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FRW news in brief

Farm Radio Weekly has a new trial resource for you: Farmer news briefs. These are stories from across the continent which have been adapted from print or online sources and are suitable for use in your regular farm radio program. Read them, edit them, broadcast them, localize them, or simply use them as background info. Want more details? Click the link under the story to see the original article.

Please let us know what you think. Do you want to see Farmer news briefs in Farm Radio Weekly on a regular basis? Email us at farmradioweekly@farmradio.org [1]

1-South Sudan: Facing famine and cholera outbreak

The President of South Sudan says his country faces “one of the worst famines ever“ if the conflict between government and rebel forces does not end immediately.

The UN South Sudan Crisis Response Plan states that over seven million people could go hungry by August, with an estimated quarter of a million children facing severe acute malnutrition. The international NGO Oxfam says the country is also facing a cholera outbreak.

The United Nations Security Council has accused both sides in the conflict of responsibility for the violence and is threatening sanctions. Nearly one million people are internally displaced or have fled the country as refugees.

To read the full article, go to: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27469954 [2]

2-Ethiopia: Family farmers feed the world

The International Fund for Agricultural Development, or IFAD, states that 500 million small-scale farming families produce up to 80 per cent of the food consumed in the developing world.

At a recent conference in Addis Ababa, IFAD President Dr. Kanayo Nwaze said that investing in small-scale farmers is investing in the resilience of food systems. He noted that small-scale farmers are often unable to invest during crises because they lack assets, insurance, financial services and social safety nets.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn stated that Ethiopia is improving small-scale farmers’ options by strengthening agricultural marketing systems, providing irrigation and reducing land degradation.

To read the full article, go to: http://allafrica.com/stories/201405190799.html?aa_source=mf-hdlns [3]

3-Somalia: Another famine on the horizon?

The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia says that $60-million US is needed immediately to deliver food and water to 850,000 people in Somalia and save the lives of 50,000 children.

The matter is, however, complicated because of a ban on delivery of food aid to parts of the country controlled by the militant group Al-Shabaab.

The UN is calling on donors to help Somalia. The country suffered a famine in 2011. A quarter of a million people, many of them children, died after two harvests failed. Drought, a shortage of aid money and conflict have disrupted the current planting season, leading UN officials to fear that another famine is on the horizon.

To read the full article, go to: http://www.trust.org/item/20140519135609-pxg8c/?source=jtOtherNews2 [4]