News archive 2016

Improved land management strategies and technologies being used across sub-Saharan Africa are helping protect the environment, boost agricultural productivity, strengthen livelihoods and enhance food security, according to a new study, published by NEPAD and and its TerrAfrica partners, including FAO.

Forest and farm producer organizations are key players in meeting the world’s growing demand for food and forest products, improving the lives of rural communities, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). That is the key take-away of a new FAO publication launched today at the European Development Days in Brussels, Belgium, taking place on 15-16 June.

"The migratory pressures causing major concern at a global level today result from war, conflict and political instability, but FAO also calls for adequate attention to be given to pressures associated with the very root causes of migration," Graziano da Silva told participants at the European Development Days 2016 in Brussels.

Fish weighing as little as one gram could be crucial allies in the race to end hunger in some of the world’s most chronically poor and underfed regions, according to a new FAO report on fisheries in the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa

The two agencies launched a new e-learning course designed for use by agricultural policymakers, programme designers and implementers, researchers and statisticians, to ensure that child labour prevention measures are included in agricultural and rural development programmes, in particular those targeting poor smallholders.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China have announced plans to intensify their partnership in south-south cooperation activities, FAO announced today.

The Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA) - adopted as an FAO Agreement in 2009 after a years-long diplomatic effort - is the first ever binding international treaty that focuses specifically on illicit fishing.

Promoting sustainable agriculture requires a renewed focus on innovation and investment in research, technology and capacity development, FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva said at a meeting of agriculture ministers of the G20 in China.

Solid production prospects and abundant stocks pointing to a broadly stable outcome for global food commodity markets in the year ahead, FAO's Food Outlook report said. Lower food prices mean the world’s food import bill could fall below $1 trillion for the first time since 2009.

Drought linked to El Niño and civil conflict have pushed the number of countries currently in need of external food assistance up to 37 from 34 in March, according to a NEW FAO REPORT.