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Viet Nam increases share in export marketBangkok - Rice production over the 2009 season is now estimated at 678 million tonnes, 2 percent below 2008’s crop, but still the second highest production on record. Over the year, Viet Nam stood out as a major source of trade supplies with its export share estimated to have risen from 16 to 20 percent, FAO said today.The present outlook for rice harvests reflects...

The Third Executive Forest Policy Short Course is organized by the Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC) and FAO, in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Reforestation (APFNet), the National Forest Programme Facility, and the USDA Forest Service.The course will be hosted at RECOFTC, from 8 to 19 March 2010, and will focus on strengthening skills for developing forest policy, specifically targeting professionals from the Greater...

Vientiane - An innovative project that aims at urgently preserving the unique 20 square km Beung That Luang wetland on the eastern edge of Vientiane Capital was presented at the Vientiane Capital Municipality today. The Beung That Luang wetland is of cultural and historical significance.The wetland also provides flood control for the Mekong River and wastewater purification for Vientiane residents. A significant portion of the 7 000 households living on...

Khulna - Embankments should be repaired urgently to restore agricultural livelihoods in cyclone Aila affected areas, victims and local authorities of Dakope Upazila urged FAO today.Sheikh Abul Hossain, the Upazila Chairman of Dakope – one of the worst affected areas of cyclone Aila, highlighted the urgent needs of people who lost everything on 25 May this year. Many of the distressed are still living in damaged houses and lack drinking...

Bangkok/Madrid - Driven largely by awareness of marine resource depletion and vulnerability of their coastal communities, six south and southeast Asian countries today signed on to a Spanish grant of US$19.5 million aimed at improving livelihoods and the future of millions of small-scale fishers.The Spanish grant will allow FAO to implement over the next four years a Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme in six participating countries.This is the most important programme...

In the Philippines, over 6 million hectares of formerly forested areas have been transformed into low productivity Imperata grasslands as a result of massive deforestation and frequent fires. In search of solutions that would reduce the costs of conventional reforestation, and help restore the multiple benefits that forests provide, the Government of the Philippines adopted Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) in 1989 as a low-cost forest restoration strategy. However, field implementation...

FAO publishes policy brief for CopenhagenRome - Climate change is projected to impact heavily on agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the Pacific islands, leading to increased food insecurity and malnutrition, FAO warned today ahead of the UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen. The agency urged governments and donors to immediately start implementing robust and action-oriented climate change adaptation plans for all Pacific islands. Climate change is expected to act...

VICE PRESIDENT OF THE LAO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, HE MS. PANY YATHORTU, HEADS LAO DELEGATIONFAO LAUNCHES “HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST HUNGER” TO SHOW SOLIDARITY FOR THE HUNGRYVientiane - The World Summit on Food Security starts on Monday 16 November in Rome. FAO has convened the Summit in a bid to organize political will behind increased investment in agriculture and a reinvigorated international effort to combat hunger.On the eve of next week’s Summit,...

Never in the history of mankind have so many people been so hungry. Despite rapid development, modern technology and burgeoning international trade, today an estimated 1.02 billion people around the world are wanting for food. Here in Asia and the Pacific, 640 million people are malnourished. From 16 to 18 November, representatives of some 190 countries will gather in Rome for the World Summit on Food Security. Addressing this serious...

European Union and FAO boost small farmers’ food productionIslamabad /Rome - Just in time for the upcoming planting season, the European Union (EU) put in motion a major effort to turn the tide of rising hunger in Pakistan. Partnering with FAO, quality seed and fertilizer were distributed to almost 100 000 farmers hit hard by last year's food price hikes.Soaring food prices pushed a further ten million Pakistanis into the...