Agriculture

Korea provides emergency food aid to refugees and school children across Africa

The Korean donation significantly comes as a time when hunger is on the rise in Sierra Leone due to numerous reasons. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

The Republic of Korea has donated 11,520 MT of rice to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as emergency aid to 81,600 Malian refugees and 287,000 school children across Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Sierra Leone

High food costs, coupled with climate crisis, conflicts and insecurity in West Africa is driving food out of reach for vulnerable families in the region. Across the three countries, school meals represent a critical safety net for vulnerable families and provide a significant incentive for parents to keep their children in school, boosting attentiveness in class and mitigating student dropouts. As schools have attempted to go back to normality following the COVID-19 pandemic, nutritious school meals and take-home rations play a key role in maximising student retention in schools and improving children’s nutrition.

In Guinea Bissau, where economic and climate-related crises are driving hunger and malnutrition up, WFP will distribute 2,400 mt of rice to 180,000 children in 850 schools for four months, providing essential nutritional support to schoolchildren. In Mauritania,the Korean contribution will be used to complement general food assistance to 81,600 Malian Refugees in the Mbera refugee camp for 11 months. This contribution will be partially used to provide school meals to 7,700 refugee children and 46,800 children from the host communities for nine months from October 2024 to June 2025.

The contribution towards the refugee response complements the cash-based response, thereby enabling refugee families that are most vulnerable to receive a complete and diversified food basket, particularly during the June-September period when these groups are often forced to resort to adverse coping strategies to make ends meet.

Indeed, the Korean donation significantly comes as a time when hunger is on the rise in Sierra Leone due to numerous reasons including economic fallout linked to the Ukraine crisis, broader macroeconomic decline and lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, among others.

"I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations and deepest appreciation to the Republic of Korea for their unwavering commitment to humanitarian efforts and their dedication to making a positive difference in the lives of those in need,” said WFP’s country director & representative in Sierra Leone, Yvonne Forsen. “This act of generosity exemplifies the spirit of international cooperation and compassion that lies at the core of the World Food Programme mission."

Call for action against illegal pesticides

These stewardship programs include educating users and promoting practices that encourage the responsible, safe and efficient use of pesticides. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Following the tragic poisoning incidents of two young boys and the hospitalisation of a teenager due to the consmption of rat poison-laced snacks, the Malaysian CropLife & Public Health Association (MCPA) has called for action against illegal pesticides

Pesticides are some of the most tested and regulated products in the world, particularly in countries like Malaysia where the pesticide industry is rigorously regulated by the Pesticides Board (PB) of the Department of Agriculture (DOA). Only pesticides that comply with stringent safety, toxicology, bio-efficacy, and other standards are approved by PB for sale.

MPCA members are required to adhere to the Act, rules, and guidelines provided by PB to ensure safety while supporting national needs, including food security. Additionally, MCPA members adhere to the International Code of Conduct on Pesticides Management (ICOC) by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).

MCPA and its members have been actively promoting Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) and stewardship programmes including educating users and promoting practices that encourage the responsible, safe and efficient use of pesticides. This is undertaken within the context of promoting an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy and forms an important part of the industry’s life-cycle approach to product stewardship. MCPA also partners with the food value chain and government agencies to ensure food safety.

SSGA deligation to meet with food manufacturing companies in the Philippines

The delegation will visit food manufacturing and importing companies to discuss their brandmark and quality assurance protocol. (Image source: SSGA)

A delegation from the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA), the identity preserved agriculture alliance of the US, will be meeting and promoting high-quality, traceable field crops with food manufacturing and importing companies from 7-9 August in Manila, Philippines

The delegation will visit food manufacturing and importing companies, including Miracle Soybean Food International Corp., Everflowing Fortune Trading, Inc. and Asia Brewing, to discuss the value of the US Identity Preserved brandmark and quality assurance protocol that signifies a premium crop with a verifiable origin.

Additionally, the delegation will also meet with representatives of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila.

Combatting hunger and food insecurity with agritech innovations

Agricultural technologies and innovations enable farmers to produce food that is more nutritious, while utilising fewer resources and having less impact on the environment. (Image source: CropLife Asia)

CropLife Asia and its member companies are emphasising on the importance of agricultural technology and innovations that are capable of not only driving food security but also empowering farmers to produce food that is safe, nutritious and affordable to all

According to the United Nations (UN) 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, more than 713 million people around the world have faced hunger, with Asia being home to the largest number of those who experience moderate-to-severe food insecurity. It is predicted that around 582 million people will be chronically undernourished by 2030.

Plant science technologies such as plant biotechnology, gene-editing and crop protection products play a key role in supporting crop productivity, ensuring a stable food supply, managing and protecting natural resources as well as driving national economies.

“The growing population here in Asia and around the world, climate change impacts and geopolitical conflicts have only exacerbated an already challenging food insecurity landscape,” said executive director of CropLife Asia, Dr Siang Hee Tan. “With agricultural innovations and plant science technologies, it is possible for farmers to produce more nutritious food with fewer resources and less impact to the world around us. That helps our smallholder farmers, national economies and trade, and most crucially, our collective regional food security. More than ever, we need science-based regulatory systems around Asia to provide timely reviews of the latest agricultural innovations and technologies that can help our smallholder farmers at such a consequential time for our region.”

Collaboration announced to combat global AMR crisis

Professor Mark Blaskovich, CEAStAR centre director, Professor Darren Trott, CEAStAR centre deputy director, and Dr Bicheng Yang, director of MGI Australia (from L to R) (Image source: MGI Tech)

MGI Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of MGI Tech Co. Ltd, recently announced its partnership with The University of Queensland (UQ) led Centre for Environmental and Agricultural Solutions to Antimicrobial Resistance (CEAStAR), aiming to combat antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) infections affecting human health, agriculture, and the environment

MGI's proprietary DNBSEQ technology, renowned for its high accuracy and efficiency in genetic sequencing, plays a pivotal role in CEAStAR's efforts to combat antimicrobial resitance.

"Our goal is to deliver new antimicrobials for animal use, alternative treatments, and advanced detection methods to mitigate the spread of resistant microbes across sectors," said centre director professor Mark Blaskovich, while emphasising the urgent need for alternatives to antibiotics in agriculture and veterinary medicine.

When integrated with MGI's automated laboratory systems, the DNBSEQ technology enables portable, on-site sequencing solutions. These solutions empower rapid detection, surveillance, and monitoring of AMR in diverse environmental settings, including wastewater and agricultural environments.

As part of the CEAStAR initiative, on World Food Day 2023 MGI announced support for an industry-driven graduate research project focused on developing sequencing-based surveillance to monitor antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the water environment.

"We have successfully collaborated with UQ, utilising our cutting-edge sequencing technology to detect SARS-CoV-2 variants and antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater," said director of MGI Australia, Dr Bicheng Yang. "We look forward to expanding this partnership, continuing to develop and apply innovative solutions to combat AMR."

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