'Unseen' News and Views
9 April 2021 (FAO)* — Jumla beans. Black, red and yellow spotted, cultivated by hand in one of the most remote districts of Nepal’s mountains.
Despite their great nutritional value and environmentally friendly production, jumla beans threaten to be replaced by other crops because mountain producers cannot make a decent income from them.
Sentiments in Bolivia for and against the coup d’etat of November 2019 are predictably along class lines. Those from more affluent sections felt that the socialist policies of the government of President Evo Morales (which was in power from 2006 to 2019) were eating into their authority.
Bolivia coup-appointed president Jeanine Anez. November 2019 VOA News -YouTube
But these sections could not oust Morales at the ballot box because his policies of redistribution were wildly popular among the mass of the population.
9 April 2021 (Wall Street International)* — In 1986 on returning for my first 3-week visit to China, I wrote an article, “China: Key Player in a New World Game” in The Futurist, December 1986. I had been invited by China’s State Council at the recommendation of my good friends, Alvin and Heidi Toffler, best-selling authors of Future Shock (1970), who both had, and still, have a big following in China.
A new report, published on 14 Mar 2021 in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ journal Ambio, points out that humanity is hurtling towards destruction unless we have the collective wisdom to change course quickly. Here is a link to the article:
John Scales Avery
The Ambio article was written as part of the preparation of a meeting of Nobel Prize winners to discuss the state of the planet. The virtual meeting will be held on April 26-28, 2021.
We Must Achieve a Steady-State Economic System
A steady-state economic system is necessary because neither population growth nor economic growth can continue indefinitely on a finite earth. No one can maintain that exponential industrial growth is sustainable in the long run except by refusing to look more than a short distance into the future.
(Greenpeace International)* — The meat and dairy industries in Europe have a problem. More and more people do not want their steaks, their minced meat and their chicken wings.
Slowly but surely meat consumption is decreasing, and the industry is desperate to find a way to reverse this trend.
As thousands flee non-state armed groups attacks in northern Mozambique, urgent resources are needed to support them and the communities hosting them. | Español | Français
Adelino Alberto and his family who fled an attack claimed by non-state armed groups on the town of Palma are seen at a transit centre in Pemba, Mozambique.
© REUTERS/Emidio Jozine
(UN News)* — The UN and partners are “following with deep concern” new reports of violations against civilians in northern Mozambique, the UN Spokesperson on 8 April 2021 said.
Citing reports of atrocities carried out by child soldiers, alleged beheadings during attacks by non-State armed groups, and clashes in the Cabo Delgado region, Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at the regular daily briefing that although verifying information was extremely difficult, “we are concerned about the situation of civilians who fled the violence and those who remain in Palma”.
The coastal town just south of the border with Tanzania, was reportedly overrun by militant extremists on 24 March, but three days ago, Mozambique’s military reported that it had regained control.
(UN News)* — The world is “a long way off” from meeting the goals of the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the President of the crucial upcoming UN climate conference, COP26, on 8 April 2021 said.
British politician Alok Sharma was speaking during a global discussion on the ‘green’ transition in sectors such as energy, transport and food systems, held as part of the 2021 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
ROME, 8 April 2021 (FAO)* – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has partnered with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and 30 countries in a major initiative to tackle marine litter and clean up the world’s oceans.
The GloLitter Partnerships Project is being implemented by FAO in partnership with the IMO, with initial funding from the Government of Norway through the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).
– In neighbourhoods like Tehuixtitla in southern Mexico City, rain brings joy, because it provides water for showering, washing dishes and clothes, and cooking, by means of rainwater harvesting systems (RHS).
Gabino Martínez cleans the “Tláloc”, the tank that filters dust from the rainwater collection system in his home in the Tehuixtitla neighborhood in the Xochimilco district in southern Mexico City. During the May to November rainy season local residents collect the water they use for washing, bathing and cooking, due to the lack of access to piped water. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 