As part of the Land Research Action Network (with whom I’ve just co-edited this book) I’ll be attending the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.

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In the middle of South Central, Los Angeles, once was a beautiful farm, home to the South Central Farmers. Visit their website to find out how their struggle for urban farmland is progressing, and then check out a series of surprisingly good vlog entries on Daryl Hannah (yes, the Daryl Hannah)’s website, here, here, here, and here.

I’ve just read a fine post from the excellent Women’s eNews network, covering the aftermath of the (usually male) farmer suicides. Unfortunately, they’re a little restrictive on copyright at Women’s eNews so I can’t post the entire article here, but under the principles of Fair Use and common sense, here’s a snippet. Keep Reading »

The despair and suicide of indebted farmers are tragic and recurring themes. In India, their epicenter lies in Vidarbha, in Maharashtra, where farmers grow genetically modified cotton. The tragedy, for the families and communities left behind, has been caught by photographer Johann Rousselot, at Oeil Public. He shows the body of Praveen Vijay Bhakamwar, whose accumulated debts of Rs 40,000 – less than US$ 900 – pushed him to suicide. Bhakamwar leaves behind three daughters and a son.

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If you found Ngaire Woods’ report on how the WTO works a little dry, you probably won’t appreciate the humour at this site, run by the Yes Men.

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Ngaire Woods, author most recently of The Globalizers and lecturer at Oxford University, has put together a lovely radio documentary at the BBC, looking at how negotiations happen at the World Trade Organization. The title of the show, War by Other Means, suggests what’s in store. She managed to secure a interviews with the great and the good at the WTO and, more important, with the diplomatic minnows – most countries in the developing world fall into this category – who are brushed aside in the negotiating process. Listen to the podcast here.

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Farms don’t just grow food – they grow communities. You don’t have to go far to be part of these communities, either. In South Durban, urban farmers have long been supporting the local economy, and the surrounding neighbourhoods. And they’re under threat.

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At the Food News website (about which more here), they’ve thoughtfully posted an article from The Economist about local food systems, and response to it too. Watch this space – I’ll be weighing in on this too!

An early-era Monty Python sketch has a scene in a bed shop in which all the staff are perfectly normal, but for the fact that you need to divide what they say by ten, or multiply it by two, or not say the word ‘mattress’.

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It turns out that the International Monetary Fund is ever diligent with its payments. Here’s something I got from their director, who wanted to make sure I was dead before paying $5.7 million to Mr Robert Water.

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