By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org As the world recognizes the 103rd International Women’s Day on March 8th, it is a good time to consider the role of women as an answer to improving food security, particularly in the face of global climate change. A recent report found that the narrowing of diversity in crop species contributing
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org How is this for a factoid about the state of the world today – the world loses or wastes a staggering 25 percent to 33 percent of the food it produces for consumption. This, despite 842 million people going hungry every day. This is according to according to the latest issue
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Corporations, law, and governments often operate as if nature is something only to be exploited for its abundant resources.  Little thought is given to what this might mean for the global ecosystem, let alone for future generations. In mid-January, the Global Alliance for Rights of Nature hosted a thought-provoking conference in
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org A United Nations report titled Assessing Global Land Use: Balancing Consumption with Sustainable Supply highlights the pressing need to cope with changes in a growing and consuming world that is shifting quickly from the one we’ve known for decades. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the need to feed a
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The governor of California has declared that the state is experiencing a drought emergency and is urging water rationing.  Governor Jerry Brown called it “perhaps the worst drought that California has ever seen since records (began) about 100 years ago.” This came shortly after the release of a MIT study this
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Overconsumption, as most people are aware of, is having a tremendous effect on the planet.  But fewer think of this in terms of diet, where intensive meat and dairy production is also a strain on the environment. A new report – Meat Atlas – has just been published by Friends of
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org A new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that climate change is likely to put 40 percent more people worldwide at risk of absolute water scarcity, due to changes in rainfall and evaporation. Unsurprisingly, the study
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Alarmingly, food insecurity in Africa’s Sahel belt continues to worsen. This week the United Nations reported that 16 million people in the region are at risk of going hungry in the next year due to violent conflicts and rapid population growth. The Sahel encompasses a semiarid strip of land in Sub-Saharan
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org A recent report by scientists from the National Research Council states that climate change is occurring gradually over the century and that its worst effects can be avoided by keeping emissions below a critical threshold. Due to the burning of fossil fuels, industrial activity and deforestation, the scientists say the accelerating
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The third annual International Conference on Family Planning ended in mid-November with a focus on successful initiatives and with momentum to enact voluntary family planning services and education for people around the world. The breadth and depth of work undertaken by professionals and activists is exciting.   From addressing maternal mortality to
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