The next director-general of the World Trade Organization faces Herculean challenges. Hercules succeeded at his tasks in the end by trying new tactics, so perhaps fresh approaches should be tried for trade too.

 Converting large areas of land for farming to boost food supplies increases planet-heating emissions and places a greater burden on poorer nations already bearing the brunt of climate change, researchers warn.

Between now and 2040, almost every second person born worldwide will be African, and the continent will account for more than 60% of growth in the world’s working-age population. Africa has boundless potential. And yet the income gap between Africa and the rest of the world has been growing since the 1960s.

France is traditionally an important player on the world’s grains market, supplying a range of markets, particularly in the nearby countries of North Africa, with which it has a close trading relationship.

For decades, fertilizer was too expensive for African farmers. It had to be imported, and transportation into the continent was expensive. 

At least 26 per cent of our oceans need urgent conservation attention to preserve Earth’s marine biodiversity, a University of Queensland-led international study has found.