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Every year around the globe 1.3 billion tonnes of food is lost or wasted, that is a 1/3 of all food produced for human consumption. Food losses represent a waste of resources used in production such as land, water, energy and inputs, increasing the green gas emissions in vain. Key facts on food loss and waste you should know! 1. Roughly one third of the food produced…

In 1980, following his first visit to Africa, Blessed John Paul II founded the Sahel foundation to combat desertification in Africa. Since then the Vatican City has many initiatives and extended a lot of support in the process of combating desertification in the region. 6 March 1984: the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel is officially established. Because of its legal status, its head…

Where Macro Meets Micro This article is part of a series on climate, peace, and security in partnership with the Center on Climate and Security. Climate change is a “direct and existential threat,” the Council of the European Union concluded in February 2019. In the past half-century, the most vulnerable—particularly across Western, Central, and Eastern Africa, and several countries…

The interplay between climate change and violent extremism in the Western Sahel Development and security cannot do without the other. It is not enough to counter violent extremism by addressing the symptoms; understanding and focusing on root causes, in regions such as the Western Sahel, is essential to countering violent extremism. Countries in the Western Sahel suffer from…

One of the greatest unresolved challenges facing Africa’s agribusiness sector is the lack of value addition. Sub-Saharan Africa-focused consultant Dr Edward George looks at how this affects two of Africa’s most important soft commodity value chains – cocoa and cotton – and explores how the fostering of local demand for crops could transform the balance of power for Africa’s agricultural producers…

The world’s population is expected to increase by 2 billion persons in the next 30 years, from 7.7 billion currently to 9.7 billion in 2050, according to a new United Nations report launched today. The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights, which is published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, provides a comprehensive overview of global…