News archive 2011

The governments of Norway and Germany have committed a combined total of $5 million in support of an FAO programme to improve global information on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and more accurately assess farming's potential to mitigate global warming.

In partnership with the European Union (EU), FAO is leading efforts to help the Democratic Republic of the Congo breathe new life into agricultural and forestry research, vital to nourish an underfed population and to preserve some of its most precious resources.

Countries are making progress in implementing the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which is now 15 years old, but still extremely relevant. However, additional efforts are needed, declared participants at the close of the 29th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries.

Thousands of hectares of agricultural land and crops have been damaged by floods and heavy rains in southern Africa. This is raising concern about the food security of the affected population in the poorer parts of the sub-region over the coming months.

World food prices surged to a new historic peak in January, for the seventh consecutive month, according to the updated FAO Food Price Index, a commodity basket that regularly tracks monthly changes in global food prices. This is the highest level (both in real and nominal terms) since FAO started measuring food prices in 1990.

Millions of forest-dependent people play a vital role in managing, conserving, and developing the world's forests in a sustainable manner, but the outside world often underestimates their rights to use and benefit from local forest resources, according to a new FAO report on the state of the world's forests. FAO releases the report at the launch of the United Nations International Year of Forests in New York.

Six candidates have been presented by FAO Member Nations for the post of Director-General to be elected in late June 2011, the agency announced today. The deadline for nominations was yesterday, 31 January.

The contribution of fish to global diets has reached a record of about 17 kg per person on average, supplying over three billion people with at least 15 percent of their average animal protein intake. This increase is due mainly to the ever-growing production of aquaculture which is set to overtake capture fisheries as a source of food fish, according to the State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture released today. The report also stressed that the status of global fish stocks has not improved.

FAO Director-General, Jacques Diouf, has responded with the following clarification to an article published in the January 25 2011 edition of the French newspaper "Le Monde" on the need for greater transparency in data collection and promptness in dealing with price spikes.

FAO is calling for veterinary and border control authorities in Asia to be on alert for animals showing signs of infection by Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), following an unprecedented outbreak of the livestock-affecting sickness in South Korea. The current FMD dynamics in eastern Asia, as well as the magnitude of the outbreak in South Korea, are unlike anything seen for at least a half century, the agency said.