipping young people with skills in agriculture.

Future Young Farmers is an agriculture and financial literacy program that is spearheaded by the Beverly School of Kenya (BSK). BSK was founded in 2011 to provide a holistic and meaningful education to young people that come from underprivileged backgrounds. Sande Olocho, the program coordinator, spoke with Food Tank about how the program equips youth with the financial, agribusiness, and social skills to teach back to their community, pursue their own agribusiness ventures, or go on to higher education to achieve expert levels in various agriculture fields.

The Kasiisi Project Harnesses the Power of Human Waste to Cook School Meals

The Kasiisi Project teaches children in western Uganda how to care for the environment through a number of programs and innovative technologies for conservation.

Schools in Uganda face some challenges including lack of resources, teachers, and places for children to learn. These issues contribute to high dropout rates and lack of access to education in a country that has the second youngest population in the world.

BOA supports ban for anchor rice programme sustenance

BOA

As harvesting of the last year dry season anchor rice cultivation officially launched by President Mohammadu Buhari in Kebbi state is about to start, the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) the official programme manager through his Managing Director (MD), Prof. Danbala Danja has thrown its weight behind the Federal government macro-economic policy of banning importation of rice for the boosting of local production saying this would make recovery very efficient, and more fund availability to farmers.

The International Year of Pulses and Tropical Agriculture

Manuele Tamò, Insect Ecologist at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture's Insect Ecologist, speaks about the International Year of Pulses.

Manuele Tamò is an insect ecologist working at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Benin. He obtained his MSc and PhD from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Institute of Plant Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland and joined IITA in 1987. Manuele's current research focuses on the development and deployment of biological control and habitat management options against major insect pests in cereal–legume systems. we had the opportunity to speak with Manuele on IITA’s research, insect ecology, and the International Year of Pulses.

Knowledge Exchange Program Addresses Threats to Agricultural Biodiversity

The Agrobiodiversity@Knowledged program sought to encourage South-North knowledge transfers to address agricultural biodiversity.

Modern agricultural practices, particularly intensification of food production systems, threaten agricultural biodiversity, according to the Convention on Biological Diversity.