-AgriculturesNetwork.org The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, today calls for radical transformation of the world's food systems. The emphasis in agricultural policy should shift from productivity to "well-being, resilience and sustainability", he says. This morning De Schutter presented his final report to the UN Human Rights Council after a six-year term as Special Rapporteur. In February, he also presented some of his findings at...

Protecting the rights of land users from speculation, stepped up production of Agrofuels and population growth is vital to combat global hunger and malnutrition, an independent United Nations expert said today. “Pressures on land are increasing as a result of speculation on farmland, the expansion of Agrofuels production, and demographic growth in rural areas,” Special Rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter noted. “In this context, moving swiftly towards protecting...

Environmental groups have questioned assertions by sections of scientists and the biotechnology industry that genetically-modified (GM) food crops could play a crucial role in ensuring food security. More than 180 GM plants have so far been field tested in several countries, but few have progressed to the stage where commercial seed is available to farmers, the non-government environmental network called Friends of the Earth (FoE) has said. “GM crops are...