Argentina's Senate Wednesday passed the food emergency bill submitted by the opposition parties as protests mount against the inflationary policies carried out by the administration of President Mauricio Macri, who is yet to sign the draft into law and has hinted he would do so without exerting his veto powers.
More than 500 million people today live in areas affected by erosion linked to climate change, the UN warned on Thursday, before urging all countries to commit to sustainable land use to help limit greenhouse gas emissions before it is too late.
Latest indications confirm that world cereal production will reach an all-time record of more than 2.5 billion tonnes in 2014. Buoyed by bumper crops in Europe and a record maize output in the United States this year's cereal output should reach 2.532 billion tonnes, including rice in milled terms, or 0.3% higher than 2013, according to FAO's latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation Report.
The world could face a food crisis of the kind seen in 2007/08 if countries restrict exports on concerns about a drought-fuelled grain price rally, the UN food agency FAO warned, after reporting a surge in global food prices in July.
Bolivia prepared to tap its record 10 billion US dollars in central bank reserves to help boost agricultural production and stockpile food staples as a hedge against a looming global “food crisis” Finance Minister Luis Arce said.