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At this week\u2019s G7 meeting, the world\u2019s wealthiest nations <\/span>committed<\/a> $5 billion to fight global hunger. Activists said that the sum falls short of what is <\/span>needed,<\/a> with millions of people on the brink of starvation. <\/span><\/p>\n Germany and the UK pushed the G7 meeting for a temporary <\/span>waiver<\/a> on biofuel mandates, but the proposal didn\u2019t make it to the final communique.<\/span><\/p>\n The UN warns that the world faces an unprecedented hunger<\/a> crisis, with a risk of multiple famines this year. There are worries<\/a> that global crop problems could result in years of high food prices.<\/p>\n Talks continued this week to allow Ukraine to restart<\/a> grain exports, but no one is optimistic<\/a> about their outcome. Russia has accused the West of lying<\/a> about the reasons for food shortages but at the same time bombed<\/a>\u00a0grain terminals in the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv.<\/p>\n Egypt has bought 180,000 mt of wheat from India and is looking to add potato flour<\/a> to subsidised bread. India is turning to rice bran<\/a> for vegetable oil and animal feed.<\/p>\n Parts of Italy are suffering their worst drought<\/a> for 70 years, with saltwater incursion adding to farmers\u2019 problems. Heatwaves and fires threaten<\/a> Tunisia\u2019s grain harvest. Dry weather is impacting<\/a> crops in Argentina.<\/p>\n The BBC reports that UK farmers are cutting production<\/a> due to high fuel and fertiliser input costs. \u00a0High fertiliser prices are an acute problem<\/a> in Africa, where up to 20 million people<\/a> in the Horn of Africa could go hungry. Farm input shortages are also negatively<\/a> impacting production in the US.<\/p>\n Malaysian authorities are encouraging<\/a> palm oil producers to keep supplying factories despite a 22 per cent drop<\/a> in palm prices over the past month. Times are also challenging<\/a> for Indonesian palm oil farmers.<\/p>\n The US FDA has approved Argentine biotechnology firm Bioceres’ GM wheat<\/a>. The USDA still needs to approve the drought-resistant HB4 wheat before it can be sold in the US.<\/p>\n The Guardian writes that farmers \u201care beholden<\/a> to a handful of big corporations who set commodity prices\u201d and \u201chave little leverage to implement more sustainable practices.\u201d<\/p>\n In a separate article, the newspaper asks why we feed crops<\/a> to our cars when people are starving. It cites a report<\/a> from the NGO Green Alliance.<\/p>\n The newspaper also worries that climate change is responsible for a shortage<\/a> of (randomly) mustard, chilli peppers, coffee, and wine.<\/p>\n On the good news front, the Guardian<\/a> cites a recent study<\/a> that shows farmers can achieve high yields with less fertiliser. The newspaper wonders whether \u2018peecycling\u2019<\/a> could be a solution to the world fertiliser shortage. (Each of us produces enough pee a year to fertilise 145kg of wheat.)<\/p>\n Research by the University of Cambridge finds that intensive farming may reduce<\/a> the risks of pandemics.<\/p>\n Nestl\u00e9 and Unilever have promised to remove deforestation<\/a> from their supply chains.<\/p>\n