Investments

China’s Building Blocks Towards A New World Order

Alongside the New Development Bank and the ambitious Silk Road Fund, the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is another step towards China’s objective of establishing an Asian-centered global economic order.

With 57 nations currently approved as founding shareholders of the yet to be launched AIIB, China’s current exposure on the economic and political stage is unprecedented. As the first international development bank to be implemented outside the West, the AIIB plans to funnel hundred of billions of dollars into infrastructure projects worldwide without the bureaucratic difficulties that have come to define development practice by traditional institutions such as the World Bank.…

Antibiotic Resistance Will Be More Deadly than Cancer

Modern medicine relies on the use of antibiotics to prevent infection and they are essential when recovering from major surgery. Without antibiotics, many common medical procedures will become more dangerous. Invasive procedures, such as organ transplants and chemotherapy, will become lethal.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a ‘post-antibiotic era’ is becoming a ‘growing epidemic’ costing the US $35 billion every year. 2 million cases of antibiotic resistance among patients were documented in the country during 2013.

The great majority of antibiotic demand is for use in agriculture. Of the approximately 150,000 metric tons of antibiotics made each year in the US, 80 percent are used on livestock. They are used to speed the animals development and to protect their commercial value. The danger is that resistance to antibiotics builds and spreads rapidly between humans, animals and crops.…

Strengthening Food Security at Rome’s Neem Conference

As the only naturally derived biocide formally accepted by the European Union, neem’s relevance in the agricultural space is increasing. With neem oil containing over two hundred biologically active compounds, alongside the growing interest in organic products worldwide, neem’s reputation as a valuable resource can only intensify.

In his opening address at this year’s Neem Conference in Rome, Professor Nicoletti shared his passion for transferring the latest discoveries in neem research more widely into the commercial sector.  This would include products that protect crops, nourish soils and ultimately assist in strengthening global food security.

Superior Growth in Agriculture Will Come From Organics

The range of scientific evidence supporting neem as an organic alternative to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides was a major theme of this year’s conference. …

Transforming Agriculture into a Sustainable Enterprise

The Green Revolution of the 1960’s and 70’s was a turning point in modern agriculture across developing countries. It increased productivity worldwide, saving an estimated 1 billion from starvation.

This was achieved by the rapid development of transformational farm management techniques, including the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to achieve higher yields. Yet a generation has passed and we are only now beginning to understand the impact on the environment, health and agricultural production in the long term.

Conventional farming techniques now use excessive amounts of water, energy, and chemicals, often with little regard to long-term adverse effects. The environmental costs of this practice is mounting with irrigation systems pumping water from reservoirs faster than they are being recharged, toxic herbicides and insecticides accumulating in ground and surface waters, and chemical fertilizers disrupting ecosystems and getting into our food chain.…

Rowing Against the Tide of Global Monetary Easing

Since his arrival in office on January 2015, Finance Minister Joaquim Levy has spearheaded a series of austerity measures to prevent an investment rating downgrade on the Brazil’s sovereign debt. This comes at a time when Brazil’s annualized inflation rate is expected to reach its highest level in twelve years.

During her first four-year term, Dilma Rousseff’s government sought to control rising inflation by suppressing energy and fuel costs for consumers while municipal and state governments refused to raise prices. Shift to January 2015 and Brazil’s inflation rate rose to 7.1 percent due to an average 8.5% increase in food, electricity and public transport prices in the country.…

Will Global Agricultural Production Grow Alongside Rising Demand?

If mankind is to increase agricultural production by 2050 to meet the requirements of a rising population, we will need to continue to increase the yield per acre achieved in farming, perfect innovative and organic methodologies and reduce food waste. Understanding the optimum development process for any given crop and developing new technologies that increases yields will place us in a more favorable position in meeting the rising demand for food.

A Rising Population…

Global food production will need to increase by 70% by 2050 to feed a population forecasted to reach up to 10.9 billion. In light of the unprecedented challenges to food security being faced today, including that of a shifting climate, the limited expansion of agricultural land and slowing yield expansion, the FAO has outlined recommendations for the preservation of our global environment.…

Shedding Light on Neem’s Medicinal and Agricultural Applications

The National Research Council in the United States has placed the neem tree in their top ten list of plants to be studied and used for the sustainable development of the human race and the planet. With mankind’s pervasive development of resistance to antibiotics in healthcare and the use of synthetic and toxic pesticides in agriculture, organic products are urgently needed for their positive environmental impact.

Neem’s Cytoadhesive Properties A Source of Hope for Cancer, HIV and Malaria Treatment

Researchers at a cancer institute  in India have highlighted neem leaves’ ability to inhibit the growth of tumor cells. Instead of targeting the cancer cells directly, the protein – Neem Leaf Glycoprotein (NLGP) – modulates cells that are responsible for providing immunity to the body present within the tumor environment and its peripheral system.…

State Banker Aldemir Bendine Appointed to Resurrect Petrobras

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is putting her faith in state bank executive Aldemir Bendine to restore the fortunes of  Brazil’s national oil company, which is struggling with low profitability at a time of a weak oil price, a heavily geared balance sheet and a major corruption scandal. The former Banco do Brasil Chief Executive Officer has replaced Maria das Gracas Foester, who resigned after failing to establish consensus for the level of write-downs necessary in the wake of the scandal.

Recent investigations by the Brazilian Federal police, dubbed Operation Car Wash, has found that Petrobas took bribes from construction companies and funnelled the funds to parties of the ruling coalition.…