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The decades-long campaign to eradicate rinderpest, an ancient cattle plague, is fast approaching its goal. This month, rinderpest will become the first animal disease to be eradicated, and only the second disease of any kind, after smallpox in humans. Rinderpest caused much devastation and decimated populations of cattle, buffalo and various kinds of wildlife for centuries. The historic importance of the global eradication of rinderpest, also known as cattle plague, cannot...

World Milk Day is celebrated tomorrow in Thailand and many other countries in the world. In the context of poverty and malnutrition in Asia, milk has a special role to play for its many nutritional advantages as well as providing income for millions of small-scale farmers. In 2010 Asia’s milk production crossed the 250 million tonnes mark, meaning that the region’s output increased fivefold over the last four decades. Over this same...

“Climate change may cause unprecedented disruptions to aquatic and coastal systems upon which many millions of Asian people depend. It is vital that governments in the Asia-Pacific region understand the risks, identify vulnerable systems and develop adaptive strategies”, FAO’s Simon Funge-Smith said today at the end of a meeting convened by the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission (APFIC) with 48 representatives from government fisheries and climate change agencies, and international and non-governmental...

As interest in bioenergy production continues to grow, FAO is promoting the use of a new methodology designed to help policymakers weigh the pros and cons of investing in the sector. FAO's "Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) Analytical Framework" was created to help governments evaluate the potential of bioenergy as well as assess its possible food security impacts. The framework was recently finalized following a three year development and field test phase...

Resource management and community development in Cambodian coastal fishing communities will be strengthened following the signing of 15 Community Fishing Area Management Plans in a ceremony held in Preah Sihanouk province today. The plans cover Community Fisheries (CFi) in Cambodia’s coastal provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kong Kong and Kep and were signed by Community Fisheries chiefs and government representatives. They detail activities and goals that the communities will work towards to...

“Domestic prices of rice and wheat in Asia, remain at high levels in many countries of the region, having declined only slightly in April." Speaking at news briefing here today, Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific and Assistant Director-General (FAO) warned: “Countries urgently need to take precautionary measures to prevent a possible re-emergence of the 2008-9 food price crisis and invest more in sustainable food production...

FAO's April 2011 issue of the Rice Market Monitor is lowering by 2 million tonnes the estimated world paddy production in 2010 mainly on account of a worsened outlook in India. At the new forecasted level of 699 million tonnes (466 million tonnes, in milled rice basis), global rice output would be 2.4 percent larger than in 2009 and a new record, a positive outcome given the many setbacks endured...

Agricultural ministers meeting in Tonga Volatile food prices and market uncertainties are urgent topics high on the minds of agriculture ministers and senior officials from sixteen invited Pacific countries when they will be meeting in Tonga next week. While there is no indication of an impending world food crisis, FAO is warning that food price hikes are a major threat to food security for the poor. Central to the Tonga meeting is how...

A large-scale distribution by FAO of wheat seeds to the victims of last year’s floods in Pakistan is now ripe to yield enough food for half a million poor rural households. With an average family size of eight, this translates into a harvest large enough to feed four million people for the next six months. FAO spent $54 million of international donor funding buying and distributing quality wheat seeds as part of...