The Stream, February 18: Africa’s Food Industry

Rising food prices have already pushed 44 million people in developing countries into poverty since last June, and are likely to hit Africa hard in the short term, the World Bank said earlier this week. But some experts argue that growing world consumption will also spark agribusiness investment, especially in Africa, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

Australia’s federal government announced it will change its water buyback scheme to make purchases smaller and more evenly spread out, AAP reports. It also plans reforms on tax arrangements for irrigators to encourage them to use more water efficient equipment. The reforms come amidst a fiery process of adopting new water use regulations for the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia’s largest river system.

Chevron will partner with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support local businesses and communities in the volatile Niger Delta, where guerrilla militia and the Nigerian military fight over control of Nigeria’s oil wealth. The Niger Delta, one of the world’s largest wetlands, is monumentally contaminated with oilfield wastes. Meanwhile, in the Amazon, Chevron is fighting Ecuadorian communities in a legal battle over rain forest contamination.

The Zijin Mining Group, one of China’s biggest gold producers, is being sued for $25.8 million after a tailing dam at a tin mine collapsed and killed 22 people in Guangdong last year. The company, which was also fined $1.4 million in October for polluting a Fujian river with toxic waste water from one of its gold mines, has been accused of breaching dam construction regulations. Read more about China’s water pollution accidents on Circle of Blue.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.