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Check out more  from Nourishing the  Planet!   Order your copy of State of the World 2011              Read our blog, updated daily Research in Real Time   Dear Naresh,       Since 2009, Nourishing the Planet has been informing our readers about innovations in sustainable agriculture that are working to help alleviate hunger and poverty, while protecting the environment.  Our audience continues to expand and now reaches several thousand farmers, researchers, policymakers, and activists around the world. We are constantly trying to improve our website and want to hear back from you.  What do you like about Nourishing the Planet? What posts do you look forward to? What suggestions do you have on topics that we should cover? Please feel free to email me your comments and ideas. I look forward to hearing from you!  All the best, Danielle Nierenberg Nourishing the Planet Project Director Worldwatch Institute www.nourishingtheplanet.org Please connect with us on Facebook!     Here are some highlights from the week: FAO and EC's Promotion of "Climate-Smart" Agriculture The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Commission have announced a €5.3 million (approximately US$7 million) three-year project to promote "climate-smart" approaches to agriculture. FAO says that "climate-smart" agriculture "sustainably increases productivity, resilience (adaptation), [and] reduces/removes greenhouse gases (mitigation) while enhancing the achievement of national food security and development goals."FAO reports that crop agriculture is responsible for 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts, therefore, will need to be aimed at both improving livelihoods of farmers and improving food access, as well as reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.       PBS reports on One Acre Fund Last week, PBS NewsHour featured the One Acre Fund and their work helping small farmers in East Africa. The organization supports farmers by providing them with credit, good-quality seeds and fertilizer, and insurance. The report on the One Acre Fund is part of the Food for 9 Billion project, which looks at the challenge of feeding the world in a time of social and environmental change.       The One Campaign Urges "Final Push" to Break Cycle of Poverty and Malnutrition   As part of its THRIVE campaign, the grassroots organization The One Campaign has released a report, FOOD. FARMING. FUTURE. Breaking the Cycle of Malnutrition and Poverty. The report points out that reactive measures, such as early warning systems, safety net programs, and coordinated humanitarian responses, have not been enough to prevent the food crises and famines that result from drought and national disasters. A more preventative approach, beginning with increased investment in agriculture-and the financial and infrastructure systems that support it-is needed to increase incomes and eradicate food security.        New Government Proposal Threatens Food Safety The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to fully implement a high-speed poultry production model that allows industry and private companies to take over inspection at poultry production plants. The model includes cutting 1,000 USDA poultry inspection employees and replacing them with plant inspectors who have to examine 165-200 birds per minute (bpm), from the original 140 bpm. That's the inspection of more than three chickens per second. The program could pose a serious health risk by allowing a greater chance for contaminated meat to reach consumers.       Journalists Speak about How to Meet the World's Food Production Needs On April 5th, the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of International Studies (SAIS) hosted a discussion on hunger and food production with Bloomberg's Alan Bjerga and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Roger Thurow. Both journalists stressed that for smallholder farmers to be able to increase their yields, they need access to inputs and training. Inputs, including seed, fertilizer, storage, financing, crop insurance, and education can all make a dramatic difference in crop production and farmer livelihoods.            Citywatch: Resource Revolution            In thisCitywatch post, food policy analyst Wayne Roberts discusses the importance of policies that stimulate resource conservation and the need for a "resource revolution" for better economic and environmental health. "Imagine how long a city citizen to-do list could be if it incorporated such personal measures as increase composting or backyard gardening or reduce meat-intensive diets (which require half the grains grown in the world). Such measures of resource productivity not only save money; they also boost personal and environmental health," says Roberts.          NtP in the News Nourishing the Planet received some exciting press coverage this past week. Our research on land grabs was featured in Colombia's Semana Magazine while our research on global livestock production was featured in Barron's. And our article on how agriculture can help address some of our most pressing social and environmental challenges, including hunger and climate change, was published in the Harvard International Review.           What did you think of this newsletter? Please give us your feedback...we will use your comments to constantly improve our work. Write Danielle Nierenberg, Senior Researcher and Project Director of Nourishing the Planet, at dnierenberg@worldwatch.org.

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