Defence`s Feeds

Sustainable beekeeping is increasingly recognized as a key asset for not only farming communities but for sustainable agrifood systems, the environment and the global community as a whole. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe/IPS

By Thanawat Tiensin
ROME, May 19 2026 (IPS)

For thousands of years, humans have kept bees. Beekeeping is a key agricultural activity, yet its full potential remains largely unrealized. Beekeeping produces far more than honey and generates far more income than many have chosen to acknowledge.

The contribution of bees to global agrifood systems runs to hundreds of billions of dollars annually, a figure that should anchor national policy and investment decisions, not appear as a footnote in environmental reports.

The case for investing more substantially in sustainable beekeeping and pollinator conservation can be and has been made at the farm level. When farming practices actively support pollinator health through crop diversification, reduced agrochemical use, and biodiversity-friendly habitat management, the results are measurable and can be significant.

As an example, in cashew cultivation in South India, agroecological farming practices increased the abundance of insect pollinators visiting flowers by nearly 400 percent, with yields trending substantially higher as a result.

Beekeeping generally requires relatively low capital investment, generates income across multiple product streams, and is well-suited to the resource constraints of small-scale producers

Cashew, like many high-value crops, suffers acute yield losses in the absence of pollinators, losses that better conservation of bees and other pollinators can directly address.

Beekeeping generally requires relatively low capital investment, generates income across multiple product streams, and is well-suited to the resource constraints of small-scale producers. In increasingly fragile and climate-stressed environments where other agricultural activities face growing uncertainty, beekeeping has shown unusual resilience.

Of the roughly 25,000 bee species on Earth, only 8 to 11 are honeybees. Around those species, humanity has built very advanced management systems, refined over millennia and now increasingly integrated with modern science. Many countries across the world have made beekeeping a pillar of rural livelihoods, and in 2017 World Bee Day officially entered the United Nations calendar.

Celebrated each year on 20 May, it marks the birthday of Slovenian Anton Janša, a founding figure of modern apiculture. We have made great strides in raising awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators and the role they play in our lives and now we need to step up our efforts.

One important action that can promote sustainable beekeeping and realize its true economic and food security potential is to recognize bees as a valuable natural asset. When governments include beekeeping in national agriculture investments and support its potential to generate income, they can promote fair and just development of domestic value chains for a range of hive products.

This enables beekeepers to earn higher prices in international markets by producing honey that is sustainable and traceable. FAO’s “Good Beekeeping Practices for Sustainable Apiculture” provide guidelines for sustainable colony management, integrated pest and disease control, habitat stewardship, and the value chain development that allows beekeepers to generate returns beyond raw honey.

These practices, which have been tested across developing country contexts can raise both hive productivity and beekeeper income.

Another key action is to promote sustainable beekeeping through improving extension services, input subsidies, and training programs; these should be designed to help small-scale producers to integrate beekeeping into their production systems, capturing both the pollination benefits and the income from hive products that conventional farm support systems often overlook.

A further and equally important action is to ensure that benefits from beekeeping are accessible and reach those who need them most. Women and young people represent a growing segment of the global beekeeping community and have a lot to gain from having diversified income sources. When they can access training, equipment, and markets on equal terms, productivity and hive health have shown to improve.

The partnership between humans and bees has lasted for thousands of years and continues to evolve.

From the forests of Ethiopia to the pine slopes of Turkey, from the clover fields of Argentina to the manuka hillsides of New Zealand; farmers and beekeepers have long understood what agricultural policy is only beginning to recognize: that sustainable beekeeping and pollinator conservation can be a key asset for not only farming communities but for sustainable agrifood systems, the environment and the global community as a whole.

Thanawat Tiensin is the Assistant Director-General, Director, Animal Production and Health Division, FAO

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Nooria, a 13-year-old Afghan girl, appears in a video in which she says she disguised herself as a boy to work and support her mother and sisters under Taliban restrictions on women. Credit: Learning Together.

