Geneva—With the financial crisis and economic slowdown focusing governments’ attention on the struggling negotiations at the World Trade Organization, ministers are expected to meet in Geneva next month to try once more to hammer out the details of a framework accord on cutting tariffs and farm subsidies.

A successful push by world leaders for a global trade deal would boost Brazilian agricultural exports by opening up new markets and reducing subsidies for such key products such as cotton, soybeans and sugar a new study shows.

Johannesburg—The vast majority of African farmers interviewed for a recent climate change study perceived long-term changes in temperature or rainfall. Surprisingly, however, two-thirds of rural South African households in the Limpopo River Basin and more than a third of Ethiopian farmers did not make any adjustments to their farming practices in the face of global warming.

New Delhi—According to the first-ever India State Hunger Index, Madhya Pradesh has the most severe level of hunger in the country, followed by Jharkhand and Bihar. Punjab and Kerala scored the best on the Index

Released today by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in conjunction with Welthungerhilfe (formerly known as German Agro-Action) and the University of California, Riverside, the India State Hunger Index analyzes hunger levels in 17 major states across India. State hunger index scores range from “serious” to “extremely alarming.”

Washington, DC—The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) today announced it received a $2.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand and update the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) database on investment and human capacity trends in agricultural research and development (R&D). The database will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where poverty and malnutrition are most acute.