News archive 2012

Thanks to a project funded by the United Kingdom, FAO has trained Somali communities to increase their incomes by producing commodities like soap and crafts from livestock waste such as bones and hides. It is hoped that phase two of the project will eventually create thousands of jobs throughout Somalia.

Visiting Haitian President Michel Joseph Martelly and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva have appealed for increased investment in the country in order to build its long-term resilience. Graziano da Silva also pledged FAO's support to Haiti through interventions that address both immediate crisis situations and the root causes of the island nation's food insecurity and poverty.

The African Union, FAO and Instituto Lula of Brazil have agreed to join efforts to help eradicate hunger and undernourishment in Africa. The agreement was made at a meeting in Addis Ababa between African Union Chair Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Global rice production for 2012 is forecast to outpace consumption in 2012/13, resulting in an upward revision of 5 million tonnes in 2013 closing stocks, according to FAO's Rice Market Monitor. FAO raised its July forecast for global rice production in 2012 by 4.2 million tonnes to 729 million tonnes, or 486 million tonnes on milled basis.

Conflict, recurrent drought and volatile food prices have countries in Africa and the Near East in a hunger trap, although there is a way out, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told the International Conference on Food Security in Drylands today in Doha, Qatar.

The FAO-based International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) agreed today to join forces to help countries better manage their handling of the ozone-damaging gas methyl bromide, used to treat plant products and thereby prevent the accidental spread of pests and diseases.

Food security will remain a top priority for the G20 and the G8 under Russian Presidency of the Groups in 2013 and 2014 respectively, Russia has told FAO. Russia is also interested in further strengthening the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) created last year by the G20. The Russian Federation is looking forward to working closely with FAO and to enhancing AMIS's effectiveness.

International investments that give local farmers an active role and leave them in control of their land have the most positive effects on local economies and social development, according to a new FAO report, "Trends and Impacts of Foreign Investment in Developing Country Agriculture".

A nationwide assessment by United Nations agencies estimates there has been an increase in staple food production in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the second year running. This, however, should not mask an ongoing struggle with undernutrition and a lack of vital protein and fat in the diet, especially for an estimated 2.8 million vulnerable people.

The FAO Food Price Index fell one percent in October 2012, and for the first ten months of the year food prices were on average eight percent lower than in the same period in 2011. The Index dipped two points from September's revised level of 215 points. The decline was largely due to lower international prices of cereals and oils and fats.