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The relationship between rising and volatile food prices, food insecurity and hunger, and diminishing natural resources will be the focus of agriculture ministers, senior officials and civil society representatives from 40 countries in the Asia-Pacific region at a major conference in Hanoi next week organized by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The world food price index re-bounded with one percent last month, its first increase in...

This morning, on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, His Excellency the Secretary of State of Agriculture and Arboriculture of Timor-Leste, Eng. Marcos da Cruz and Mr. Man Ho So, Deputy Regional Representative, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and FAO Representative to Timor-Leste, inaugurated the new FAO Representation Office in Timor-Leste at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) in Comoro, Dili. As the youngest Asia’s...

Dr. Hoang Van Nam, Director General of Viet Nam's Department of Animal Health welcomed more than 20 participants to EAHMI's second Tripartite Review Meeting in Ha Noi on 25 February 2012, including project staff and national representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Viet Nam, as well as the project's implementation agency, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, and the donor, the Government of Italy. Messages...

The 31st FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Melia Hanoi Hotel in Viet Nam from 12 to 16 March 2012. This major biennial event is convened by FAO to review and make recommendations on key food and agricultural issues affecting the Asia-Pacific region.  The conference brings together 44 Asia-Pacific FAO member nations and a wide range of observers such as representatives...

The two yearly meeting of agricultural ministers from 44 Asia-Pacific countries – the largest such gathering in the region of policy makers in the fields of food and nutrition security – will be held in Hanoi from 12 to 16 March 20122, hosted by the ministry of agriculture and rural development of Viet Nam (MARD). Last month the FAO regional office in Bangkok mailed out the invitations for attendance at the...

A Regional Workshop for the Global Review of Phytosanitary Surveillance in the Context of the IPC Standard was held in Chiang Rai, Thailand from  31 January – 3 February 2012. The objectives of the workshop were to identify the challenges faced by NPPOs in the implementation of the standard; to provide recommendations for the review panel on ways to improve the standard; and to gather examples of best practice for preparation...

Global rice production is expected to set a new record when figures for 2011 are finalized, according to FAO, which raised its forecast for the world harvest by 700 000 tonnes on improved crop prospects in Asia. Rice production should increase by 21. 4 million tonnes, a 3 percent increase over the record set in 2010, and total 721 million tonnes (481 million tonnes, milled basis). Improved output from Asia...

A three-day, Asia-wide consultation of experts organized by FAO opened today in Bangkok: the consultation focuses on the potential impacts of agricultural investment on access to land and on the security of tenure. Inequitable access to, and insecure tenure of land are root causes of hunger, malnutrition, poverty and environmental degradation. These are acute governance issues in the Asia and Pacific region which is home to an estimated 685 million of...

The FAO has recognised the efforts of the tribal community of Koraput, Orissa, by making their traditional method of farming a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). A formal announcement of their GIAHS status was delivered by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the 99th Session of the Indian Science Congress, held at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), from 3-7 January 2012. He congratulated the tribal community for the...

An FAO-funded emergency project will complement Thai government’s efforts to support flood-affected farmers in eight provinces to save their farm animals and go back to their fields as soon as possible through the provision of agricultural and livestock inputs amounting to some Baht 12 million (US$ 400 000). Thailand was severely affected by the floods since mid-August and flooded areas are currently estimated at over 12.5 percent of Thailand’s total land...