By External Source
KABUL, May 19 2026 (IPS)

Nooria is a young girl who, because of poverty and the absence of a man in her family, had to dress in boys’ clothes so she could work and feed her family. It was not a choice, it was survival. But she was eventually caught by the Taliban.

A widely circulated video on social media in early February 2026 shows part of Nooria’s story, though the exact date of the footage is not clear. Many people online believe it was recorded and published recently. From what is said in the video, it appears that Nooria had been wearing boys’ clothes for about four years, which suggests she may have been doing so since the beginning of Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

During questioning, the thirteen-year-old is treated like a criminal, not a child. The Taliban officer keeps asking her whether her clothes and her hair are those of a woman or a man. Each time, she answers in a quiet and pleading voice. She says she had no choice. She says she did it for her mother and her sisters, so she could work and support them, because they had no one else.

Since they regained power in 2021, the Taliban have banned women from participating in the labour market and confined them to the home.

In the video, Nooria repeatedly stresses that she had no choice. She had to wear men’s clothes and work in order to feed her mother and sisters. Yet the Taliban officer keeps pressing her with the same questions: “are you a man or a woman, and who do your clothes and hair resemble?”

Here is a portion of the video conversation, originally recorded in Pashto, with a Dari translation. Nooria sits in a dark corner, her face innocent and very vulnerable. A Taliban officer behind the camera shines a harsh light on her and questions her in an intimidating tone. Throughout the conversation, Nooria tries to make him understand that she is acting out of necessity.

 

Taliban: What is your name? Tell me your name.
Nooria: Nooria.
Taliba: Is Nooria your real name?
Nooria: Yes.
Taliban: Which province are you from?
Nooria: I am from Ghor province.
Taliban: Which district?
Nooria: From Nad Ali district.
Taliban: Where exactly in Nad Ali?
Noria: I am from Zarghun.
Taliban: By what name are you known around here?
Nooria: The people in the market call me Noor Ahmad.
Taliban: Are you wearing men’s clothes?
Nooria: Yes.
Taliban: Are you a man or a woman right now? Explain your situation in your own words.
Nooria: I am a woman, but I wear these men’s clothes out of necessity. I wear them because I must, to enable me work and provide for mother and my sisters. I have no one else to fall on for help. I had to wear this shirt out of necessity and for survival.
Taliban: How long have you been working in the café?
Nooria: It has been three years.
Taliban: Three years? Whom do you work with?
Nooria: With Hikmatullah.
Taliban: How much does Hikmatullah give you per month?
Nooria: At first, he used to give me seven thousand afghanis (USD109.48). But later, I asked him to help me with a little more because it was not enough. He added three thousand, so now it is ten thousand(USD156.40). For the past eight months, he has been giving me ten thousand and that includes his help.
Taliban: Okay, so these clothes you are wearing, are they men’s or women’s?
Nooria: Right now, they are men’s. I wear them because I have to, out of necessity.
Taliban: Look at your hair. Is this the hair of a man or a woman? Take a look yourself—is it man’s or woman’s?
Nooria: I have no one except God. I did this not out of desire but out of necessity. My father has passed away.

In this forced confession video, Nooria says she is thirteen years old and does not know who reported her to the Taliban or why. She explains that she acted only to save her life and feed her mother and sisters.

The video of Nooria’s forced confession went viral on social media, drawing widespread reactions from users across multiple platforms.

Gulchehra Yaftali, a women’s rights activist, shared Noria’s photo on her personal page and wrote: “This image is a blatant crime. A girl has been forced to hide her female identity for over three years to work under the terrorist and misogynistic Taliban regime, just to keep her fatherless family from going hungry. By denying women access to education, work, and public life, the Taliban have pushed them into the shadows and taken away their right to live with dignity.”

It was not the first time a girl in Afghanistan had to disguise herself in boys’ clothes out of necessity. During the first Taliban regime, many households without men resorted to dressing their daughters as boys so they could leave the house safely, have a male guardian, and work to support their families. Even in the current Taliban regime Nooria is not the only girl forced to take this step to protect her family and survive.

