News archive 2017

The Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and UnregulatedFishing, an international treaty aimed at stopping rogue fishing practices, gives the world “all the instruments necessary to achieve our goal,” FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today.

Speaking to members of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Graziano da Silva highlighted the findings of FAO's report, The future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges.

The first Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing treaty aimed at cracking down on illicit fishing opened today in Oslo. The PSMA now has 46 parties, counting all 28 members of the European Union as one.

Five countries have reported Tilapia Lake Virus, a highly contagious disease that decimates one of the 's most important fish for global nutrition, according to a Special Alert released today by FAO’s Global Information and Early Warnings System.

Africa’s informal cross-border trade can contribute to improving livelihoods and increasing regional integration across the continent, says FAO’s new “Formalization of informal trade in Africa” report. Such trade accounts for a large share – between 20 and a hefty 70 percent – of employment in sub-Saharan Africa.

FAO's José Graziano da Silva and WFP's David Beasley made their appeal during a visit to Unity State, one of the areas in South Sudan worst hit by the current hunger crisis.

FAO is working with the government of Peru to assist some 7,000 mostly small-scale farmers restore their capacity to produce crops and feed their families in the wake of heavy rains, floods and landslides that hit the country earlier this year.

Governments, civic groups and businesses need to rally support for both immediate relief to people in countries at risk of famine as well as longer-term initiatives that will allow them to recover and restore their livelihoods, Ambassador Amira Gornass, Chair of the Committee on World Food Security, said today.

Graziano da Silva made the remarks at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing. The event, he said, provided a unique impetus for an international concerted effort to promote "a more balanced, equitable and inclusive development along the Belt and Road".

FAO has developed guidelines (Supplementary Guidelines for Addressing Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag)) aiming to support developing countries in making sure agriculture is both included in national plans and made more adaptive and resilient.