Campaign website cited for excellence of content, humanitarian value

12 September 2011, Rome - FAO's new www.EndingHunger.org website has received special mention for excellence of content and humanitarian value at the ninth edition of Premio Web Italia.

Presenting the award on Saturday in Cava de Tirreni the Jury stated:
"The FAO EndingHunger project receives special mention for the quality of the content on the portal, for its great social value, for its humanitarian commitment and the global involvement of the site. The Premio Web Italia joins the millions of people who have signed the petition and who helped to give resonance to the initiative."

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

Fire management will require increased investment

9 September 2011, Rome - Countries need to pay more attention to fire management on lands bordering forests in order to prevent the 95 percent of wildfires that originate from human activities in forests and adjacent areas, an international partnership for forests warned today.

The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), which consists of 14 international organizations and secretariats, issued its warning as many countries are experiencing an increasing incidence in the frequency and size of wildfires due to lack of fire management policies and impacts of climate change.

"In many cases the fire starts on agricultural or pasture lands and spreads quickly on nearby forests," said Pieter van Lierop, an FAO expert on forest fire management. "When people continue to burn rubbish and agricultural waste, clear lands by burning vegetation for agricultural or development purposes, or burn pastures to allow grass to sustain its high productivity, there is always a danger of large-scale vegetation and forest fires particularly under dry and hot weather conditions," he added. "There are practical things that can be done to reduce the risks of fire escaping from agricultural areas.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

New effort to assure soils future generations

7 September 2011, Rome - FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf warned today that pressure on the world's soil resources and land degradation are threatening global food security. He called for a renewed international effort to assure sufficient fertile and healthy soils today and for future generations.

Diouf was speaking here at the start of a three-day meeting to launch a new Global Soil Partnership for Food security and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

"Soil is an essential component of the world's production systems and ecosystems," Diouf said. "But it is also a fragile and non-renewable resource. It is very easily degraded and it is slow, difficult and expensive to regenerate," he added.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

Increased preparedness and surveillance urged against variant strain

29 August 2011, Rome - FAO today urged heightened readiness and surveillance against a possible major resurgence of the H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza amid signs that a mutant strain of the deadly Bird Flu virus is spreading in Asia and beyond, with unpredictable risks to human health.

The H5N1 virus has infected 565 people since it first appeared in 2003, killing 331 of them, according to WHO figures. The latest death occurred earlier this month in Cambodia, which has registered eight cases of human infection this year -- all of them fatal.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

New online consultation on food security and nutrition launched

Chimoio, Mozambique - Women desheathing a pile of corn after harvesting season.28 July 2011, Rome - The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has launched a new online consultation on food security and nutrition governance.

The purpose of the consultation is to gather inputs for the preparation of the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition (GSF), a document being developed to improve coordination and support global, regional and country-led actions to prevent future food crises, eliminate hunger and ensure food security and nutrition for all.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

25 July 2011, Rome - The international community rallied today to the aid of drought- and famine-affected populations in the Horn of Africa with an immediate, twin-track programme designed to avert an imminent humanitarian catastrophe and build long-term food security in the region.

The meeting was organized by FAO at the urgent request of the French Presidency of the Group of 20 and was attended by Ministers and senior representatives from FAO's 191 Member Countries, other UN agencies and international and non-governmental organizations.

The food crisis in the Horn of Africa, triggered by drought, conflict and high food prices, is affecting more than 12 million people, with two regions of southern Somalia suffering from famine.

Source: Media Centre FAO

21 July 2011, Rome - Germany, Norway and Switzerland have contributed a first donation of $1,000,000 to a new, FAO-managed fund designed to help developing countries conserve and sustainably use their livestock breeds.

The fund will provide financing for individual projects submitted by countries in support of the internationally-agreed Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources. The plan, adopted by all FAO member countries in 2007, has become a key instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of animal genetic resources at global, regional and national level.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

28 June 2011, Rome - "While we are celebrating one of the greatest successes for FAO and its partners, I wish to remind you that this extraordinary achievement would not have been possible without the joint efforts and strong commitments of governments, the main organizations in Africa, Asia and Europe, and without the continuous support of donors and international institutions", FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said today.
Diouf made the comment as FAO's member countries officially recognized global freedom from the deadly cattle virus.
The FAO Conference, the highest body of the UN agency, adopted a resolution declaring global freedom from rinderpest. The resolution also called on the world community to follow up by ensuring that samples of rinderpest viruses and vaccines be kept under safe laboratory conditions and that rigorous standards for disease surveillance and reporting be applied.
The declaration is the final step in a decades-long global campaign implemented by FAO, in close coordination with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and other partners to eradicate rinderpest.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

27 June 2011, Rome - FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said today that the major reform of the Organization which he implemented during his tenure since 1994 has made it "leaner, more focussed and fitter for the 21st Century".
Addressing the 37th Session of the FAO Conference, FAO's top governing body, Diouf termed the current reform process, which follows a comprehensive independent external evaluation, as "one of the most profound and comprehensive reforms in the history of the whole United Nations system".

