Pacific Nation’s Farm Infrastructure Likely Destroyed After Cyclone Pam
Today, we look at how Cyclone Pam has wrecked the Island nation of Vanuatu’s farming sector; how technology is changing agriculture in Africa; the startling results of an Australian program to improve soil; and alleged abuse of chickens in a large North Carolina poultry processing plant.
Aid groups are saying Cyclone Pam, which slammed into Vanuatu, a Pacific nation of 83 islands, over the weekend, has likely destroyed the farming infrastructure of one of the world’s poorest economies, according to International Business News. In a related story in The Guardian, a new United Nations report has found that more than 20 percent of damages caused by natural disasters in the developing world affect the agricultural sector, with poor farmers bearing the brunt.
The rise in smartphones and Internet access across Africa is likely to boost agricultural productivity there, according to Business Day’s website BDLive. Several apps and Web-based services are already available for African farmers that provide help with veterinary questions and cattle-related issues. There’s also an online farming marketplace.
In South Australia, a soil improvement program being tested there has shown “amazing” results, with some crops recording a 300 percent increase in yields, according to South Australian Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the results affirm his stance on keeping genetically modified crops out of the region since yields can be increased without them.
An animal rights group is attempting to pressure Wayne Farms, one of the largest poultry producers in the United States, to change its practices by going through one of its biggest customers, Michigan-based Gordon Food Service. Mercy for Animals released a video of alleged animal abuse that was secretly recorded at a North Carolina poultry processing facility, says MLive. A review panel put together by the Center for Food Integrity disputed the activists’ claims of animal torture, according to MeatPoultry.Com.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: Graham Crumb – Humans of Vanuatu
