albert-han

How to save the banana? The answer may lie in Indonesia

A man carries sorghum over his shoulder in this graphic for a Context original video. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Albert Han

Can an obscure grain replace rice in Indonesian diets?

Mangoes hang from a tree in this illustration for the Context series Rerooted. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Karif Wat

Food waste is a billion-dollar problem. Can this spray make a difference?

Farmers work in a rice field in this illustration for the Context series Rerooted. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Senegal relies on rice imports. Can a farming method change that?

A person holds coffee beans in their hand in this illustration for the Context series Rerooted. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Karif Wat

The bean that could save coffee from climate change

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a keynote speech during the Meta Connect annual event, at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S. September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo

adam-smith

LGBTQ+ creators brace for Meta's pro-Trump changes

A sample of rock drilled at a cobalt mining site operated by Jervois Global is seen at a facility, west of Salmon, Idaho, May 16, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

joanna-gill

The critical minerals race will heat up in 2025

Protesters hold flags as they participate in an anti-government demonstration following nationwide deadly riots over tax hikes and a controversial now-withdrawn finance bill in Nairobi, Kenya, July 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

nita-bhalla

bukola-adebayo

kim-harrisberg

samuel-come

Africa's youth protests: A storm brewing for 2025?

A Syrian street vendor shows traditional sweets to customers in a market at the Old City of Damascus, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 25, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

nazih-osseiran

'It was a mafia': Syrian businesses hope for revival after Assad

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, U.S. January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu

LA wildfires: How can forest management mitigate the impact?

A displaced Afghan family from Kunduz province, whose house was destroyed by flood, lives in an open area in front of the ruins of a 1500-year-old Buddha statue, in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, March 2, 2023

Britain's foreign aid: Where does the money go?

A demonstrator outside the U.S. Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Craig Hudson

US TikTok ban: Which other countries have banned the app?

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD), attends a press conference, on the day she is expected to be announced as officially nominated candidate for Chancellor for the upcoming general elections, in Berlin, Germany December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

LGBTQ+ Germans fear Elon Musk-backed AfD could reverse rights

A Spanish Coast Guard vessel tows a fibreglass boat with migrants onboard to the port of Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, December 25, 2024. REUTERS/Borja Suarez

Fortress Europe: What will migration policy look like in 2025?

Rerooted

Crops including coffee and rice are shown in orange on white background in this illustration. The text reads: THE FUTURE OF CROPS, REROOTED. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Karif Wat

Crops including coffee and rice are shown in orange on white background in this illustration picture for the series REROOTED.

picture

TITLE_IMAGE_NOT_FOUND

rerooted-the-future-of-crops

/nature/video/how-to-save-the-banana-the-answer-may-lie-in-indonesia

57aa7c7dc7fea07302b03c3ad596d268/backgroundPicture

57aa7c7dc7fea07302b03c3ad596d268/profilePicture

Albert Han

profilePicture

Globally, there are around 1,000 varieties of bananas but most of us will only ever come across one: the Cavendish. And the Cavendish is in trouble.&nbsp;
A fungus known as fusarium wilt is spreading across multiple countries and infecting Cavendish plantations from the Philippines to Peru. The disease has no cure and because Cavendish plants are genetic clones of each other, when one falls, the rest follow. It&rsquo;s bad news for a market that sees 100 billion bananas consumed each year.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Farmers, researchers, and banana corporations are racing to find a cure. Many of them are betting on a technical solution to make the Cavendish disease-resistant without disrupting the global banana supply chain.&nbsp;
But what if the long-term solution is a lot more complex than that? We travelled to Indonesia, home to hundreds of banana varieties, to find out.
This video is from <a href="https://www.context.news/in-focus/rerooted-future-of-food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Rerooted"</a>, a special series by Context on the future of crops on a warming planet, exploring how we can grow enough nutritious food for a rising global population while protecting the climate and nature.&nbsp;
<a aria-label="Link Subscribe to our YouTube channel" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Subscribe to our YouTube channel</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a aria-label="Link Watch more videos like this" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Watch more videos like this</a>

<h2>To understand the future of our food, we need to start at the roots. </h2>
<h2>In this series, we explore how climate change and shifting consumer habits are forcing us to rethink the way we grow staple crops, from coffee to rice.</h2>

rerooted-future-of-food

Rerooted – future of bananas

Thomson Reuters Foundation

how-to-save-the-banana-the-answer-may-lie-in-indonesia

The Cavendish is the world's top banana but a fungus threatens to wipe it out. Can Indonesian varieties save the world's bananas?