Despite my efforts, I was unable to interview Nooria’s relatives or acquaintances. In most cases involving the Taliban, people are too afraid to speak and do not want to risk talking to the media.

In spite of that, I still managed to talk with Noorullah (not her real name), a resident of Ghor province, who gave me the background story of Nooria and her family.

According to her, after Nooria’s mother lost her husband, she left Nad Ali village with her daughters and moved to Ghor. Since they were not well known in that locality, they could not find a male guardian. She therefore had to dress her daughter as a boy and send her to work in the market.

Initially, her daughter Nooria worked in a dairy shop, and later went to work at Hikmatullah’s restaurant.

“Hikmatullah was a good man”, Noorullah says. “He would give Nooria a ride home on his motorcycle in the evening, and whenever he took his own children to school, he would also bring her along on the way to the restaurant.”

I could not get any comments from the Taliban because in most cases involving women, they do not comment to the media. Repeated attempts to obtain comment are often met with silence.

Nooria says at the end of the video confession that Hikmatullah, the restaurant owner for whom she worked, did not know she was a girl. It remains unclear what the Taliban may have done to him, I was not able to find any information about his situation.

It is also not known what happened to Nooria after the video was released. Many human rights activists and social media users believe the Taliban may have forced her into marriage, as was done during their previous rule. However, despite all efforts, no one has been able to find any information about her current situation.

Meanwhile, a number of Taliban critics, women’s rights activists, former government officials, human rights advocates, and social media users have condemned this action, calling it inappropriate. They point out that the Taliban once carried out suicide attacks disguised in women’s clothing. But now, when a girl wears men’s clothes simply to protect and support her family out of necessity, because of restrictions imposed by the Taliban, they respond with such appalling treatment.

Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons

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Non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer account for nearly three-quarters of all deaths worldwide. Credit: Shutterstock

By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, USA, May 19 2026 (IPS)

With death being an inevitable outcome, a fundamental question that crosses the minds of practically everyone is: “How am I going to die?”

A simple response is that you will likely die from one of the top causes of mortality. A more precise answer is that “it depends” to a large extent on your personal circumstances.

For example, if you are under the age of 45, the most likely cause of death statistically in many countries is unintentional injuries or accidents. If you are a young adult aged 18 to 29, in addition to motor vehicle accidents, other major causes of death include suicide and homicide. If you are an older adult over the age of 65, you are most likely going to die from the major causes of death for that age group, which are heart disease and cancer.

Various important personal circumstances contribute to your eventual demise, including age, sex, genetics, country of residence, medical condition, family status, occupation, income, healthcare access, and lifestyle choices. These lifestyle choices may involve smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, diet, and exercise.

Before delving into personal circumstances and the leading causes of death globally and in various countries that ultimately end human lives, it is important to recognize the positive news regarding survival rates and the increase in human life expectancy.

In recent years, the average length of human lives has significantly increased. More people across the globe are surviving to older ages than ever before.

Marked increases in human survival rates have occurred at virtually every age, resulting in more people living longer lives. Additionally, a wide range of diseases, ailments, and conditions have either been eliminated or significantly reduced.

Life expectancies at various ages have shown significant increases worldwide. For example, the global life expectancy at birth has risen from 46 years in 1950 to 74 years today and at age 65, life expectancy has increased from 11 years in 1950 to 18 years today (Table 1).

Source: United Nations.

Additionally, infant and childhood death rates have significantly decreased with more children surviving to adulthood. For instance, the world’s infant mortality rate has dropped from 138 deaths per 1,000 births in 1950 to today’s 26 deaths per 1,000 births.

Moreover, remarkable medical advancements have been made in extending the lives of older men and women since 1950. For example, the number of centenarians worldwide has increased from nearly 15,000 in 1950 to about 672,000 in 2026.

Returning to the question posed at the beginning, “How am I going to die?”, the major causes of death for the world’s population of 8 billion provide some general background.

Globally, the main causes of death are non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are illnesses that are not contagious. These NCDs account for about three-quarters of all deaths worldwide.

