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An ambitious new initiative announced today aims to reduce commodity-driven deforestation and restore forest landscapes, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Against a backdrop of conflicts and crises around the world, FAO and EU managers met to cement their alliance on humanitarian issues. Taking part in the discussions were the Director of the FAO Office for Emergencies and Resilience Rein Paulsen, the Director of FAO’s Liaison Office in Brussels Raschad Al-Khafaji, and, both EU Directors in charge of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), Andrea Koulaimah and Andreas Papaconstantinou.

Radio programs give rural communities an opportunity for their voices to be heard. “I know that I am privileged to listen and follow different programmes aired through MVIWATA FM,” says Odilia Jiovin, a farmer from Kilosa District in the Morogoro region of United Republic of Tanzania, which is known for the production and marketing of sunflower, coconut, sugarcane and sisal. “I always take the initiative to share the information with my fellow farmers in our community and apply the knowledge shared through the radio on my farm, where other farmers come and learn too,” she says.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have welcomed $127 million in support, provided by the World Bank, for an interagency project to fight the spread of extreme hunger in Yemen. The project will provide rural families with opportunities to build sustainable household food security.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, joined by the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi di Maio, and the Italian Minister for Sustainable Infrastructures and Mobility, Enrico Giovannini, inaugurated today the revamped main entrance of FAO Headquarters in Rome, which has been refurbished and modernized along with some other areas of the building, as part of the periodic, regular maintenance of the historic compound.