'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
20 February 2022 (UN News)* — Although child marriage and “bride kidnapping” are illegal in Kyrgyzstan, both practices still exist in parts of the country. An initiative from a UN-backed programme is finally leading to a change in attitudes, and a decline in these harmful practices.
.
– A recent Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) study shows the largest farms cultivate a high and increasing share of agricultural land in much of the world.
Vikas Rawal
Farm size concentration
World Agricultural Census data for 129 countries show about 40% of the world’s farmland is operated by farms over 1000 hectares (ha) in size. About 70% is operated by the top 1% of farms, all bigger than 50 ha each.
A rising share of farmland is in larger farms. But farm sizes in developed and developing countries seem quite different.
Farms smaller than 5 ha accounted for 63% of land in low and lower middle-income countries. But such farms covered only 8% of farmland in upper middle and high-income countries.
The “share of farmland farmed on the largest holdings has increased in … several European countries (France, Germany and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and in the United States of America.”
Conflict in January 2022 highlights the geostrategic relevance of this region
15 February 2022 (Wall Street International)* — At the beginning of the year, Kazakhstan was suddenly catapulted into the focus of international attention. What actually happened, how was the reaction, and what are the consequences of the current events for neighboring states? A stocktake.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 