Conflict, the climate crisis and now COVID-19 are forcing people to go hungry. One in three people (nearly 2.37 billion) didnât have enough food in 2020 - 320 million more than in 2019, according to the World Bankâs analysis of World Food Programme data.
And 272 million people are already or are at risk of becoming acutely food-insecure due to the COVID-19 crisis, in the countries where the World Food Programme operates, meaning their life or livelihood is in immediate danger due to lack of food.
The FAO makes the case for using agroecological methods to strengthen the resilience of food systems, in a report published last year, especially in severely affected regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2007, a severe drought in Lesotho and South Africa caused crop yields to drop dramatically. The main staple food in Lesotho, maize, doubled in price and became unaffordable for many. A fifth of the population needed emergency food assistance....
If humans and mosquitoes had a battle at the end of the world, who would win? Thatâs the question I pose to 30 young kids each summer during a two-week camp called âMosquitoes & Meâ in Des Moines, Iowa.
I am an educational anthropologist who studies the cultural dynamics of science education. Along with my colleagues Lyric Bartholomay and Sara Erickson, who help run the camp, we have the young camp participants explore the âend-of-world battleâ question as they learn about mosquito biology, ecology and disease transmission. Based on what the kids learn from their hands-on activities, they design a mosquito comic book character that is either a hero or a villain.
Since this approach was such a big hit, we worked with Marvel Comics artist Bob Hall to convert âMosquitoes & Meâ into an actual comic book. Some of our young scientists drew images of themselves and made up catchy public health slogans for a page about mosquito control. The idea is to reach kids who canât attend âMosquitoes & Meâ camp by offering to teach them cool facts about mosquitoes....
