The high-level conference at Rome was called to find a way out of the global food crisis. A series of consultations with experts preceded this important event that went to show that the UN had all good intentions. The good intentions unfortunately did not translate into good policy decisions that could slow, stop and reverse the food shortage. savvy soumya misra reports from Rome on an opportunity squandered

  AKINWUMI A ADESINA Vice-president, policy and partnerships,Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)   Though AGRA says it is supporting small farmers, Annan held a separate meeting with private players, including the International SeedFederation and the International Fertilizer Association , and not with civil

During the conference several countries and international banks and donors pledged funds to fight hunger and help agricultural development.

This paper discusses the various factors that have been identified as responsible for the current global crisis in the availability of food and for the rise in prices of cereals. It argues that the crisis is different from the ones in the 1960s and 1970s in that there is now likely to be a permanent upward shift in real prices. It is important that developing countries place renewed emphasis on selfsufficiency to ensure food security, since they are unlikely to be able to afford expensive food imports.

Crippling epidemics of meningococcal meningitis sweep across Africa with the onset of the dry season and harsh harmattan winds. An affordable, effective vaccine in the works could change that.

Maize streak virus (MSV; family Geminiviridae, genus Mastrevirus), the causal agent of maize streak disease, ranks amongst the most serious biological threats to food security in subSaharan Africa. Although five distinct MSV strains have been
currently described, only one of these