News archive 2010

The maximum amount of melamine allowed in powdered infant formula is 1 mg/kg and the amount of the chemical allowed in other foods and animal feed is 2.5 mg/kg, according to new rulings from the United Nations' food standards body, Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Tackling hunger requires moving from talk to action in ensuring that women farmers have equal access to agricultural resources and an equal voice in decision making at all levels, FAO said this week, as a high-level UN meeting put gender equality and women's empowerment at the top of the agenda.

Developing countries that grow tea could increase income from the crop by marketing the drink more heavily at home. Other ways they could squeeze more revenue from the commodity would be to publicise the health benefits of the beverage rather than increase the size of tea plantations which would damage prices in the long run.

Amid a growing food crisis in the Sahel that is putting millions at risk of hunger, FAO has started providing quality seeds to 100 000 vulnerable farmers in Burkina Faso, as part of an € 18 million operation funded by the European Union (EU).

Some regulation of commodities futures markets is desirable says FAO, but any intervention should be cautious and stop short of imposing tight limits or an outright ban on such trading. According to a FAO Policy Brief the worldwide rise in food prices two years ago "might have been amplified by speculators in organized futures markets. However, limiting or banning speculative trading might do more harm than good."

New research shows how agricultural investments in developing nations can be structured as alternatives to large-scale land acquisitions. It documents a range of more inclusive business models that can bring benefits to small-scale farmers and protect their land rights, while also ensuring returns to companies.

FAO is stepping up support to farmers and pastoralists in Niger as part of its response to the alarming food situation in the Sahel, with new operations benefiting an estimated 2.8 million people.

A successful FAO-run project in Mauritania to fix sand dunes and stop sand encroachment has many lessons for other similar projects in the Sahel and Sahara. A manual on the project has been published by FAO to mark The World Day to Combat Desertification. Sand encroachment can bury villages, roads and oases and damage crops and irrigation infrastructure, causing economic damage and increasing poverty and food insecurity.

Farm commodity prices have fallen from their record peaks of two years ago but are unlikely to drop back to their average levels of the past decade, according to the annual joint report from the OECD and FAO. The report sees average wheat and coarse grain prices over the next 10 years between 15-40 percent higher in real terms (adjusted for inflation) than their average levels during the 1997-2006 period.

Award-winning Chinese actress and FAO Goodwill Ambassador Gong Li has called on her fans to sign on to the '1billionhungry' online petition which aims to harness grassroots concern over the scale of world hunger and bring pressure to bear on world leaders to do something about it.