Agriculture

Mr. Cipolo worked at an airport in Lusaka, Zambia for most of his adult career. In 1994, at the age of 50, he was suddenly laid off. He applied to other jobs in the city but no one wanted to hire him because of his age. Yet he still needed a full-time income to support his family. He tried farming, but after balancing his books at the end of first year, he found he was losing money.

Most of us don’t think too closely about dirt, but perhaps we should. After all, it’s the foundation of all life on Earth.

Beyond sustaining plant life—and the rest of the food chain along with it—soil itself is very much alive. One handful of dirt contains up to 50 billion bacteria and hundreds of thousands of individual fungal cells. As these microorganisms move through the soil, they feast on minerals and dead organic matter and leave nutrients behind, allowing plants to grow and ecosystems to thrive.

In this article, Tetra Tech’s Catherine Courtney, the University of Connecticut’s Robert Pomeroy, and the U.S. Agency for International Development's Stephen Brooks developed and tested an assessment framework and process to assist national and subnational governments to assess progress in meeting the Voluntary Guidelines on Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines).

In December 2018 Tetra Tech’s Catherine Courtney, along with the University of Connecticut’s Robert Pomeroy and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Stephen Brooks, published a paper in the Marine Policy Journal in which they developed an assessment framework based on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines).

Ethical food sourcing company Coconut Merchant has signed on as Business Call to Action (BCtA)’s newest member, with a commitment to focus on sourcing food products from underserved communities and farmers in developing countries to provide sustainable income, and new routes for their products to international markets.

The world is inhabited by eight billion people. In the next 30 years, there will be two billion more people who will need to be fed. Today, already 30% of all land globally is considered degraded with 28% of crop land in water-stressed regions, malnutrition is endemic, and climate change is accelerating. There is a growing and urgent need for fertile farmland.

Following on the heels of the historic 16th Annual Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, SCS Global Services (SCS) has become the first certification body in North America accredited to conduct assessments under the stringent new RSPO Principles & Criteria (P&C) Standard. This accreditation sets the stage for SCS to certify sustainable palm plantations and mills internationally.

Across the country, children’s museums are aiming to teach their young visitors about food science, nutrition and agriculture by offering cooking demonstrations and hands-on classes that are fun for the whole family. All children can benefit from learning about where their food comes from and how to make healthy snacks and meals, but these programs are especially beneficial for picky eaters.

Measure the Chain: Tools for Assessing GHG Emissions in Agricultural Supply Chains provides companies with an assessment of tools and methods to better manage and disclose Scope 3 emissions generated by food system suppliers.