Bio-Ethanol pushes up corn prices
Bio-Ethanol presser majsprisen op
U-Landsnyt.dk, 10 October 2012

A reprinted op-ed by Timothy A. Wise from the Global Development and Environment Institute originally printed on Al Jazeera´s website. The op-ed discusses bio fuels and it´s negative effects on food prices. Stop fueling the food crisis is the overall message. On the World Food Day, October 16th, the FAO assembles a high-level meeting in Rome on the food crisis. Disgracefully, the G-20 group of economically powerful nations declined to convene at this meeting, with a U.S. chairman stating "agricultural commodity markets are functioning". Global leaders should take a strong position against bio fuel expansion, endorse the use of food reserves to cushion markets in times of drought, demand rules to end financial speculation on food commodities and restrict land grabs which are driven largely by global demand for biofuels. “It's time we put food before fuel and people before cars”, says the author.

UN: Co-operatives of small farmers puts more food on the table
FN: Kooperativer for småbønder vejen til mere mad på bordet
U-Landsnyt.dk, 16 October 2012

Article on the theme of this year´s World Food Day, Agricultural Cooperatives, in relation to Danish development aid. Support for agricultural cooperatives was once a major building block of Danish aid, especially to Africa. Cooperatives are now highlighted by the UN, calling them an effective development tool for hundreds of millions of small food producers. The authors argue that agricultural cooperatives, already enriching millions of small-scale farmers, could expand and make a relevant contribution against poverty and hunger, if they were given the right support by governments, civil society and academia.
The article refers to FAO’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva when he emphasized the need to work for the total eradication of hunger.

MS: Land trades cause of hunger in developing countries
MS: Jordhandler årsag til sult i udviklingslande
U-Landsnyt.dk, 15 October 2012

Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (MS Danish Association for International Co-operation) together with ActionAid International publishes a report on land grabbing, “Lay of the Land”, on the 16th October. The release coincides with the World Food Day, as access to land for the poorest is one of the most import things to fight poverty and hunger in developing countries. The latest figures from FAO and WFP, which have just been published, show that the number of hungry people rounds 870 million. MS agrees with the UN recommendation that small farmer´s access to land is crucial to solve the poverty problem.