August 21st, 2024
Via The Economist, a look at why U.S. politicians are obsessed with mythical Chinese land grabs There was a time when Kim Reynolds, the governor of Iowa, had no problem with Chinese investment. In 2012, when she was the state’s lieutenant governor, she met Xi Jinping, then China’s vice-premier, on a visit to Beijing. In 2017, as governor, she […]
Read more »Chinese Solar Farms Are Crowding Out Much-Needed Crops
August 2nd, 2024
Via Wall Street Journal, an article on how China’s expanding renewable energy sector is encroaching on cropland: China installed more solar-power capacity last year than the U.S. has built in its history. Now Beijing is worried that the push may have gone too far in some places as solar farms encroach on cropland, undermining leader Xi Jinping’s goal […]
Read more »July 31st, 2024
Via Observer Research Foundation, a look at the UAE’s and Saudi Arabia’s agricultural diplomacy in Africa: With scarce arable land and water resources, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia depend heavily on food imports, as do other Gulf countries. The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine war, and negative impacts of climate change […]
Read more »Food Security = National Security
June 17th, 2024
Via Australian Strategic Policy Institute, commentary on the link between food security and national security: Australia’s food security should not be taken for granted. The Covid-19 pandemic shows what can go wrong with it during seismic strategic challenges. January’s empty supermarket shelves across Darwin, caused by flooding, illustrate the precarious nature of food security even […]
Read more »June 3rd, 2024
Via African Arguments, a look at how land grabbing is not just back with a vengeance. It is taking on new guises such as carbon offsets, green hydrogen schemes, and other “green grabs”: In recent years, Africa has been at the epicentre of an alarming global trend: the land squeeze. The 2007-8 global financial crisis unleashed […]
Read more »Russian Fertilizer: The ‘New Gas’ for Europe
April 30th, 2024
Courtesy of The Financial Times, a report on the over-reliance and pending constraint of Russia fertilizer on European agriculture: Europe is “sleep walking” into becoming dependent on Russian fertiliser, just as it did with gas, says one of the largest producers of crop nutrients. Nitrogen fertilisers, which are important to plant growth, are made using […]
Read more »