Latest news with #OliverGriffin
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Explainer-What is bird flu, and why is Brazil's first case on a commercial farm concerning?
By Oliver Griffin SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil, the world's largest chicken exporter, on Friday reported its first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza - also known as bird flu - on a commercial farm, triggering fears over global poultry supply chains. The disease has spread around the globe in the past years, leading to hundreds of millions of poultry being culled. It has also been reported in dairy cows, cats, and humans. WHAT IS BIRD FLU? Bird flu is a viral disease spread mainly by birds which can also affect mammals, including humans. The disease, of which there are many strains, is highly contagious between birds. WHY IS THE CASE IN BRAZIL IMPORTANT? Friday's case is the first time an outbreak has been reported on a commercial farm in Brazil. The South American country accounts for 35% of the global chicken trade, shipping $10 billion worth of the poultry in 2024. Brazil sends chicken to some 150 countries around the world, with China and Japan among its top customers. China immediately banned imports from Brazil following the news, and other countries could follow. In 2023, Japan banned chicken imports from Brazil's Espirito Santo state after bird flu was found on a non-commercial farm there. Eggs could also be affected. In March, Reuters reported that the U.S. had almost doubled imports of eggs from Brazil amid sky-high egg prices there following a spike in U.S. bird flu cases. WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE NUMBER OF CASES? As of April 30, just under 1,200 outbreaks of highly pathogenic bird flu had been reported in poultry around the world in the current season that runs from October 2024 to September 2025, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. That compares with 786 outbreaks in the whole of the 2023-2024 season, and 1,971 cases in the season before that. At the same time, during the 2024-2025 season more than 1,400 cases have been reported in wild birds, compared to 1,062 cases and 3,975 cases in the whole of the 2023-2024 and 2022-2023 seasons respectively. WHAT OTHER SPECIES CAN GET BIRD FLU? Bird flu has also been reported in dozens of mammal species, including dairy cows, sheep, cats - including some house cats - and humans. The virus is typically transferred direct from birds to humans. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says limited human-to-human transfer has occasionally been reported around the world, though not in the U.S. IS THERE A VACCINE? There is no vaccine for cases of bird flu in humans. Vaccines are available for birds. In March this year, France's government said its poultry flocks will be allowed outdoors again after a lull in bird flu infections, which it attributed to a vaccination program. In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would rebuild a stockpile of bird flu vaccines to combat the current outbreak, which began in 2022.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brazilian fund raising $176 million for loans to small cocoa producers
By Oliver Griffin SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Four Brazilian organizations on Thursday launched a fund aiming to raise 1 billion reais ($176 million) by 2030 for loans to small cocoa growers in the South American country to assist in expanding their operations. The Kawa fund, launched by the philanthropic Arapyau Institute, investment platform Violet, advocacy group Toboa, and impact investor MOV Investments, will initially lend some 30 million reais to 1,200 small-scale producers in the states of Bahia and Para. Traditionally, these producers have struggled to access credit for their operations or the know-how to improve productivity, Vinicius Ahmar, Arapyau Institute's bio-economy manager, told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Cocoa Foundation's meeting in Sao Paulo on Wednesday. "Most of the production is in the hands of small producers and producers on small holdings ... in which they are unable to invest and they do not have access to technical assistance," Ahmar said. The fund's launch comes at a critical time for the industry, as top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana have suffered crop losses due to adverse weather, bean disease, smuggling and reduced plantations in favor of illegal gold mining, sending cocoa prices upward. Brazil's cocoa production also fell nearly 20% last year and 2025 is shaping up to be "challenging," the head of the Brazilian Association of Cocoa Processing Industries, Anna Paula Losi, told Reuters separately at the event. The Kawa fund will give cocoa farmers three years to pay back the loans, with an average six-month grace period, according to a statement announcing the new fund. The loans - typically used to buy fertilizer, irrigation and equipment - will charge 12% interest per year. In Brazil, 85% of cocoa producers are on the margins of the country's financial system and struggle to access loans, the statement said, citing the country's Agriculture Ministry. With some 80% of Brazil's cocoa production coming from small-scale farmers, the combination leads to low income and low productivity, the statement said. ($1 = 5.6486 Brazilian reais)
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ecuador banana heir Noboa seeks full presidential term to push on with crime crackdown
By Oliver Griffin (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa is betting that his pledges to push crime-fighting initiatives begun under his truncated first administration and to tackle power cuts will secure him a full term in Sunday's presidential election. Two recent opinion polls have pointed to a possible first-round win for Noboa, raised in Guayaquil and heir to his father's vast business fortune, which includes holdings in banana plantations, packaging and shipping. Other surveys suggest the vote will go to a run-off in April, where he would likely notch a victory against leftist Luisa Gonzalez. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Noboa also faced Gonzalez in the 2023 snap election, where he was the surprise victor to finish the term of his predecessor, winning over voters with pledges to tackle Ecuador's spiraling drug trade-related crime. Noboa, who says his 15-month presidency has resulted in a 15% decrease in violent deaths, safer prisons and the capture of major gang leaders, is campaigning on promises to follow through with his so-called "Phoenix Plan" to fight insecurity. He has used presidential decrees to deploy the military on the streets, beefed up security at ports, declared 22 criminal organizations terrorist groups and won legislative approval for longer sentences for drug crimes and terrorism. "The time of the old Ecuador is over, the new Ecuador is beginning - with your vote we'll reach it," Noboa said at a recent rally in Machala. Supporters say Noboa needs a full four-year term to be able to deliver on his promises - including more cooperation with the U.S., which has imposed sanctions on major Ecuadorean gang Los Lobos. Detractors say he has not done enough to curtail the violence, although his 15 opponents have struggled to paint him as ineffectual. He has also had a public falling-out with Vice President Veronica Abad, who the Labor Ministry suspended from office in a move she said was a violation of the constitution. Noboa has pledged to avoid a return of rolling blackouts of up to 14 hours per day that affected Ecuador during the latter half of 2024, caused by a regional drought that sapped the country's hydroelectric dams. He pleaded with Colombia's President Gustavo Petro - who he once called a "leftist snob" in an interview - to renew electricity imports. His administration has increased power generation capacity and restarted work on a stalled hydroelectric dam, Noboa says. The 37-year-old president rarely gives interviews or makes speeches but he posts on social media, and is popular with many younger voters. In December, he posted a photo on Instagram of the tattoo on his left arm of four phoenixes. The largest bird is guiding the other three, he said, who represent his children. Life-sized cardboard cutouts of Noboa have taken on a life of their own on social media, with supporters posting jokey videos of themselves 'eating lunch' or 'going shopping' with the president. "He's someone who knows what he wants for the country, not someone who'll just enter the presidency and improvise on the fly. He's got a clear path to follow," said Marlon Caraclas, 27, a recent university graduate.
