While debating on the motion, "Is the proposed National Biotechnology and Biosafety Law in the best interests of Ugandans?" Makerere University students argued that it was imperative for the country that the said law be passed after taking so long in Parliament. The bill has been in parliament waiting to be passed into law since 2012.

FAO and WHO have released new guidelines aimed at reducing the damage done by pesticides that pose especially high toxic risks to human health and the environment. Products with high acute toxicity account for high numbers of immediate poisoning cases, particularly in developing countries, while products with chronic toxicity effects may cause cancer  or developmental disorders among growing children.

FAO 5 May 2016, Rome - Global prices of key staple food commodities rose in April, marking its third consecutive monthly increase after four years of decline. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 151.8 points in April, a 0.7 percent increase from March. That is about 10 percent below its level of a year ago and more than a third off its 2011 highs.

In Massachussetts, Whitehead Institute scientists have determined that a plant protein involved in the timing of flowering could in fact be a prion, proteins with the ability to self-perpetuate when they assume a particular conformation. They can be inherited separately from DNA. This is the first time that a possible prion has been identified in plants.

The world has never produced or consumed so much food. We cannot, however, ignore the pressure that food production is putting on the environment and the ecosystem services we all depend on. We cannot ignore either the unprecedented threat that climate change poses on agriculture – and the need to adapt swiftly. And we must ensure that food production and distribution systems give farmers in developing countries – men and women alike – a fair deal, and consumers around the world, adequate access to varied, affordable, and nutritious foods.

A team of engineers from Washington University in St. Louis has found a sustainable way to boost the growth of a protein-rich bean by improving the way it absorbs much-needed nutrients. Ramesh Raliya and Pratim Biswas from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, discovered a way to reduce the use of fertilizer made from rock phosphorus and still see improvements in the growth of food crops by using zinc oxide nanoparticles.

Having a skilled health professional during childbirth can save the life of a woman and her child. But, in many parts of the world and within many countries, the presence of a health worker during childbirth is often a luxury. If a woman is poor, she is even more likely to deliver without support, putting herself and child at risk.

Delegates from the Ho Chi Minh University of Culture (HCMUC), led by Le Thanh Hai, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Media and Communication, and representatives from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) recently discussed potential institutional partnerships, particularly in the area of climate change communication.
 

On a bench in a laboratory at Berkeley sits a device designed to make the ultimate green fuel. The stainless steel chamber, festooned with gaskets, nuts and bolts, and glass windows, looks like some kind of steam-punk aquarium. Inside, arrays of nanowire electrodes and bacterial colonies are using the light to turn water and carbon dioxide into methane, the main component in natural gas.

The American Soybean Association (ASA) has submitted their comments on the proposed revisions to biotech crop regulations to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). APHIS announced in February that it will conduct a programmatic economic impact study as part of a comprehensive study of its Part 340 regulations of biotech crops.