International


South Sudan: Crop-Eating Worms, Cattle Disease Add to South Sudan Anguish

Aug 2, 2017 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

More than three years of fighting have slashed South Sudan’s oil output and left half its people facing severe food shortages. Now crop-eating caterpillars and…


Colombia: Environmental Risks Behind Peace Accords in Colombia

Aug 2, 2017 | Fabíola Ortiz, InDepthNews

The peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – signed in November 2016 and ratified early December by the Colombian Congress –…


Myanmar: Israeli Agricultural Experts Bring ‘Sustainable Experience’ to Myanmar

Aug 2, 2017 | Pan Pwint, Mizzima

Last week two Israeli agricultural experts came to Myanmar to exchange views on agricultural practices that might be suitable for the country’s rural sector. Professor…


Myanmar: IFC Promotes Better Usage of Agriculture Inputs through Good Agriculture Practices

Aug 2, 2017 | Mizzima

At a one-day workshop on Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) organized by IFC and MoALI in Nyuang Shwe, 300 participants — including 200 tomato farmers —…


Afghanistan: Nepal-Funded Greenhouse Built in Kabul

Aug 2, 2017 | Xinhua

A greenhouse to preserve fruit products has been constructed with the financial support of Nepal in Paghman, a district of Afghanistan's Kabul, the Ministry for…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Claims Iraq-Iran Oil Pipeline Violates US Sanctions

Aug 1, 2017 | Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com

The autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan has not been informed of plans by the central government that Iraq and Iran agreed to study the potential…


Liberia: RIA Land Dispute, Legal Team Issues Statement

Aug 1, 2017 | Global News Network

The residents of the Roberts International Airport(RIA) and its environs headed by Morris Boer, Isaac Boer and Nimely Bestman have on 25 July, 2016, filed…


Afghanistan: Khost Lakan Tribe Seeks End to Land Dispute with Kuchis

Jul 31, 2017 | Mohammad Haroon, Pajhwok Afghan News

Lakan tribesmen in southeastern Khost province have demanded of the government to intervene and resolve a fresh dispute between them and Kuchi tribe over a…


Sierra Leone: Calls for Urgent Land Audit

Jul 31, 2017 | Zainab Joaque, Awoko

A land audit is certainly a must for this country, and it must include assessments of land ownership, plot size, vacant lots and spaces that…


China/Philippines/South China Sea: Joint Oil Exploration with China is against Philippines' Interest, Says Security Expert

Jul 31, 2017 | Noel Tarrazona, International Business Times

A security expert in the Philippines contested that the government's move to have a joint oil exploration with China is against the country's security. Former…


Iran/Iraq: Iran, Iraq Talk 'Joint Delivery' of Kirkuk Oil

Jul 31, 2017 | Rudaw

Iran and Iraq have strengthened their energy-sector ties, including the possible construction of a pipeline to export Kirkuk’s crude oil to refineries in Iran.  Kirkuk’s…


Iraq: Gunmen Steal IQD 400 Million Belonging to Oil Ministry

Jul 30, 2017 | Elwy Elmanzalawy, Iraqi News

Gunmen have stolen IQD 400 million belonging to the Iraqi ministry of oil, Alsumaria News reported on Sunday. Bombings and armed attacks are seen on…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurds’ Ambitions Tied to Ability to Keep Energy Sector on Track

Jul 30, 2017 | Robin Mills, The National

This month a new version of Finding Neverland emerged. The star of this instalment was not Johnny Depp or Kate Winslet, but an Italian-registered crude…


Afghanistan: Taliban Militants Blow up Dam in Southern Afghanistan

Jul 30, 2017 | Trend

Member of the Taliban terrorist group, banned in Russia, have blown up a dam in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar leaving a swathe of…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Independence Will Bring Many Economic, Financial Tools to Kurdistan: KRG Representative

Jul 29, 2017 | Mewan Dolamari, Kurdistan 24

The Kurdistan Region has no control over monitoring policies, and independence will bring many economic and financial tools to the Region, said a Kurdish official…


