World food prices just keep rising – The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reported that global food prices rose in March for a third straight month, “adding to fears of hunger and a new wave of social unrest in poor countries.” A spokeswoman for the UN’s World Food Programme explained that “prices are a big concern and have remained a large reason why people are food insecure,” as “higher food prices mean higher import bills for the poorest countries, which do not produce enough food domestically.” (Reuters, Svetlana Kovalyova and Veronica Brown)
US Gives New AID to Horn After Poor Rains Predicted – The US government reported Thursday that it would “provide almost $50 million in additional aid to refugees and drought-affected communities in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya.” This announcement comes two days after the Famine Early Warning System Network projected that March-to-May rains in the region will be 15 to 40 percent below average. (VOA)
Drug-Resistant Malaria Is Spreading, and It Could Be A Public Health Disaster – Malaria deaths have decreased by 30% over the past decade thanks in large part to “more effecting treatment regimens that make use of artemisinin, a plant-derived antimalarial drug.” Two studies released this week in the Lancet and Science indicate that “artemisinin is becoming dramatically less potent in malaria cases” due to “growing drug resistance in the malaria parasites themselves.” Researchers are no in a “race against time to control malaria . . . before drug resistance worsens and develops” and spreads to Africa. (TIME, Bryan Walsh)
President of Malawi dies after heart attack – Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika has died of a heart attack at the age of 78. Mutharika focused on “battling corruption and working to improve the economy,” and “implemented a popular program targeting farmers that is credited with boosting the economy of the largely agricultural nation and helping millions by subsidizing agricultural products.” Mutharika also prioritized “reducing reliance on food aid and attaining self-sufficiency.” Critics accused him of “jeopardizing international relations and risking foreign aid that benefits the poor in the nation.” (CNN, Faith Karimi)
