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Food - Who Pays The Price?

Food prices are rising fast – some are up by 40% in the past year alone. The supply chain that delivers food to consumers is under ever-increasing pressure. Many people are struggling to cope with a shortage of supply and higher prices. There have been food riots in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Central America. So who are the winners and losers in this shifting agricultural landscape? Nik Gowing asks a panel of experts, including the food giant Unilever and Sarath Fernando representing small farmers from the developing world; 'Food - Who Pays The Price? You can view the debate from following link http://www.ifad.org/media/video/food/

News Archives

Sri Lanka discourages rice exports for the use of expatriates
(JUne 13) Sri Lanka Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to a memorandum submitted by Ranjith Siyambalapitiya in his capacity as the Acting Minister of Finance and Planning to issue a Gazette notification specifying the minimum FOB price of a Metric Ton of rice which is being exported, to be Rs. 100,000 with effect from 10.06.2008.

Coca-Cola Urged to Close an Indian Plant to Save Water
NEW DELHI — A leading environmental research group based here has asked Coca-Cola to consider shutting down a bottling plant in the drought-stricken state of Rajasthan, saying that the plant is depleting scarce water supplies. The recommendation came in a report released Monday by the organization, Energy and Resources Institute. The report was commissioned by Coca-Cola in 2006 in response to reports that pesticide residues had been found in its products.

Efforts to trade off land in Eastern Province behind the abrogation of ceasefire
Sri Lanka Government suddenly decided to abrogate the ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). This CFA signed in 2002 was actually defunct since President Mahinda Rajapakse came into power in 2005. However, neither party of the CFA pushed to be the first to withdraw from it. The Government's notice to withdraw from the CFA came in an unexpected time and it did not catch much enthusiasm since it was in rags since many months and the war was raging in full throttle.

Doctors given a choice - Generic names or jail
Beginning (January 1) doctors, both in the private and public sectors, will have to prescribe drugs under their generic names and explain to patients the advantages of prescribing drugs under generic names instead of trade names. This regulation is being implemented under the Private Medical Ordinance Act and Government Medical Ordinance Act.