1 December 2009 Farming practices that capture carbon and store it in agricultural soils offer some of the most promising options for early and cost-effective action on climate change in developing countries, while contributing to food security, FAO said in a policy brief prepared for the Copenhagen summit. [more...]

17 November 2009 World leaders convened at FAO Headquarters for the World Summit on Food Security unanimously adopted a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the face of the earth sustainably and at the earliest date. Countries also agreed to work to reverse the decline in domestic and international funding for agriculture and promote new investment in the sector, to improve governance of global food issues in partnership with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sector, and to proactively face the challenges of climate change to food security. [more...]

5 November 2009 The twin battles to improve food security for a growing world population and contain climate change can be fought on the same front—the world's farmland, FAO said in a new report released today. Agriculture not only suffers the impacts of climate change, it is also responsible for 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But agriculture has the potential to be an important part of the solution, through mitigation—reducing and/or removing—a significant amount of global emissions, FAO says. Some 70 percent of this mitigation potential could be realized in developing countries. [more...]

27 October 2009 Land ownership laws a key instrument in fighting hunger -- FAO has begun widespread consultations over the first ever international guidelines on governance of tenure to land and other natural resources such as water supplies, fisheries and forests. [more...]

14 October 2009 A 'Blue Carbon' fund able to invest in the maintenance and rehabilitation of key marine ecosystems should be considered by governments keen to combat climate change. A new Rapid Response Report released today estimates that carbon emissions--equal to half the annual emissions of the global transport sector--are being captured and stored by marine ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses. [more...]

7 October 2009 Future of agriculture and food security closely linked to climate change -- Poorest regions with the highest levels of chronic hunger are likely to be among the worst affected by climate change, according to an FAO discussion paper published today. Many developing countries, particularly in Africa, could become increasingly dependent on food imports. [more...]