On Thursday, I had the opportunity to meet Emyl Mil, a rice farmer in Haiti, a focus country for President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative. When I spoke with Mr. Mil, he was excited about the use of a new, innovative approach called System of Rice Intensification. This new technique has significantly increased rice yields [...]
Tag archives for Agriculture
South Sudan: The Hopes and Challenges with the Birth of a Nation
Rarely is the juxtaposition between joy and tragedy as stark as it is in the new nation of South Sudan and the changed nation of Sudan. I had the honor to participate in the U.S. presidential delegation witnessing independence day ceremonies in Juba, South Sudan. Along with Ambassador Susan Rice, General Colin Powell, Congressman Donald [...]
New Invasive Species Database: Supports Food Security and Public Health
By James Hester, Director of USAID’s Office of Natural Resources Management African farmers lose more than $7 billion in maize crops from the invasive witchweed, according to estimates by the United Nations. Overall, agricultural losses to invasive species may amount to more than $12 billion for Africa’s eight principal crops. African farmers are not alone in [...]
The Keys to Sustainability: Capacity Building and Country Ownership
Dr. Montague Demment is Associate Vice President for International Development at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and professor of ecology at the University of California, Davis. This item was originally posted on Agrilinks. The big question for us all: How do we make agricultural development work and work sustainably? Perhaps the most [...]
Innovating Our Way to a Second Green Revolution
Robert D. Hormats serves as Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs. Originally posted on DipNote, the U.S. Department of State official blog. Nearly one billion people — one seventh of the world’s population — suffer from chronic hunger. Because of extreme hunger and poverty, children, adults, and indeed entire societies are [...]
The Power of Wheat: Honoring Borlaug’s Legacy
By Dr. Rob Bertram, Director of the USAID Bureau for Food Security’s Office of Agricultural Research and Transformation We don’t often stop to think about how much the global food supply depends on dedicated researchers who work to ensure bountiful harvests for farmers—and indeed for everyone who eats. Thanks to the vision and work of [...]
Investing in Women to Defeat Hunger in Malawi
Submitted by guest blogger Anita McCabe, Country Director, Concern Worldwide, Malawi As the hot, dry breeze wafts through the lakeside district of Nkhotakota, Malawi, a group of women sing as they take turns to water their near-ripe crop of maize. Further downstream, another group is busy making seed beds in preparation for another crop. Like [...]
Making the Grade: U.S. Government Progress in Global Agricultural Development
Originally posted on DipNote, the official blog of the U.S. Department of State. Ambassador Ertharin Cousin serves as U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. I am inspired by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ gathering of America’s most committed leaders from several professions to focus on global agriculture and food [...]
USAID Joins Netherlands, Agriculture Organizations to Boost Southern Sudan Agriculture
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah today in Juba, Sudan, signed a communiqué on behalf of the U.S. Government to help boost private sector engagement in agriculture in southern Sudan, where the vast majority of people rely on agriculture for their livelihood. In spite of enormous potential of the agriculture sector, most southern Sudanese farmers grow only [...]
