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Rome - A global multi-stakeholder consultation to discuss the world development agenda beyond 2015 has called for  food security and nutrition to be the central element in future development efforts. New development objectives should be established for the entire global community.The one-day consultation on Hunger, Food Security and Nutrition in the Post-2015 Development Agenda stressed that food security and nutrition represent the cornerstone for progress on other development fronts such as employment, education, the environment and health and in achieving a quality future for humankind.The meeting, on Monday, brought together some 180 government, international organization, civil society and private sector...

Rome –The private sector can make an important contribution to the fight against poverty and hunger, and promote sustainable food production and consumption, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today, during a meeting with private sector associations and federations.The Director-General spoke at FAO Headquarters to participants whose associations represent more than five-thousand companies. His remarks opened the first in a series of planned dialogues on private sector involvement in poverty- and hunger-reduction initiatives.“The private sector has an important contribution to give to FAO. But this contribution has not always been recognized or valued. This is...

Istanbul, London, Rome - The fight against hunger can only be won in partnership between governments, civil society and farmer organizations and the private sector, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today at a conference with decision-makers in agribusiness on ways to improve food security by investing in agriculture from Central Asia to North Africa.At the high-level conference in Istanbul, focused on promoting private agricultural investment and trade from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, a vast area with high potential for increased food production, but with serious...

Rome - A new FAO-led partnership is looking to improve how the environmental impacts of the livestock industry are measured and assessed, a necessary first step in improving the sustainability of this important food production sector.Livestock-raising and the consumption of animal products make a crucial contribution to the economic and nutritional well-being of millions of people around the world - particularly in developing countries. Yet, as the global consumption of meat, dairy products and eggs continues to rise, increasing attention is being paid to the livestock sector's environmental performance - such as the efficiency with which it uses scarce natural...

Rome - The results of a new FAO global Teak Resources and Market Assessment conducted in 60 tropical countries show that natural teak forests are declining worldwide and that the quality of natural grown teak wood is deteriorating. On the other hand, today's survey also reveals that planted teak forests are increasing in area and — when good management practices are applied — producing high quality wood.Natural teak forests in declineNatural teak forests grow in only four countries in the world: India, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. In 2010 their combined area of natural teak forest was estimated at about...