The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.
This weekend marks the Jewish holiday of Purim. Purim is generally thought to be a relatively light-hearted holiday, celebrated with feasting, drinking, costumes, giving gifts to friends, and general silliness. But this year as I did a pre-reading of Megilat Esther, the biblical book which describes the events we commemorate on this holiday, I couldn’t help …
I’m a serious coffee drinker. But, admittedly, I know little about roasts, brews, or the land on which my beans are grown. Coffee is the U.S.’s largest food import, the second most valuable traded commodity only after oil. It’s also entangled in a complex web of issues involving human labor, the environment, climate change and …
During a week that marked the 100th celebration of International Women’s Day, there was a lot of news and blog buzz about women, farming and food. The new FAO report finds that while women make up 43 percent of the world’s farmers, only about 10 to 20 percent own the land they farm. Without land ownership, …
The news has been buzzing with articles and commentary about the new UN report that about how agroecology can double food production in 10 years. “Agro-ecology mimics nature not industrial processes. It replaces the external inputs like fertiliser with knowledge of how a combination of plants, trees and animals can enhance productivity of the land,” …
A quick round-up of this week’s food justice highlights: In Kenya, Improving Yields is Key to Boosting Rice Farmers’ Livelihoods [AlertNet] Climate-Linked Drought Pushes Kenyan Farmers to Sell Land [AlertNet] Ethiopia Posts Big Gains in Access to Drinking Water [The Guardian] Photo of the Week: Increasing Farmer Productivity in Haiti [U.S. Department of State blog] …
