U.S. AIDS relief helps over 10 million

In 2003 the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) became the largest contribution to fighting a single disease in history, providing $18.8 billion in humanitarian aid to fight the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to the PEPFAR annual report to congress, the program has been successful in treating over 2 million people, and providing care [...]

OXFAM: A billion people are hungry

In a report published this month by Oxfam entitled, “A Billion Hungry People,” the humanitarian organization says global hunger increased by 109 million people in 2008 due in large part to rising fuel and food prices, bringing the world’s hunger count to almost a billion people, roughly one sixth of the world’s population.
Based on this [...]

Access to food halved in Djibouti

Source: IRIN
Assignment Global is not responsible for the content of this article. The information and reporting are those of the author and news organization alone.
NAIROBI, 14 August 2008 (IRIN) – Access to food in Djibouti has been cut by more than 50 percent because of reduced availability and rising prices, according to a humanitarian official.
“The [...]

China to increase investment in African agriculture

The China Development Bank announced Friday that it plans to increase investment in African agriculture, just as the continent has been trying to increase production and curb rising food prices and shortages.
This is good news for Africa’s poor. Soaring food prices and shortages have made life more difficult for hundreds of millions people living [...]

World trade talks collapse

The seven-year world trade talks being held in Geneva collapsed this afternoon when the United States, China and India failed to reach an agreement on agriculture imports.
See reports from the Associated Press, The Daily Telegraph, The Hindu, and China View.

“Last ditch” trade talks could produce deal

According to news reports, marathon negotiations this weekend might finally produce a deal on the so-called Doha round of world trade talks, after seven years.
The talks, begun in 2001 in Doha, Qatar, are supposed to help the world’s poorest countries to compete in global markets. The talks at the World Trade Organization in Geneva had [...]

Somalia nears crisis

Last week, we outlined how East Africa could be a flash point in the world food crisis. Now humanitarian organizations say that Somalia in East Africa is just months away from a major crisis.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), insecurity, drought, a succession of poor or failed harvests, are deepening the suffering of millions [...]

Food crisis threatens political stability

National leaders speaking Monday at the two-day U.N. General assembly debate on the global food and energy crisis warned that international investment in agriculture is critical for hard-hit countries to deal with food shortages and avoid political unrest.
United Nations General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim told the Assembly on Friday that, according to research by the [...]

USAID: Global food crisis unlike any in 50 years

Testifying before Congress Wednesday, the Acting Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development James R. Kunder said the global food crisis is unlike any other food crisis we have faced in 50 years:
We are in the midst of a global food crisis unlike other food crises we have faced in the past half [...]

New Jersey-size “dead zone” in Gulf of Mexico

Scientists announced Tuesday that this year the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico will reach a record size equivalent to the state of New Jersey. The record dead zone is the result of soaring production of corn-based ethanol and widespread flooding in the Midwest, according to the scientists.
The dead zone is caused by the [...]