Russia a food superpower?

CNN’s Matthew Chance reports on how Russia could be part of the solution to the global food crisis..
Watch video here.

Guinea sets up food stockpile to combat price shock

Guinea has announced it is setting up an emergency stock of basic food, especially rice, to help offset the impact of sharp food price rises that have stirred social unrest in Africa, the world’s poorest continent.
The move by the West African state late on Friday coincided with an announcement by the African Development Bank (AfDB) [...]

Asian bank in food crisis warning

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned that the crisis of rising food prices could reverse gains made in reducing poverty across the continent.
Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda warned at its annual meeting in Madrid that “the cheap food era may be over”.
Donor countries have pledged more than $11bn (£5.5bn) to a fund to ease the [...]

UN urges biofuel investment halt

The UN’s new top adviser on food has urged a freeze on biofuel investment, saying the blind pursuit of the policy is “irresponsible”.
Olivier de Schutter also wants curbs on investors whose speculation is, he says, driving food prices higher.
UN officials liken the rise in food prices to a silent tsunami, threatening 100 million of [...]

Deforestation in the Amazon

…Recently, soybeans have become one of the most important contributors to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Thanks to a new variety of soybean developed by Brazilian scientists to flourish in rainforest climate, Brazil is on the verge of supplanting the United States as the world’s leading exporter of soybeans. High soybean prices have also served [...]

Somalia: Some 3.5 Million Could Need Food Aid By End of Year

Faced with a worsening humanitarian crisis, 3.5 million people - nearly half of Somalia’s population - may need food aid by the end of the year, a food security analysis has warned.
The Somali situation was deteriorating fast due to rapidly rising food prices, an abnormally harsh dry season and a delayed start to the main [...]

Water shortage could surpass politics in Cyprus

The severe drought in Cyprus has led both the Greek and Turkish sides toward alternative projects to meet the growing fresh water demands.  … more>>
  

Bush defends his advocacy of ethanol as an energy source

Here.

Wheat - Top Ten

Top Ten Wheat Producers
Below are the leading wheat producers for the 2005-6 season. The top 10 producers accounted for over two-thirds of global wheat harvests.

China … 96.2 million tonnes (15.4% of global wheat production)
India … 72 million (11.5%)
United States … 57.1 million (9.1%)
Russia … 45.5 million (7.3%)
France … 36.9 million (5.9%)
Canada … 25.5 million (4.1%)
Australia [...]