Articles about 'food security'

A new book by a Cambridge University academic revisits one of the worst famines in recorded history. The Irish Famine of the 1840s had terrible consequences: 1 million people died and several million left Ireland. Today the world is watching as millions in Africa face a similar fate: starvation in the midst of plenty. Dr David Nally’s analysis of what happened in his native Ireland less than two centuries ago reveals some shocking parallels with what is happening in Africa.

As the drive to increase food production gathers pace, conservation scientists suggest that reconciling food security with protecting biodiversity might require unexpected solutions.

Far from being merely ‘dirt’, soil plays a fundamental role in food production, water availability and biodiversity. A new research programme aims to safeguard its future sustainable management.

A programme convening business leaders and policy makers is helping to identify the value to business of nature – and the step changes needed to build food security – as its co-Directors explain.

Mathematical modelling is an important weapon in the armoury against crop disease, as plant epidemiologists demonstrated when they turned their sights on root madness in sugar beet.

Plant scientists in Cambridge have embarked on ambitious plans to improve crop yields by solving one of the chief limitations of photosynthesis.

Understanding how plants ‘silence’ invading viruses could hold the key to releasing their hidden potential.

How can we feed the world’s expanding population? Should we be using GM technologies more to boost the yield of our crops? How will global warming affect our food resources? If this type of question has ever occurred to you, now is your chance to get some answers, from leading experts in the field.

Fundamental research on plant development at the Sainsbury Laboratory will help in the future design of optimal crops.

Antibiotic resistant bacteria found in both humans and dairy cows.