The second half of this year's harvest is expected to create problems for the Ivory Coast market. ICE cocoa futures are near their highest in three years as overly dry, hot winds have damaged production activities in Ivory Coast, which produces around 40 percent of the world's cocoa.
According to a recent study, climate change could expand agricultural land globally by almost a third. Researchers looked at which new areas could become suitable for growing 12 key crops including rice, sugar, wheat, oil palm, cassava and soybeans, but also warned that opening up to new agricultural frontiers would entail significant environmental threats, including the risk of an increase in emissions due to the change in land use.
A WWF report shows that China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam contribute 60% of the estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic that enter the world’s oceans every year. Among the six countries surveyed, Malaysia was found to consume the highest amount of plastic per capita at around 16.8 kg per person, followed by Thailand at 15.5 kg.
A new report from one of the world's leading conservation organizations says the world economy could lose more than €400 billion a year if urgent measures are not taken to protect ecosystems. The United Kingdom alone could lose over 19 billion euros of economic production each year. The United States could suffer an annual loss of 75 billion and Japan just over 70, despite being significantly smaller than the American giant.
A new coalition of farmers, Farmers for Climate Solutions, wants to redesign Canadian agricultural policy to make it resilient to climate change. Group members include the National Farmers Union, Canadian Organic Growers, FarmFolk CityFolk, Rural Route to Climate Climate Solutions and the Ontario Association of Ecological Farmers. They are calling for increased efforts to be made for sustainable agriculture which includes reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers and herbicides and improving farmers' livelihoods.
A group of researchers based in Belgium has tried to find out how consumers deal with the marketing of baked goods made with some of the fat obtained from the larvae of the soldier fly instead of butter. The results, published in the Food Quality and Preference journal, show that most of the participants were not disappointed with the flavor, texture or appearance of the biscuits and cakes made with 25 percent insect fat.