News archive 2017

Measuring how efficiently water is used in agriculture, particularly in water-scarce countries, is going high-tech with the help of the new WaPor tool developed by FAO, which taps satellite data to help achieve more reliable agricultural yields and allows for optimization of irrigation systems and projects.

The international body that oversees plant health has taken a big step forward with the adoption of a new global standard to help ensure that the international trade in plants and seeds, while very profitable, is also safer.

An FAO-led push to establish internationally agreed standards that can guide the development of catch documentation schemes aimed at keeping illegally caught fish off store-shelves and consumers’ plates has taken an important step forward.

FAO and Consumers International, a global federation of consumer rights groups, have agreed to intensify their collaboration to help end hunger. The agreement recognizes that consumers around the world can be a powerful force for change towards more sustainable and equitable food systems.

"This is not only a humanitarian crisis, but it is also an ecological one," Graziano da Silva said at a media briefing in Rome on his visit last week to some of the worst affected areas in Chad and northeastern Nigeria.

Failure to restore food production now will lead to the worsening of widespread and severe hunger and prolonged dependency on external assistance further into the future," Graziano da Silva said.

Graziano da Silva on Thursday met Chad's Prime Minister, Albert Pahimi Padacke, and presented him with FAO's Response Strategy for the Lake Chad Basin crisis which is affecting parts of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and northeastern Nigeria.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged nearly 171 points in March, marking a 2.8 percent drop from the previous month and a 13.4 percent gain on the year. FAO also released its first world cereal supply and demand outlook for the year ahead, expecting grain inventories to remain at near-record levels.

The heir to the British throne met FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and senior representatives from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

Fighting in Syria has caused huge damage and losses to agricultural production, but the sector can and should be kick-started now, dramatically reducing the need for humanitarian aid and migration, according to a new FAO report published today ahead of an international conference on Syria’s future in Brussels.