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Small family farms have great capacity for quick production expansion and are key to sustainable food production if appropriate policies are put in place, FAO asserted during an Asia-Pacific multi-stakeholders consultation preparing for the launch of 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF).   The proclamation by the Un General Assembly of 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming is a recognition of the important role small farmers play....

Hundreds of thousands of farmers in the Philippines whose crops were destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan need urgent assistance to sow new seeds before the end of the current planting season, FAO warned today. The typhoon caused damage in the central part of the country to the 2013 main season rice crop, harvesting of which was well advanced. It also badly disrupted planting of the current 2013-2014 secondary season, which ends in late...

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...