/nature/video/can-an-obscure-grain-replace-rice-in-indonesian-diets

The world&rsquo;s fourth-most populous country doesn&rsquo;t produce enough rice to feed its population and imports nearly all the wheat it consumes. With the fallout from the war in Ukraine as well as climate change affecting rice prices and production, the government has turned to an obscure grain to satiate Indonesians: sorghum.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s a crop that&rsquo;s been farmed for centuries in eastern Indonesia, and it has its climate advantages. Sorghum requires a lot less water than rice and is more resilient to extreme weather. Advocates for the grain, like Maria Loretha, better known as &ldquo;Mama Sorghum&rdquo;, think that sorghum could be a viable alternative staple grain, replacing rice on the nation&rsquo;s plates.&nbsp;
But it&rsquo;s one thing to be an ideal replacement on paper and another thing to convince people to actually eat more of the earthy-tasting grain. After all, rice makes up half of the daily caloric intake for most Indonesians.&nbsp;
So can sorghum really become a staple for Indonesians? We went to Indonesia to find out.
This video is from <a href="https://www.context.news/in-focus/rerooted-future-of-food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Rerooted"</a>, a special series by Context on the future of crops on a warming planet, exploring how we can grow enough nutritious food for a rising global population while protecting the climate and nature.&nbsp;
<a aria-label="Link Subscribe to our YouTube channel" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Subscribe to our YouTube channel</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a aria-label="Link Watch more videos like this" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Watch more videos like this</a>

A man carries sorghum over his shoulder in this graphic for a Context original video

can-an-obscure-grain-replace-rice-in-indonesian-diets

With climate change and war making rice more costly, Indonesia hoped sorghum might boost food security. But would people eat it?

/nature/video/food-waste-is-a-billion-dollar-problem-can-this-spray-help

Mangoes are the national fruit of India, but as many as half of the mangoes that are harvested in Krishnagiri district each year spoil before they even leave the farm. It&rsquo;s part of a big problem that the world faces when it comes to its food supply.
Globally, more than half-a-trillion dollars&rsquo; worth of fresh fruit, vegetables and grains goes bad before it&rsquo;s sold each year, according to consulting firm McKinsey.
A variety of solutions, from refrigeration to wax coatings, exist to keep fruit from spoiling. But researchers in India have been involved in a decade-long project to test out an innovative spray that extends the shelf life of mangoes by up to a week. We visited the mango hub of India to see how it works.
This video is from <a href="https://www.context.news/in-focus/rerooted-future-of-food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Rerooted"</a>, a special series by Context on the future of crops on a warming planet, exploring how we can grow enough nutritious food for a rising global population while protecting the climate and nature.&nbsp;
<a aria-label="Link Subscribe to our YouTube channel" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Subscribe to our YouTube channel</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a aria-label="Link Watch more videos like this" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Watch more videos like this</a>

Mangoes hang from a tree in this illustration for the Context series Rerooted

European Journalism Centre (EJC)

food-waste-is-a-billion-dollar-problem-can-this-spray-help

Billions of tonnes of food are wasted every year because they don’t reach customers in time. Can a new product being tested by Indian mango farmers slow down the clock?

