FAO has revealed that, after decades of growing human pressures on marine ecosystems and fisheries resources in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, recent data suggest that a corner is finally being turned on overexploitation of the region’s fish stocks. According to a new report on the “State of Mediterranean and Black Sea Fisheries”, 75 percent of fish stocks remain subject to overfishing, but between 2014 and 2018 this percentage fell by over 10 percent. 

This is according to a panel of experts taking part in the 2020 Africa Economic Conference on the theme of “Africa beyond COVID-19: Acceleration towards inclusive and sustainable development”. Around 2.3 million people have contracted COVID-19 to date and around 54,500 have died from the disease. However, much has been done to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic, including increasing laboratory testing capacity, strengthening primary health care defense mechanisms, and leveraging technology to reduce human contact. 

Located in Boston, Lincolnshire, the new Plant&Bean production site, a spin-off of Brecks Foods, will serve supermarkets across Europe. The 65-acre site will be able to produce 55,000 metric tons of plant-based meat. The company has also announced that it is working on a method for making proteins derived from beans and peas more economical for the end consumer. 

New strains of E. Coli that are super resistant to antibiotics have been detected in some farms in China. Almost every strain of bacteria found by scientists has in fact become resistant to multiple drugs, which could be connected to an excessive use of antibiotics, and they warned that this could happen on a global scale.  

According to a study conducted by FAO, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the number of mountain people vulnerable to food insecurity in developing countries increased from 243 to almost 350 million between 2000 and 2017.