FAO.org

Agricultural production in urban and peri-urban areas of Asia could help strengthen the future of food security and nutrition for the region’s growing urban populations, a regional consultation co-organized by FAO and AIT heard today.   The Regional Consultation on “Strengthening Food and Nutrition Security of the Urban People through Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture” is taking place today and tomorrow at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) near Bangkok. Government representatives from...

Expanding the introduction of gardens at schools and homes across Asia and the Pacific could result in an enormous improvement in nutrition, especially for children, an FAO convened regional consultation on promoting school and home gardens to improve nutrition heard today. While vegetable gardening at homes to supplement food, and at schools to teach students about nature, is not a new idea, FAO member countries and partners believe that the knowledge...

Major rice-producing countries are approaching a critical period of the 2015 rice season, when the pattern of the rainfall will very much influence the outcome of the main crops, but also the availability of irrigation water for cultivation of secondary crops, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today. While the global paddy production in 2015 is forecast to recover slightly from 2014, a year also marked by ‘climatic setbacks’,...

Across the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, women provide 43 percent of labour in the agricultural sector, yet their outputs are not equally appreciated or rewarded – a situation which must be addressed, an FAO convened regional workshop heard today. ‘The Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on Challenges and Opportunities towards Rural Women’s Empowerment: agrarian transformations and the changing role of women in agriculture and food systems,’ aims to stimulate discussion...

 A regional multi-stakeholder consultation on food loss and food waste, convened by FAO, has drawn participants from 21 Asia-Pacific countries, together with development partners, CSOs, research and academic institutes, UN agencies and influential organizations such as World Bank, ADB and the EU to share experiences and discuss a way forward to accelerate concrete and practical actions in reducing food loss and waste in the region. While figures vary country to country...

Government Ministers and senior officials from 24 countries, along with international development partners and UN specialized agencies, have gathered in Bangkok to discuss ways to strengthen South-South Cooperation. The Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation on South-South Cooperation is convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). “The purpose of this consultation is to provide a platform for representatives of national governments, regional and international institutions and other stakeholders to share...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is assisting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) finalize a draft Vision and Strategic Plan for ASEAN Cooperation in Food, Agriculture and Forestry, 2016 – 2025. Representatives of ASEAN discussed finalizing of the draft today with FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, Hiroyuki Konuma, during the Fourth Meeting of the ASEAN Ad Hoc Taskforce on developing the New Vision on...