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

27 June 2011, Rome - The European Commission (EC), FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have signed today in Rome a new Strategic Framework of Cooperation to increase the capacity of the international community to deliver effective, coordinated, timely and sustainable support to food security and nutrition.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

26 June 2011, Rome - José Graziano da Silva of Brazil was elected Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today. Graziano da Silva, who is 61, received a total of 92 votes out of 180 votes cast, winning over former Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé, who received 88 votes. There were no abstentions. The election took place on the second day of the biennial 191 member nation Conference of FAO, which also will vote on the Organization's budget for 2012-2013. As Brazil's Extraordinary Minister of Food Security and Fight Against Hunger he was responsible for implementing the country's highly-successful "Zero Hunger" ("Fome Zero") programme, in whose design he also played a leading role. The programme helped lift 24 million people out of extreme poverty in five years and to reduce undernourishment in Brazil by 25 percent.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

15 April 2011,Rome - The United Nations food agencies - FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP) - have launched a food security platform to improve the coordination of food security responses in humanitarian crises.

The Food Security Cluster - led by the two organizations - is based in Rome. Its work is spearheaded by a small global unit led by Graham Farmer, the newly appointed Global Cluster Coordinator. The global support team includes FAO, WFP, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and other humanitarian organizations.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

15 April 2011, Rome - FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf has appointed Manoj Juneja, a citizen of India, as one of FAO's two Deputy Directors-General. The FAO Council has endorsed the appointment.

Manoj Juneja will be the Deputy Director-General for Operations as of 1 July 2011. He has 24 years of UN experience, having served at the International Labour Organization (ILO) as well as in FAO's Office of Programme, Budget and Evaluation, Technical Cooperation, and Corporate Services, Human Resources and Finance departments.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

1 April 2011, Rome - United Nations chemical experts have recommended that two pesticides - endosulfan and azinphos methyl - and one severely hazardous pesticide formulation - Gramoxone Super - be included in the Rotterdam Convention's Prior Informed Consent procedure. Three industrial chemicals - perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), its salts and precursors; pentaBDE commercial mixtures; and octaBDE commercial mixtures - were also recommended for inclusion.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

7 April 2011, Rome - The FAO Food Price Index has dropped for the first time after eight months of continuous price spikes, FAO announced today.

The Index averaged 230 points in March 2011, down 2.9 percent from its peak in February, but still 37 percent above March of last year.

"The decrease in the overall index this month brings some welcome respite from the steady increases seen over the last eight months," said David Hallam, Director of FAO's Trade and Market Division. "But it would be premature to conclude that this is a reversal of the upward trend," he added.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

31 March 2011, Rome - "Potentially catastrophic" impacts on food production from slow-onset climate changes are expected to increasingly hit the developing world in the future and action is needed now to prepare for those anticipated impacts, FAO warned today in a submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"Currently the world is focused on dealing with shorter-term climate impacts caused mainly by extreme weather events," said Alexander Müller, FAO Assistant-Director General for Natural Resources.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

23 March 2011, Rome - FAO's first forecast for world wheat production in 2011 stands at 676 million tonnes, representing a growth of 3.4 percent from 2010, the March 2011 edition of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report said today. This level would still be below the bumper harvests in 2008 and 2009.

Wheat plantings in many countries have increased or are expected to increase this year in response to strong prices, while yield recoveries are forecast in areas that were affected by drought in 2010, the Russian Federation in particular, the report specified.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

22 March, 2011, Rome - As the world's urban population continues to swell, the need to employ new and innovative approaches to ensuring safe and adequate water for city dwellers in developing countries is becoming increasingly pressing, FAO said today.

"Within the next 20 years, 60 percent of the world's population will live in cities, with most urban expansion taking place in the developing world. Ensuring access to nutritious, affordable food for the poorer of these city-dwellers is emerging as a real challenge," said Alexander Mueller, FAO Assistant Director-General for Natural Resources.

More...

Source: Media Centre FAO

11 March 2011, Bali, Indonesia - Agriculture ministers and senior officials from more than 100 countries have committed to review the global crop gene pool of the International Treaty on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and urged those countries who have not signed the farming biodiversity treaty to do so as soon as possible.

The ministers paved the way forward on the eve of a meeting of the Treaty's Governing Body in Bali, Indonesia on March 14-18, adopting a lengthy declaration designed to steer the Treaty's future course to face food insecurity and climate change.

Source: Media Centre FAO

MINSK, 7 February (BelTA)

Government support to agriculture in Belarus will be reduced to 10% by 2016, First Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Nadezhda Kotkovets told a press conference on 7 February, BelTA has learned.

Last year government subsidies to agriculture amounted to 15.4%. In 2011 it is expected to total 16%. The share of government support to agriculture will be reduced, including in line with one of the SES agreements.

Nadezhda Kotkovets also stressed that organizations under the Agriculture and Food Ministry seek to attract foreign investments in industrial processing. For instance, the Belarusian party is interested in cooperation with the Danone-Unimilk company. Belarus' agriculture industry has raised Israeli, Iranian, and German investments as well. Moreover, Belarusian companies are eager to attract foreign investments in the construction of poultry and hog-breeding farms.

Video: Reporting of Belteleradiocompany (Only in Russian)

Source: Belarusian Telegraph Agency