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The most comprehensive survey on the state of food insecurity in the world confirms large gains have been made in combating hunger in many parts of Asia and the Pacific, the head of FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific announced today. “Achieving the MDG hunger target is now close to hand,” said Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, noting that the remaining gap to meet the Millennium...

FAO's monthly food price indexregistered another drop in August, continuing a 5-month downward run and reaching its lowest level since September 2010. The index's August average of 196.6 points represents a decrease of 7.3 points (3.6 percent) from July. With the exception of meat, prices for all of the commodities measured by the index dipped markedly.Dairy led the pack, with FAO's sub-index for dairy products averaging 200.8 points in August, down 25.3 points (11.2...

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, have agreed on how to strengthen efforts to promote India’s food security and sustainable agricultural development during talks held in New Delhi. Tuesday’s meeting was Modi’s first with the FAO Director-General since he took office as Prime Minister in May. During the discussions, the Indian leader expressed his concern on the impact that international trade agreements could...

Today FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva was named Doctor Honoris Causa by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and made a Fellow of India's National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) during his first official mission to the country. “This is truly a great honor,” said Graziano da Silva. “The NAAS and IARI have a rich history of contributing to agricultural development, responding to the challenges of yesterday and today, and...

Coping with climate change should be seen as more than just a question of survival for small island countries – the international community should view it as a challenge to take unified action and notch up efforts to shift to a sustainable model of development, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today. "Climate change is happening before our eyes. Rising sea levels, higher air and sea surface temperatures, and changing...

The terms of reference for a new multi-stakeholder network, which aims to reduce food loss and waste in Thailand, has received the endorsement of public sector, private sector, CSOs, research institutes and other stakeholders, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today. “This is the first formal meeting of the Save Food Network Thailand (SFNET) with FAO and Thailand’s Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives as...

A two-day regional multi-stakeholder consultation to support Indigenous Peoples for their livelihood and food security ended today with fruitful results. The meeting was jointly organized by AIPP and FAO in collaboration with other partners, and was attended by senior representatives of the Governments from 12 countries in the region, representatives from CSOs and international organizations such as EU, RECOFTC, CIFOR, ICRAF, etc. The meeting facilitated a better understanding of the sifting cultivation...

In order to support indigenous communities that are depending on shifting cultivation, it is first and foremost necessary to recognize that it is more than just farming practices or farming systems, it is a form of historically sustained livelihood systems and landscape management that is closely connected to the traditional culture and way of life of the communities, a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sponsored forum heard today. This...