However, infectious diseases, such as pneumonia, influenza, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, COVID, and malaria, still exist and are responsible for approximately 14% of all deaths.

According to recent trends by the World Health Organization (WHO) the leading cause of death globally is ischemic heart disease. It is followed by stroke, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lower respiratory, and neonatal conditions (Table 2).

Source: World Health Organization (WHO).

In 2021, COVID-19 was a leading cause of death, ranking after ischemic heart disease and preceding stroke. By 2025, COVID-19 had dropped significantly in ranking, yet it still remains a significant contributor to respiratory mortality.

Analyzing the major causes of death among various age groups in different countries provides additional valuable insights. These data offer a glimpse into potential answers to the question of how I am going to die, based on specific age groups within different countries.

For individuals aged 15 to 34, the primary causes of death in many countries, especially more developed ones, are suicide, accidents, and cancer.

A particularly troubling global trend development in mortality is the fact that suicide ranks as the third leading cause of death among individuals aged 15 to 29. More than 720,000 people die by suicide every year

In Japan, for example, suicide is the leading cause of death for individuals aged 15 to 34, followed by accidents and cancer. Among older adults, cancer and heart disease are the main causes of death. Recent data also show that mortality from senility (or “old age”) has rapidly increased to become the third leading cause of death among elderly adults.

Similarly in the United States, the causes of death vary significantly by age. For young adults (ages 15 to 24), the main causes of death are unintentional injuries such as motor vehicle crashes and drug overdoses, followed by suicide and homicide. Among the elderly, the primary causes of death are heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory diseases.

In many more developed countries, such as Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and South Korea, the leading causes of death for those aged 15 to 34 are suicide, road accidents, and cancer. Among adults aged 65 and older, like in the United States, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory diseases are the main causes of death.

Turning to less developed countries, the leading cause of death in China is cardiovascular disease, accounting for over 44% of deaths in 2024. Among children and adolescents, the leading causes of death are suicide, road traffic accidents, and drowning while among older persons aged 60 and above, cancer and cardiovascular diseases are major factors. Unintentional falls are also a significant and growing cause of injury related deaths in this older age group.

Similarly, ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in India, accounting for nearly one-third of all deaths. Among those aged 15 to 24, suicide is the leading cause of death, followed by road traffic injuries. For children, infectious diseases such as diarrheal diseases and intestinal infections are major factors contributing to death.

In contrast to China and India, the leading causes of death in Africa are dominated by communicable diseases. The major causes of death, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, include lower respiratory infections, malaria, diarrheal diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Neonatal conditions and maternal mortality also significantly contribute to premature death.

In Nigeria, for example, the leading causes of death are dominated by malaria, lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and tuberculosis. Heart disease, stroke, and HIV/AIDS are also among the important causes of death. However similar to China, India, and many other countries worldwide, road traffic accidents are among the top causes of death among young adults.

Among the countries of South America, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, followed by cancer and respiratory diseases. Together these three account for over two-thirds of deaths in this major region.

Suicide is the leading cause of death among young people in several South American countries, including Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, and Suriname. Additionally, in many countries in South America, such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, homicide and road traffic accidents are the major causes of death among individuals aged 15 to 24.

A particularly troubling global trend development in mortality is the fact that suicide ranks as the third leading cause of death among individuals aged 15 to 29. More than 720,000 people die by suicide every year. This number, coupled with the alarming increasing trend, has elevated suicide to a major public health concern in many countries.

In conclusion, while virtually everyone acknowledges the inevitability of death, many occasionally wonder “How am I going to die?” Providing a precise answer to this question is challenging and depends on various personal circumstances, including age, sex, genetics, income, medical conditions, country of residence, and lifestyle choices.

Some of these circumstances, such as age and genetics, are unchangeable. However, lifestyle choices that impact the cause of death, such as smoking, alcohol and drug consumption, diet, and exercise, can be modified or improved. Making positive changes in these areas can often lead to a longer and healthier life.

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division, and author of many publications on population issues.