South African agricultural stakeholders want to increase exports to BRIC(S) countries

Bees – including honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees – are very important because they pollinate food crops.

Recent reports show that UTZ, the leading certification body in the cocoa industry, has regularly certified cocoa from West African farms that have contributed to deforestation.

The economic benefits of conserving or restoring natural sites “outweigh” the profit potential of converting them for intensive human use, according to the largest-ever study comparing the value of protecting nature at particular locations with that of exploiting it.

All told, this was a pretty bleak year. The COVID-19 pandemic brought tragedy and confusion; fires razed parts of Australia, the Amazon, and the Western U.S.; and the world is still barreling headlong into the sixth mass extinction of species.

Food security is a growing concern globally, with two billion people being subject to moderate to severe food insecurity in 2019 according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.