Longreads: Hope Withers With Harvest, More Fish More Money, Aging Workforces Drive Jobs to SE Asia, Mapping Toilets in Mumbai

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Drought, food prices, and global warming remain hot topics as crops in the United States wilt under the hot sun, raising fears of another food price crisis. The Guardian chronicles the corn belt’s adverse conditions – and the implications for the rest of the world in “America’s Corn Farmers High and Dry as Hope Withers With Their Harvest.” (For a view from South Africa on the drought’s ripple effect, see Independent Online’s “US drought puts pressure on SA food prices”.) On another food supply issue, Co.exist highlights a new study on the costs and benefits of rebuilding global fisheries in “More Fish Means More Money.” The bottom line: rebuilding fisheries would begin to pay off in 12 years, the study says. The New York Times blog India Ink relates an effort to address another huge challenge—access to sanitation—in “Mapping Toilets in a Mumbai Slum Yields Unexpected Results.” Bloomberg looks at the coming demographic dividend in Southeast Asia, where young workers are expected to gain jobs as workforces age in Japan, Korea and China.

Guardian: America's Corn Farmers High and Dry as Hope Withers With Their Harvest

“Brutal mix of triple-digit temperatures and lack of rain forces farmers in the corn belt to consider abandoning entire crop.”

Co.exist: More Fish Means More Money: Rebuilding the Global Fish Supply

“Increasing the fish population would increase the value of the ocean, making it more worthwhile to protect and easier to earn a living from.”

(Map above: Many countries are not earning a profit from fisheries -- if the full cost is taken into account. From Benefits of Rebuilding Global Marine Fisheries Outweigh Costs.)

New York Times: Mapping Toilets in a Mumbai Slum Yields Unexpected Results

Students find “the act of naming streets, counting citizens and mapping facilities turns information into an advocacy tool.”

Bloomberg: Aging Japan-Chinese Workers Drive Jobs to Southeast Asia

“As factories, jobs and investment flow south to tap cheaper labor, growth in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is poised to accelerate.” 

Longreads is a regular feature on the Voices blog highlighting development research and in-depth reporting.