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Ending Africa’s Hunger Means Listening to Farmers

Source: IPS News

Africa is hungry – 240 million people are undernourished. Now, for the first-time, small African farmers have been properly consulted on how to solve the problem of feeding sub-Saharan Africa. Their answers appear to directly repudiate a massive international effort to launch an African Green Revolution funded in large part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Instead of new hybrid seeds, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, family farmers in West Africa said they want to use local seeds, avoid spending precious cash on chemicals and most importantly to direct public agricultural research to meet their needs, according to a multi-media publication released on World Food Day (Oct. 16). read more

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Bring Cochabamba to Cancun!

Source: Green Left Weekly World People’s Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights held in Cochabmba, Bolivia in April. Photo: TheCityProject/Flickr

The following call was issued by Canadian-based non-government organisations, community groups and individuals to join the growing global movement for climate justice. It calls for mobilising in the lead-up and during the United Nations climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, over November 27-December 10.

The call was issued at a meeting of the endorsees with Bolivian President Evo Morales during the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York on September 23. The Bolivian government hosted a “people’s summit” for real action on climate change in Cochabamba in April that drew representatives of social movements and parties from around the world. read more

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The Politics of Videogames: Reality and Overreaction

Source: Grit TV

‘Medal of Honor’ is a video game out this week set in modern day, war-torn Afghanistan. The controversy? As a player you can choose to play on the opposing force– as the Taliban.  This has led to the game being banned at US Army base stores.

Another game causing a stir is called ‘Hey Baby,’ a simulation of street harassment that allows women to fight back.  So is everything fair game when it comes to virtual gaming?  To discuss this and more, we’re joined by two video gamer experts, Kieron Gillen, director of Rock Paper Shotgun and Lucas Siegel, site editor of Newsarama and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. read more