FORESEE (4Cs) Report Series

Towards a joint strategy for agri-food system transformation

Insecticide Use against Desert Locust in the Horn of Africa 2019–2021 Reveals a Pressing Need for Change

The desert locust upsurge in the Horn of Africa over 2019–2021 led to a total of 1.6 million ha being treated with broad-spectrum organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides in Ethiopia and Kenya, while insect growth regulators and the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum were applied in Somalia. Environmental monitoring was largely absent, with limited surveys conducted in Kenya and Ethiopia. Overdosing of fenitrothion of a 960 g/L formulation in Kenya led to non-target mortality, including birds and honeybees. In Ethiopia, chlorpyrifos and malathion applications coincided with a honey production decline of 78% in 2020 compared to pre-upsurge levels. The use of M. acridum on nearly 253,000 ha was a breakaway from previous campaigns, in which its successful application in Somalia against both hopper bands and swarms shows that the persistent and pervasive use of organophosphate insecticides can no longer be justified. Furthermore, future procurement of organophosphate insecticides and possibly insect growth regulators could become increasingly problematic due to measures enacted by the European Union. It is recommended that the complementary impact of M. acridum and bird predation on locusts should be considered in an integrated management approach for both swarm and hopper control.

Our Green Week: Food systems in crisis – Overcoming neo-colonial dependencies Panel discussion in cooperation with Bread for the World and TMG Research

The (media) presentation of the chronic global food crisis, which has dramatically worsened since the Corona pandemic, is often very simplistic. In the wake of Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine, the focus too often narrows to the global grain trade. Various agribusiness voices have revived the narrative that Germany and Europe must feed the world.

The True Cost of Food: A Preliminary Assessment

Ensuring sustainable food systems requires vastly reducing their environmental and health costs while making healthy and sustainable food affordable to all. One of the central problems of current food systems is that many of the costs of harmful foods are...

Oxford Real Farming Conference 2023 | Sixteen Must-See Sessions

It looks set to be another stimulating start to the year for real foodies and regenerative farmers as the Oxford Real Farming Conference, “the largest gathering of the agroecological movement on the planet”, returns from 4 - 6 January 2023 . The packed programme encompasses food sovereignty, nature-based land work, ancestral knowledge and climate justice. To whet your appetite for the days ahead, UK-based writer and environmentalist Ursula Billington highlights 16 sessions to look forward to at this year's ORFC. 

Just Transformations – Land Tenure Rights as the Basis for Restoring Land and Biodiversity While Protecting People and Livelihoods