Myanmar: MPs Back Calls for Deforestation Action

Jul 29, 2017 | Nyein Zaw Lin and Myo Min Htet, Eleven

The Lower House has unanimously approved a proposal to handle illegal logging and the timber trade in accord with a law submitted by MP Kyaw Aung Lwin for…


Afghanistan: MAIL Promotes Saffron, Soybean Farming in Bamiyan

Jul 29, 2017 | Zabihullah Jahanmal, TOLOnews

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) is promoting the saffron and soybean farming in Bamiyan province in the center of Afghanistan, the agriculture…


Liberia: “The Land Beneath Our Feet” Documentary to be Screened in Four Counties

Jul 28, 2017 | Eric Doue, Bush Chicken

A documentary on land issues in Liberia, titled “The Land Beneath Our Feet,” is expected to be launched locally over the next couple of days.…


Nigeria: Nigeria Looks for Oil on Boko Haram’s Home Turf—and Pays the Price

Jul 28, 2017 | Robbie Corey-Boulet, World Politics Review

Last week, AFP reported on Nigeria’s search for oil in the country’s northeast, the home base of the Boko Haram insurgency. The Nigerian National Petroleum…


Iraq: Iraq Oil Pipeline Comes with Major Environmental Costs

Jul 28, 2017 | Adnan Abu Zeed, Al-Monitor

On July 21, farmers complained about a gas pipeline dredging their farmlands. The pipeline carries gas from Iran to Baghdad through Bismayah, which is located…


Myanmar: Recurring Floods Displace over 130,000 in Myanmar

Jul 28, 2017 | Myint Kay thi, Htike Nandar Win, Nay Aung, and Ye Ywal Myint, Myanmar Times

Recurring floods in large part of the country have forced over 130,000 people to flee their homes as of July 25, relief officials said. Among…


Myanmar: Fruit and Vegetable Exports to Be Prioritised

Jul 28, 2017 | Eleven

The Myanmar Trade Promotion Organisation at the Ministry of Commerce and Myanmar Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association are discussing the prioritisation of fruit and vegetables…


Myanmar: Objection to Farmland Law Changes Draft Bill

Jul 28, 2017 | Su Phyo Win, Myanmar Times

Almost 50 Civil Society Groups strongly objected to the facts related to the Farmland Law amendment draft hearing session in the parliament held in June.…


Colombia: Post-Conflict Colombia Seeks to Become Agricultural Powerhouse

Jul 27, 2017 | Oscar Medina, Bloomberg

Colombia is seeking to reinvent itself as a major agricultural powerhouse as the demobilization of thousands of guerrilla fighters opens up former war zones for…


Myanmar: Myanmar to Receive Revenues from China-Myanmar Crude Oil Pipeline

Jul 27, 2017 | Aung Shin, Myanmar Times

Myanmar will gain financially from the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline, which began operations in early April after the two countries signed an agreement for the…


Colombia: Guerrillas of War to Guerrillas of Conservation

Jul 26, 2017 | Tunicia Phillips, Daily Maverick

The mega diverse South American country of Colombia finds itself in a post-conflict era (albeit on very uncertain terms) that may or may not contribute…


Colombia: Proposed Colombia Dam Threatens to Wipe out Endangered Plants, Disrupt River

Jul 26, 2017 | Taran Volckhausen, Mongabay

A Colombian conglomerate is moving ahead to build a nearly 400-foot-tall hydroelectric dam along the Samaná Norte River in northwestern Colombia, which threatens to extinguish…


DRC: Two Investigations into Corruption in Resource-Rich DR Congo Show Why It Stays So Poor

Jul 26, 2017 | Yomi Kazeem, Quartz

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) ranked 176 out of 187 on the latest United Nations Human Development Index and two new investigations have…


Afghanistan: Experts Urge Proper Management of Afghanistan’s Water Resources

Jul 26, 2017 | Zabihullah Jahanmal, TOLOnews

Critics have called on government to create proper mechanisms to harness and use Afghanistan's water resources and prevent it from going to waste. Currently most…


Syria: Syrian Farm Production Grows, but Is Still Far from Pre-War Levels

Jul 26, 2017 | RJ Whitehead, Food Navigator-Asia

In their latest report, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme have estimated that 6.9m Syrians are still food insecure, and an…