Extreme weather, agricultural carbon emissions, adaptation, and mitigation strategies.
Foodthink Says Since this spring, Shaanxi has experienced its most severe drought since 1961. Combined with extreme weather such as high temperatures, strong winds, and sandstorms, these compound disasters have seriously threatened agricultural production and rural livelihoods. In May, with the support of the Oxfam Hong Kong Beijing office, Foodthink…
I. Flowers in Early Bloom On 3 May, in Jinqu Town, Mei County, Shaanxi, Xu Yuanlin spotted the messenger flower in his vineyard first thing in the morning. He was stunned. The so-called messenger flower is the first blossom of the season; like a herald, it warns farmers to begin…
The film *Nei Sha* opens with an immediate explanation of its title. On the banks of a reed bed in winter, Teacher Tang, an organic farmer, explains to a visiting professor: this is the mouth of the Yangtze River, where shifting sands have deposited over time to gradually form islands.…
Foodthink’s Take When discussing the impact of climate change on rural areas, we often say that “farmers are at the mercy of the elements”. But is it really as simple as that? What kind of agricultural systems and rural realities do today’s farmers actually live in? How should the macro-issue…
I. The Seed Bottleneck In Guzhai Yao Township, Mashan County, north of Nanning, farmers’ incomes had soared thanks to growing chayote seedlings, but since last year, they have been plunged into a crisis: they have no seeds to plant. Guangxi experienced several bouts of extreme rainfall in 2024. In Mashan…
From Liuzhou in Guangxi to Kunming in Yunnan, fall armyworm in the maize fields of farmer Old Lei and Yanta Village farmers has made spraying more frequent and costly, drawing out issues of climate warming, pesticide resistance and genetically modified maize.
Starting with the 2,282-hectare community forest in Cambodia guarded by Bunong villager Long Heng, the report surveys global debates over REDD+, the voluntary carbon market and indigenous land rights, and asks whether emissions-reduction promises are credible.
This year, whether in the city or the countryside, the rising cost of vegetables is on everyone’s lips. Yet, while we complain about inflation, the farmers in the fields are facing unprecedented challenges. Few stop to ask: why are prices rising like this, and are the farmers actually making…
Foodthink Says This year is expected to be the hottest on record. However, at the recently concluded 29th UN Climate Change Conference, nations continued to clash over funding issues, leaving negotiations repeatedly deadlocked. The climate funding gap for agriculture is particularly vast. When we talk about agriculture adapting to climate…
Sichuan Pepper Trees Climbing Higher Back in 2004, while conducting field research in a village in Mao County, Sichuan, a local told me: “The pepper trees are climbing the mountain.” He meant that while pepper trees once thrived best in the river valleys, that was no longer the case; they…