/nature/video/senegal-relies-on-rice-imports-can-a-farming-method-change-that

Rice is a staple grain for half of humanity, but in places like Senegal farmers can&rsquo;t grow enough of it. When the global rice supply is hit by crisis - from climate change impacts and conflict to trade restrictions - Senegal feels the pain. Despite the government&rsquo;s efforts to ramp up domestic rice production, most Senegalese still prefer imported rice for making the national dish of thieboudienne.&nbsp;
In comes a farming technique called System of Rice Intensification (SRI), introduced in the 1980s in Madagascar. It&rsquo;s a set of principles that promises to reduce costs, water use, and methane emissions, all while boosting yields. Now, thousands of Senegalese farmers are putting it into practice.&nbsp;
So is SRI the answer to achieving rice independence for Senegal? We travelled to the West African nation to find out.
This video is from <a href="https://www.context.news/in-focus/rerooted-future-of-food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Rerooted"</a>, a special series by Context on the future of crops on a warming planet, exploring how we can grow enough nutritious food for a rising global population while protecting the climate and nature.&nbsp;
<a aria-label="Link Subscribe to our YouTube channel" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Subscribe to our YouTube channel</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a aria-label="Link Watch more videos like this" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Watch more videos like this</a>

Rerooted: How can we protect foods we love as climate impacts hit?

The world&rsquo;s diet runs on a small variety of crops, but those crops &mdash; and the way they&rsquo;re grown, watered, harvested, processed, transported, and traded &mdash; are under growing pressure from climate change, diseases, economic speculation and political manoeuvrings.&nbsp;
To understand the future of food in a world of growing populations living with the worsening effects of climate change, we travelled across continents and countries and spoke with farmers, local communities, activists, researchers, policymakers and scientists about the challenges on the ground &ndash; and the solutions they&rsquo;re looking for to keep the foods we love to eat coming.

rerooted-how-can-we-protect-foods-we-love-as-climate-impacts-hit

Farmers work in a rice field in this illustration for the Context series Rerooted.

senegal-relies-on-rice-imports-can-a-farming-method-change-that

/nature/video/the-bean-that-could-save-coffee-from-climate-change

One of the world&rsquo;s most popular beverages is in crisis.
Climate change could reduce by as much as half land suitable for coffee production by 2050, due to higher temperatures and extreme weather, and Arabica - by far the world&rsquo;s most popular coffee species - is in trouble.&nbsp;
Farmers in the world&rsquo;s biggest coffee producer, Brazil, are trying out a variety of ways to cope, from moving Arabica crops to higher altitudes to planting trees as a buffer against storms.&nbsp;But is a long-forgotten coffee species, cultivated and traded around the world more than century ago, the long-term answer?
We travelled from the highland estates in Brazil to sea level farms in Malaysia to understand the global coffee trade, from bean to cup, spoke to farmers, researchers, and baristas &mdash; and tasted many cups of different kinds of coffee &mdash; to understand the future of coffee, and if Liberica&rsquo;s potential comeback is coffee&rsquo;s best bet to survive climate change.&nbsp;
This video is from <a href="https://www.context.news/in-focus/rerooted-future-of-food" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Rerooted"</a>, a special series by Context on the future of crops on a warming planet, exploring how we can grow enough nutritious food for a rising global population while protecting the climate and nature.&nbsp;
<a aria-label="Link Subscribe to our YouTube channel" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news/?sub_confirmation=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Subscribe to our YouTube channel</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a aria-label="Link Watch more videos like this" title="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Context_news" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" tabindex="-1">Watch more videos like this</a>

New to Context? Check out some of our best work

Context has set itself the ambitious mission of covering the most pressing challenges of our times. We report on climate change, the impact of tech on society and the need for more inclusive economies.
We produce written pieces, videos, graphics and podcasts, and we have correspondents posted in every corner of the world to bring you some of the most under-reported stories out there.
Have a look at this selection of work that demonstrates what we do.
Scroll down and you'll see some of our best stories we think you'll enjoy.
Thank you for visiting our site - we'd love for you to become a regular around here.

new-to-context-check-out-some-of-our-best-work

A person holds coffee beans in their hand in this illustration for the Context series Rerooted

the-bean-that-could-save-coffee-from-climate-change

As climate change threatens coffee crops, Malaysian farmers hope a long-forgotten species could help coffee survive a warming world

Video Series: Rerooted

Latest on Context

Video Series: Rerooted

Latest on Context

Most Read