Locust outbreak in Afghanistan threatens wheat harvest — Global Issues

Locust outbreak in Afghanistan threatens wheat harvest — Global Issues

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sounded the alarm on Wednesday after locusts were spotted in the country’s north and northeast. FAO said that a “full outbreak” this year could destroy up to 1.2 million metric tonnes of wheat, or a quarter of the total annual harvest. FAO Representative…

End ‘alarmist narratives’ on population growth and recognize women’s rights: UNFPA — Global Issues

End ‘alarmist narratives’ on population growth and recognize women’s rights: UNFPA — Global Issues

In its 2023 State of World Population report, UNFPA said that while reaching the milestone of eight billion people on Earth was a reminder of “our unprecedented gains”, concerns over the number were “causing anxiety, and driving more governments to try to influence fertility rates.” However, the agency notes that…

UN predicts restrictions on women’s rights will worsen economic catastrophe — Global Issues

UN predicts restrictions on women’s rights will worsen economic catastrophe — Global Issues

The Afghanistan Socio-Economic Outlook 2023, released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), provides an overview of the fallout resulting from the takeover of Afghanistan by its present-day de facto rulers, the Taliban, in August 2021. Immediately after the Taliban assumed power, the Afghan economy collapsed, accelerating Afghanistan’s decade-long slide into…

5 things to know about the Financing for Development Forum — Global Issues

5 things to know about the Financing for Development Forum — Global Issues

There are so many conflicts, humanitarian disasters, extreme weather events and economic upheavals taking place in the world, that a new word is being used to describe the current state of affairs: the “polycrisis”. The word appeared in 2022, a year that began with tentative hopes that the global economy…

Gender inequalities in food and agriculture are costing world $1 trillion: FAO — Global Issues

Gender inequalities in food and agriculture are costing world $1 trillion: FAO — Global Issues

Over one third of the world’s working women are employed in agrifood systems, which include the production of food and non-food agricultural products, as well as related activities from food storage, transportation and processing to distribution. But in a new report, FAO says that gender inequalities such as less access…

Lost decade looms for debt-ridden developing countries: UNCTAD — Global Issues

Lost decade looms for debt-ridden developing countries: UNCTAD — Global Issues

In a new report, UNCTAD projects that annual growth across large parts of the global economy will be below pre-pandemic levels in 2023. High interest rates combined with soaring debt levels will add to the “crushing” effect on developing countries over the coming years, to the tune of at least…

IMF lowers global economic growth outlook as ‘fog thickens’ — Global Issues

IMF lowers global economic growth outlook as ‘fog thickens’ — Global Issues

Global inflation is also heading down, signalling that the tightening of monetary policy through major interest rate rises is bearing fruit, though more slowly than initially anticipated, said the IMF’s Director of Research, from 8.7 percent last year to seven percent this year, and 4.9 percent in 2024. Gradual recovery…

‘Green industrial age’ can be sustainable development breakthrough — Global Issues

‘Green industrial age’ can be sustainable development breakthrough — Global Issues

Amid growing food and energy crises stoked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an uncertain global economic outlook, and the escalating impacts of climate change, the 2023 Financing for Sustainable Development Report: Financing Sustainable Transformations, says that “urgent, massive investment” is needed to accelerate positive transformation of the electricity supply industry, farming, transportation and…