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While undernourishment in Asia dropped from 24 to 14 percent over the past three decades, concerted efforts aim to eradicate hunger and achieve Zero Hunger by 2025.  Some 40 representatives from civil society, development partners and UN agencies are reviewing a draft Asia-Pacific guiding framework to achieve the UN’s Zero Hunger Challenge by 2025. The absolute number of hungry people in Asia-Pacific remains unacceptably high and casts a shadow on food...

While new technology continues to improve agricultural production, it is critical that policy makers in Asia and the Pacific pay closer attention to existing traditional systems of agriculture. These systems, originated and perfected through the wisdom of our ancestors, are as applicable today as ever before. Indeed we still have much to learn from them and share with each other. But in the rush to modernize some of these traditions are...

International rice prices tended to steady in October in all market segments. Prices stabilized in the major origins, including in Thailand. There, the benchmark Thai white rice 100%B, after sliding by 7 percent in August and 9 percent in September, shed less than 1 percent in October, settling at USD 457 per tonne. In Viet Nam, prices strengthened on the trail of a large sale to the Philippines, while, in India, high...

FAO is mobilizing support to the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which tore through the country causing severe damage to the fisheries and agriculture sectors in addition to massive loss of life.“I want to express the solidarity of FAO and myself personally with the people and the Government of the Philippines,” FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today.“The super typhoon Haiyan has left a trail of destruction...

FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Hiroyuki Konuma, today presented an award to Makiko Uemoto, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Division, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Government of Japan, for her submission of the name Mr Q, the official mascot of the Save Food Asia-Pacific campaign. The campaign was launched in August, in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Technology and with...

The forest sector across Asia and the Pacific has enormous untapped potential to increase the prosperity of countries, industries and improve the livelihoods of millions. But to achieve that, greater, coordinated efforts are needed by forest managers, governments and the private sector. Leading forestry experts and policy makers from 33 member countries are attending the 25th session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) to consider ways and means of making the...

Replanting of coconut trees on a massive scale is required if the coconut producing countries of Asia and the Pacific are to meet the world’s rapidly growing demand for coconut products. Delegates from the governments of 13 Asia-Pacific countries, including eight Ministers of Agriculture, participating in the High-Level Regional Consultation on Coconut Sector Development in Asia and the Pacific also noted that technical and financial assistance would be needed, and soon,...

A CLOSING NEWS CONFERENCE IS OPEN TO ALL: Friday, 1 November – Novotel Siam Hotel – Noon, Library Room Floor B1 Asia-Pacific’s coconut trees are so old they cannot produce enough coconuts and by-products to keep up with the world’s rapidly growing demand. As the aging trees produce fewer raw materials, the livelihoods of millions are affected. So critical is the need for a coordinated solution, 15 countries from Asia and the...

While the world presently has enough food to feed everyone on the planet, that’s unlikely to be the case in the not too distant future. "We have to prepare for the risk of a potential food crisis in Asia and the Pacific," Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, told a gathering of UN organizations and diplomats at a seminar...

Successful farmers are often those who possess three particular qualities. They are industrious, committed and clever. Jarun Jaroensap of Thailand is exactly that type of person. In recognition, Jarun was presented today with the FAO’s World Food Day Model Farmer Award for his success as an organic entrepreneur and businessman. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who presided over the annual event, presented the FAO’s annual Asia-Pacific award to Jarun and...