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Higher quality seeds can help beat Africa’s ‘hunger pandemic’

Higher quality seeds can help beat Africa’s ‘hunger pandemic’

VACCINATION efforts across the globe encourage hope of an imminent end to the COVID-19 health crisis. But the food security crisis that the pandemic has deepened cannot be alleviated quickly and will require lasting solutions. CHRIS O. OJIEWO, Theme Leader, Seed Systems, CGIAR System Organization Well-adapted and nutrient-dense crops like millet, sorghum, groundnut, chickpea, pigeonpea, cowpea and common bean, collectively called dryland cereals and legumes, are like a vaccine of sorts for hunger and under-nutrition. This is because, over time, improved varieties of crops will be able to render farming resilient to climate stresses, help improve nutritional outcomes and improve…
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Hungry for change: Faulty for systems laid bare by COVID-19 and climate crises

Hungry for change: Faulty for systems laid bare by COVID-19 and climate crises

THIN LEI WIN and CORMAC O’BRIEN FROM wildfires in California and locust attacks in Ethiopia to job losses caused by pandemic lockdowns in Italy and Myanmar, climate change and COVID-19 disrupted food production and tipped millions more people into hunger in 2020. Now there are fears the situation could worsen next year as both the coronavirus crisis and wild weather exacerbate fragile conditions linked to conflicts and poverty in many parts of the globe, aid officials told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Even before COVID-19 hit, 135 million people were marching towards the brink of starvation. This could double to 270…
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