Vice President Sara Duterte of the PH has kicked a hornet’s nest after suggesting that the 20 peso ($0.35)-per-kg rice ought to be “fit for human consumption.” Duterte, who awaits an impeachment trial just before upcoming elections, reiterated that such cheap palay is often for pigs. Fresh from a Hague visit, where her former President father faces trial, Duterte connected...
Humble Feast: Remembering Pope Francis Through His Favorite Foods
In a world that often equated power with extravagance, Pope Francis stood apart. His reign was marked not by opulence but by a quiet rebellion against it — a life built on simplicity, reflection, and the small, deliberate joys that defined his spirit. Now, even as the Vatican’s grand halls mourn his passing, it is perhaps at his humble table...
The Brazil soy sector lopes 2025 exports higher
Record production and less biodiesel blend percentage point to uptick soy product exports by Brazil in 2025, the industry says. According to the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove) on April 23, 2025, a bumper soy harvest at 170 million tonnes will push exports. The tally captures the output of the erstwhile harvest in February 2025, which was promising even during the...
Tanzania expands key agricultural plan, temporarily bans regional imports
Tanzania is launching an ambitious agricultural corridor plan on April 27, 2025, amid a surprise ban on agri-food imports from South Africa and Malawi. The East African nation boasts crop and livestock product diversity that inform both its ambitious agricultural plans and exports. Indeed, just before the retaliatory ban, the country announced the upcoming launch of the Agricultural Growth Corridors of...
The Türkiye apricot sector pines after past export glory following snowfall
A spring snow hail on April 10-12, 2025 that blighted apricot fields in Türkiye is bringing back recent export memories. The eastern Mediterranean nation cumulatively exported $330 million worth of apricots in the half decade ending 2024, reports Daily Sabah. Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is restoring orchards for the 2026 crop. However, valuable apricot export records inevitably inform the rehabilitation. From...
Arabica coffee price advances on strong Brazil’s real
Arabica coffee futures in New York on early April 23, 2025 rose to a 2 1/2-week high adrift a strengthening Brazil’s currency. Nasdaq reports that Arabica beans for May and July deliveries notched 2.96% and 3.22% respectively on the 23rd in daily advances. Meanwhile, Robusta at the International Coffee Exchange (ICE) futures benchmark retreated because it does not depend on Brazil’s currency. ...
Tuna canneries in American Samoa hail reopening of protected Pacific fisheries
An Executive Order by the U.S. President Donald Trump on April 17, 2025 to reopen protected Pacific fisheries is drawing mixed takes. However, for canneries that process the well-priced tuna in American Samoa, the order comes as a windfall. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument last allowed fishing within 50 miles of its waters before 2009. In 2009, President George W....
Sugar taxes in Kenya, Pakistan could elevate retail pricing
New taxes on sugar in Kenya and Pakistan for generating developmental and governmental revenue, respectively, might strengthen retail pricing. In Pakistan, the governmental retail price was at 164 rupees ($0.60) a kg in March 2025, up 13% year-on-year. As of mid-April 2025, Kenya’s ex-factory sugar sold at 107 shillings ($0.82) a kg while retail hugged 134 shillings ($1.03). Both countries now expect the rates...
Tomato prices in the U.S. could hike when Mexico pact ends
A 2019 U.S.-Mexico agreement to suspend investigations on tomato dumping is ending July 14, 2025, rendering market prices uncertain. The U.S. Department of Commerce has decided not to renew the pact and instead slap imports a 20.9% duty. Since Mexico provides 70% of tomatoes in the U.S.’ market cheaply, the termination could raise prices this summer. The expiring Tomato Suspension Agreement [TSA] goes back to...
Spain confronts olive groves’ takeover by solar
Farmers in the southwestern Spain olive heartland of Andalusia are denouncing plans to install eight solar power projects here. This is happening at a time when olive oil rates are back to earth after experiencing highs through 2024. But keen to reap the 3,000 sunlight hours that this Mediterranean area receives yearly, industrialists could cost the region’s olive sector millions of euro. Olive oil...