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Five pick-up cars, equipped for bird flu investigations, were handed over today by FAO to the department of livestock development (DLD). The mobile veterinary units were provided through a generous contribution from the government of Japan. The cost of the five mobile veterinary units amounts to Baht 6.6 million.Dr Sackchai Sriboonsue, DLD director-general, symbolically accepted the car keys during a small ceremony at the National Institute for Animal Health in...

Today, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presented FAO awards to four Asian farmers from Afghanistan, China, Viet Nam and Thailand.Rong Wenxi from China was honoured as a model farmer for rural biogas development.Despite the rapidly increasing energy consumption of China, if one travels to the countryside one will find rural areas where power is still in short supply. But if one travels to the right areas, one will...

Today, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presented FAO awards to four Asian farmers from Afghanistan, China, Viet Nam and Thailand.Somjit Praisimuang from Thailand was honoured as model farmer for organic horticulture.Somjit Praisimuang is a woman who was ahead of her time. Growing rice and a few vegetables on her five-hectare farm in the central Thai province of Nakhon Pathom, Somjit had always resisted using chemical fertilizers and pesticides....

Today, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presented FAO awards to four Asian farmers from Afghanistan, China, Viet Nam and Thailand.Mrs Nguyen Thi Thu from Viet Nam was honoured as model farmer in the field of integrated agriculture.People often look to government for answers. But sometimes, government finds answers among the people. An excellent example of precisely that can be found in Viet Nam where Mrs Nguyen Thi Thu...

Today, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presented FAO awards to four Asian farmers from Afghanistan, China, Viet Nam and Thailand.Haji Aminullah from Afghanistan was honoured as a model cooperative farmer.From the time he was about eight years old, Haji Aminullah and his farming family in Afghanistan experienced hardship. First, the communists invaded. Then came the Taliban. Both would descend upon his village of Nahrin in northeastern Baghlan province....

The Asian Conference on Food and Nutrition Safety (ACFNS), held once every four years since 1991, is recognized as a regional scientific forum to review, discuss and address the science that ensures safety of food and water supply. The 5th in the series, under the them "Science-based Solutions - Sustainable Actions", will be held from 5 to 7 November 2008 in Cebu, Philippines. The Conference will focus on the latest...

Nadi, Fiji – The deepening global financial turmoil and soaring energy and commodity prices have serious adverse effects on poorer households, women and children. Rapid action is needed to avert increased child malnutrition and increase the availability of affordable food on local markets, said the Chairperson of FAO’s South West Pacific Ministers for Agriculture today.Speaking at the opening session of a worskshop in Nadi, minister Pokotoa Sipeli from Niue expressed...

Apia - Pacific island countries will benefit from US$2.5 million emergency assistance from FAO for increased agricultural and livestock production, targeting small farmers and poor consumers in 14 Pacific islands.Under this short-term assistance – part of the Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP) launched by FAO late last year - vulnerable households are empowered with necessary basic resources to improve farm production and increase the supply of food on local...

Colombo - In response to the Sri Lankan government’s request for assistance in the context of soaring food prices, FAO has approved the project "Input supply to vulnerable populations under Initiative on Soaring Food Prices" and allocated US$ 500 000 to finance it.The project will provide immediate support to enhance rice production in conflict and flood affected districts through the provision of agricultural inputs and small implements.Six hundred metric tons...

Phnom Penh (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation) – MAFF and FAO announced today that they are launching an emergency project to help impoverished farmers boost agricultural production immediately. The project – funded from FAO’s Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) – is part of the Organization’s Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP) launched by the FAO Director-General in December 2007 aimed at boosting local...