Malawi is one of Africa’s poorest nations. However, even amidst the global recession it has experienced strong economic growth, owing to a combination of World Bank sponsored debt relief, macroeconomic policy, and an agriculturally-driven economy.

The price of fertilizer in Angola has risen to $45 for a 50 kilogram bag, pricing small farmers out of the market. The South Africa Node writes that “The high cost is attributed to logistics, taxes and import duties, and the price of doing business in Africa’s largest oil-exporting country.” The destruction of infrastructure during Angola’s extended civil war makes transporting fertilizer costly and difficult. The high cost of storage facilities in port cities contributes to the expense of imported fertilizer; insufficient industrial capacity makes domestic production unlikely.

Angola recently passed a law aimed at promoting domestic biofuel production. The South Africa Notes writes: “According to the Oil Minister, Botelho de Vasconcelos, the law will address Angola’s national energy needs and ‘preserve the environment given the diversification of the economy’ [sic]. ‘Bio-fuel production will also create jobs and build a renewable energy source and will allow regional integration and promote return of populations to rural areas’.

A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute [IFPRI], found that water supplies in the Limpopo River Basin will fall over the next two decades, owing to reduced rainfall, disproportionately impacting small farmers who must compete with both commercial farms and mining companies for access to water.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is sponsoring a project in Laos to research insect farming as an alternative to meat/dairy. While many Laotians already eat insects, most catch them in the wild. Research will focus on reducing production costs, assessing nutritional content, and developing food safety standards.

The South Africa Node highlights the research behind the pilot project:

A new program in Southern Africa uses theater to facilitate community dialogue about agricultural policy issues faced by women farmers.

The South Africa Node writes,

Women are disproportionately dependent upon forests for their livelihood and suffer much more when forests are destroyed, writes Uchema Idoku:

"…Forests are the basis for sustainable and predictable progress and development.

A new salinity-tolerant paddy species could increase productivity of coastal small scale-farmers, boost income, and potentially buffer against urban migration.

The Strategic Foresight Group writes,

Without support programs or policies, Thai farmers are getting squeezed by a host of social drivers, putting the profession itself under threat.

The Strategic Foresight Group writes that Thailand is witnessing a rapid decline in the number of farmers. The Strategic Foresight Group focuses on the lack for structural support for farmers,

A surge in demand for sand in Southeast Asia has contributed to illegal dredging in Vietnam's rivers, which has accelerated erosion; increased erosion brings increased landslides, which threaten houses, gardens, and fertile lands along the banks.

The Strategic Foresight Group writes,