'Desertifying' India is losing more than 30,000 hectares of arable land each year, threatening food security for its teeming millions. Already 10,000 farmers commit suicide each year. It is time to act. SAROSH BANA reports
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has brushed off the risks posed by climate change to the continent's farmers, saying that a 'sense of proportion' was needed.
Unless the Competition Commission fails to act to curb the power of supermarket chain Tesco, 'people will be justified in questioning exactly what the Commission is for', says Andrew Simms, Director of the think-tank the New Economics Foundation (NEF).
According to a Mori poll in March 2004, the fairtrade mark is now recognised by 39 per cent of the British public, up from 11 per cent five years ago. But what difference does fairtrade actually make to the lives of the producers? John Atkin looks at the Nicaraguan community of La Pita who sell half of their coffee on the fairtrade market
The mainstream farming media dismiss biodynamics as a fad affordable only by the wealthy – so why are big arable farmers sowing seeds under full moons?
Supermarkets are keen to portray themselves as loyal and supportive business partners, nurturing suppliers in their quest for the best deal for consumers.
