FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

News and Press Releases

Emerging data suggest COVID-19 is driving up hunger in vulnerable countries
Urgent action required to stem crises, FAO Director-General tells UN High-Level meeting
09.06.2020 Rome/New York
Emerging data suggest COVID-19 is driving up hunger in vulnerable countries
Initial and ongoing assessments by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provide strong indications that the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts are driving up hunger in countries that were already experiencing high levels of food insecurity prior to the disease's outbreak. "The COVID-19 pandemic poses a clear and present danger to food security and nutrition, especially to the world's most vulnerable communities" FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said today at...
Food safety practices in Asia-Pacific get a boost from an unlikely source – COVID-19
While the global pandemic brought on by the spread of COVID-19 has heightened awareness about the need for personal hygiene, such as frequent hand washing, to avoid transmitting the virus, it has also reminded everyone that similar good hygiene practices are always needed in the preparation and handling of food, a joint webinar on food safety heard today. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has urged countries...
FAO warns multiple impact of viruses, plagues and economic damage will fuel hunger in Asia and the Pacific
While the world fights to slow the spread of COVID-19, the worst pandemic experienced in a century, countries in South Asia are simultaneously responding to plagues of locusts, cyclones and a deadly livestock disease, all of which threaten to worsen hunger and the livelihoods of millions of people, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned today. Swarms of Desert Locust, which originated in Africa, have moved swiftly...
Staying on top of African Swine Fever in Asia-Pacific – despite a human pandemic
In addition to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, with its devastating impact on the agriculture and agrifood sectors, African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to spread and threaten the livelihoods, food security and nutritional status of vulnerable groups in Asia and the Pacific region. In response to this continuing ASF threat, the Emergency Centre of Animal Disease (ECTAD) at FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) is launching its first...
Helping build local resilience to climate change
Residents of Manono and Apolima islands in Samoa recently received assistance from a visiting technical team comprised of staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) and the FAO. Like other parts of the Pacific, Manono and Apolima Island are both vulnerable to climate hazards such as cyclones and sea level rise. An FAO project funded by the Government of Italy has involved trainings and demonstrations to communities to build...
COVID-19’s long shadow darkens the future of Southeast Asia’s food security
As COVID-19 continues to threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in Southeast Asia, additional concerns are being raised about the longer term health of the sub-region’s food systems – a complex matrix involving farmers, fishers, labourers, drivers, cold storage, food processors, retailers, and consumers. From small village markets to the large grocery store chains in densely populated cities like Bangkok, Manila, and Jakarta, food appears plentiful enough and...
Kiribati fisherman and government reps talk national FAD program
Fishermen associations and interested fishermen gathered at the village of Banraeaba, Tarawa in Kiribati to participate in a one-day workshop to learn about the FAO Japan project to support artisanal fisheries. The workshop, hosted by the Coastal Fisheries Division under the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development, closely followed a regional work shop held in Fiji explaining the aims and outputs of a fish aggregating device (FAD) program. The workshop...
FAO steps up efforts to revive livelihoods and food security in Pakistan’s Sindh Province amid COVID-19 outbreak
The livelihoods of millions of family farmers in Pakistan have been affected by a series of natural hazards in the last 14 months and now stand to be devastated by the spread of COVID-19, but action is underway to help them, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said today. In rural parts of Sindh province of Pakistan livestock are an integral part of poor people’s livelihoods, contributing...
FAO Thailand issues food-related coronavirus prevention guidelines to consumers, policy makers and local authorities
ข้อความหลักจากองค์การอาหารและเกษตรแห่งสหประชาชาติ (FAO) เกี่ยวกับประเด็นความมั่นคงและความปลอดภัยทางอาหาร สำหรับประชาชนทั่วไป เจ้าหน้าที่ระดับท้องถิ่น และผู้กำหนดนโยบายของรัฐในช่วงที่มีการระบาดของโควิด-19
20.04.2020 Bangkok, Thailand
FAO Thailand issues food-related coronavirus prevention guidelines to consumers, policy makers and local authorities
Key messages on food security and food safety for residents, policy makers and local authorities of Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) General public: สำหรับประชาชนทั่วไป There is no need to hoard or excessively stockpile foods at home. Thailand is, at its heart and in its culture, an agricultural country and COVID-19 has not directly affected food production. ไม่ควรกักตุนอาหารและเครื่องอุปโภคบริโภคเกินความจำเป็น เนื่องจากประเทศไทยเป็นประเทศเกษตรกรรมที่มีกำลังการผลิตอาหารเพียงพอต่อความต้องการของผู้บริโภคภายในประเทศ อีกทั้งโควิด-19 ไม่ได้ส่งผลกระทบโดยตรงต่อการผลิตอาหาร Shop sensibly –...