Migrant crossings on the Arizona-Mexico border have remained high this year. While much of the conversation has been focused on Texas, Arizona has been one of the busiest border sections this year. Amna Nawaz reports from Pima County, where people from all over the world come to enter the U.S.
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More from my interview with legendary Weathercaster Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz. I asked him about recent incidence of increased flooding in the Northeast, where he lives.
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Freethink Aug 19, 2019
NETHERLANDS
How efficient farming in the Netherlands is producing 20 times more food with 1/4 the water and the most sustainable agriculture systems in the world. It’s the first episode of Freethink’s The Future of Food. Subscribe: https://freeth.ink/youtube-subscribe-…
Amidst climate change, a growing population, and people consuming more of less sustainable food, how will we feed our future world? The answer may not be increasing resources–land, water, and employees–but rather improving production efficiency to create more sustainable farming of crops. The key question: How do we increase the amount of food we produce while using the same or fewer resources?
The Sustainable Development Roadmap from an Unexpected Superpower:
When it comes to scaling agricultural production sustainably, one small country has a very large impact. Bolstered by a national commitment to produce twice the amount of food with half the resources, the Netherlands has become the world’s #2 produce exporter. The close collaboration between the government, science organizations and the food industry have driven impressive innovation and an efficiency that’s unmatched anywhere else in the world.
On a normal open-field tomato farm, one could expect 4 kilograms of yield per square meter. In a high-tech greenhouse in the Netherlands, that number shoots up to 80 kilograms of yield per square meter, with 4X less water. That’s a 20X improvement on output! And it’s not just tomatoes–the Dutch are #1 in the world on producing chilis, green peppers, and cucumbers (measured by yield per square mile). With conservation and sustainable food as two of the most important global issues, could other countries copy their approach to help save the earth?
Sustainable Farming Practices Driven by AI
What is sustainability driven by? The technology behind these greenhouses allows for an extreme level of control over water, light, temperature, and CO2–all of which are finely tuned and optimized. Constant testing on countless variables is what drives these facilities and could be the future of our planet’s sustainable food systems. Tests can be as simple as comparing different hues of LEDs to increase tolerance against pests, or as advanced as a moth-killing drone.
In addition, eco friendly technology is simply getting better. More and more, efficient farming is becoming automated, using artificial intelligence to find the optimal conditions. By learning the behaviors of plants, climate computers can adjust conditions far better than a human.
Scaling Efficient Farming: It’s All About Knowledge Sharing
The Netherlands is not just thinking about the Netherlands. Besides leveraging technology in efficient ways, these innovators are exploring how to use their findings on a greater scale. For example, their greenhouses emulate climates across the world in order to optimize growth outside of the country. As they learn about what’s optimal in Columbia, for example, they can then transfer that knowledge and help build sustainable food systems across the earth. This level of big picture thinking could be a game-changer as we tackle global warming and climate change – one of society’s greatest challenges in the coming years.
This level of big picture thinking could be a game-changer as we tackle global warming and climate change – one of society’s greatest challenges in the coming years. For more stories profiling pioneers of science and tech innovation, subscribe to Freethink on YouTube: https://freeth.ink/youtube-subscribe-toc
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Food-matters,
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Democracy Now! Mar 12, 2024
Support our work: https://www.democracynow.org/donate?c… Unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry has announced he plans to resign amid rising opposition in Haiti, where a coalition of armed groups opposing the de facto leader have declared an uprising, led mass jailbreaks and taken over the country’s airport. At an emergency meeting with international actors in Jamaica, the regional bloc CARICOM has reportedly proposed a plan to set up a seven-member presidential panel that would appoint a new interim prime minister. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said the panel would only include Haitians who support the deployment of a U.N.-backed security force, a policy supported by Henry, while large swaths of Haitians voiced opposition to another hand-selected leader. “I’m not sure this solves the problem that’s been going on in Haiti,” says Haitian American scholar Jemima Pierre, who explains why Henry’s resignation and transition announcement attempts to “put a veneer of legality on this situation,” while the country continues to operate under occupation by foreign interests. “There’s going to be more flare-ups in the next few months … if we don’t stop this problem by its root, which is the constant U.S. imposition of its terms on Haitian people and the denial of Haitian sovereignty.”
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DW News Mar 12, 2024
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to resign amid surging violence in the Caribbean country, the chair of the Caribbean Community said Monday. Henry said he will step down once a transitional presidential council is created and an interim premier named. He had held the position, unelected, since the 2021 assassination of the previous president, Jovenel Moise. A seven-member presidential council will be formed for the transition to elections in Haiti, which will appoint a new interim prime minister, Ali said late on Monday. Henry is currently stranded in the US territory of Puerto Rico, following his trip to Kenya last week to lobby for UN-backed police to be deployed in his country.
Members of a Caribbean regional trade bloc known as Caricom organized emergency talks in Jamaica on Monday to address the violence in Haiti. The meeting also involved Canada, France, the UN and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Caricom has pressed for a transitional government in Haiti for months amid protests calling for Henry’s resignation. Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, the current Caricom chair, warned that, despite the ongoing talks to restore “stability and normalcy” to Haiti, some Haitian groups “are not where they need to be.” After meeting with Caribbean leaders, Blinken announced $100 million (€92 million) in funding for the deployment of a multinational force to help stop the violent crisis in the country and an additional $33 million in humanitarian aid.
How did the situation deteriorate?
Haiti has seen escalating violence as police battled armed gangs calling for the ouster of Prime Minister Henry. Influential criminal gangs have long controlled much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Henry had ignored the calls for elections, saying the security situation in the country did not allow for this. Last week, the violence spiraled in the Caribbean nation in his absence after a powerful gang leader held a press conference and said he was trying to oust the government. Haiti’s government announced the extension of a state of emergency by a month and a nighttime curfew in an effort to curb the gang violence that engulfed the capital.
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Rethinking Economics is an international network aiming to reform the discipline of economics. By illuminating the limitations of mainstream economic theory, highlighting alternatives and demonstrating how economics has failed society, we aim to broaden and enrich economics.
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Our soils withdraw 70% of freshwater and grow 95% of the food we eat. They are a critical lever to transform how we produce food and tackle the trilemma of food access and affordability, nutrition and health as well as nature and climate.
From capital stacks for watersheds linked to farming corridors to skills and capabilities in protecting and restoring soil health, how can breakthrough finance, knowledge models and community collaborations realize the value of soil?
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
The 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will provide a crucial space to focus on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability.
This Annual Meeting will welcome over 100 governments, all major international organizations, 1000 Forum’s Partners, as well as civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs, and news outlets.
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/
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There’s a reason why aerial shots are so captivating- they reveal a perspective we aren’t used to and that we most likely can’t experience ourselves. They can also evoke a feeling of awe- notice the size of the humans in comparison to the majestic cascade landscape below? Discover more here: https://alliancebioversityciat.org/st…
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Transition Studies 