News archive 2017

Access to reliable information, including on changing weather patterns and market conditions, is essential for empowering farmers, especially those in developing countries, according to FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

The week-long, 44th Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) - Making a Difference in Food Security and Nutrition – endorsed new recommendations on the role of sustainable forestry in achieving food security and nutrition for all.

The first-ever roadmap to combat animal tuberculosis (bovine TB) and its transmission to humans, referred to as zoonotic TB, most often through consumption of contaminated untreated meat or dairy products from diseased animals, calls for close collaboration between those working to improve human and animal health.

The total number of persons that suffer from hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased, reversing decades of progress, even as overweight and obesity emerged as a major problem in all countries in the region of the Americas, according to the Panorama of Food Security and Nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017.

European Commission-funded, FAO-led partnership will help African, Caribbean and Pacific countries regulate wildlife hunting, strengthen the management capacities of rural communities and increase the supply of sustainably produced meat products and farmed fish to meet the growing rural and urban demand for food.

Considerable gains have been made in land tenure governance in the past five years, but more must be done to improve the lives of billions of people. That was the message at an event to mark the 5th anniversary of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT).

Millions of young people in developing countries who are poised to enter the labour force in the coming decades need not flee rural areas to escape poverty, according to a new FAO report. Rural areas actually have vast potential for economic growth pegged to food production and related sectors, The State of Food and Agriculture 2017 says.

Malnutrition is a growing risk at the same time as the number of the world’s hungry is increasing, making incisive changes to food systems an imperative for all countries and all economic actors, FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva told delegates at the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).

All countries should join the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) to make sure the landmark treaty aimed at cracking down on illegal fishing succeeds in its aims of ridding the world of a scourge, Director-General General José Graziano da Silva said at the OurOcean Conference in Malta.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 178.4 percent for the month of September, up 0.8 percent from August and marking a 4.3 percent increase from a year earlier.