30 April 2012, Brazzaville – The creation of an African-funded trust fund to support food security in the continent was discussed at FAO’s Regional Conference for Africa, held last week in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.

Complementing international resource mobilization, the Africa Trust Fund would raise resources in the continent to fight hunger and would also allow for the scaling up of successful activities to prevent and [...]

27 April 2012, Brazzaville - Republic of the Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso has made a “vibrant appeal” for Africa to show solidarity with countries in the African Sahel region and the Horn of Africa where  millions of people are currently facing a food crisis.

In a speech marking the opening of FAO's 27^th Regional Conference for Africa in Brazzaville yesterday, the President called for concrete efforts [...]

26 April 2012, Brazzaville - FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today that funding gaps to assist herders, agro-pastoralists and farmers in the ongoing rainy season in the Sahel and Horn of Africa total over 110 million dollars.

"In the Horn of Africa, we are losing the opportunity to build on our recent gains and assure resilient rural communities. In the Sahel, this means not [...]

24 April 2012, Rome - An international media and knowledge centre was inaugurated at FAO headquarters today by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

Funded by the United Arab Emirates, the Centre is named for the country's founder and late president Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who once said, "Give me [...]

20 April 2012, Baku, Azerbaijan - Countries of Europe and Central Asia today unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to working together to promote sustainable rural development, tackle malnutrition and end hunger.

Speaking at FAO's Regional Conference for Europe, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev called hunger "one of the greatest curses of the 21^st century."

"It is unbelievable that today there are people who die [...]

20 April 2012, Baku, Azerbaijan - Countries of Europe and Central Asia today unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to working together to promote sustainable rural development, tackle malnutrition and end hunger. 

Speaking at FAO's Regional Conference for Europe, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev called hunger "one of the greatest curses of the 21^st century."

"It is unbelievable that today there are people who die from hunger -- we need [...]

19 April 2012, Baku, Azerbaijan  - The success of efforts to shift over the longer term to a model of sustainable economic development taking place under the Rio+20 umbrella will require that the world first tackle its "most urgent" challenge -- ending hunger, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today.

"We cannot call development sustainable if we are leaving almost one in every seven people behind, [...]

19 April 2012, Baku, Azerbaijan – Calling hunger unacceptable, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, urged the international community to join forces to eradicate what he called the curse of the 21st century.

Aliyev opened the Ministerial Session of the 28th Regional Conference for Europe, taking place in Baku, with the participation of over 45 countries from Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus. 

Noting the contribution of agricultural and rural development [...]

19 April 2012, Baku, Azerbaijan - Estonia has signed an agreement with FAO that for the first time provides voluntary funding to the Organization's development programme.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and the Estonian Minister of Agriculture Helir-Valdor Seeder at a ceremony on 18 April, the day before the opening of the Regional Conference for Europe.

It commits Estonia to long-term support for [...]

12 April 2012, Rome - Twelve countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia will start working with the European Union (EU) and FAO to manage their vast stocks of obsolete pesticides in a partnership that was launched at FAO's headquarters in Rome.

It is estimated that around 200 000 tons of obsolete pesticides, nearly half the world's stockpiles, can be found in twelve former Soviet [...]