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The UN has declared 2015 the International Year of Soils. The year launched on World Soil Day with events in Rome, New York and Santiago de Chile, in an effort to raise awareness and promote more sustainable use of this critical resource. Director-General José Graziano da Silva describes soil as a "silent ally" and said not enough attention is being paid to this important resource. Healthy soils are not only the foundation...

Like other countries in the Pacific, Nauru deals with debilitating health issues. In fact, Nauru has the highest rates of nutrition-related diseases in the world and a declining life expectancy with type-2 diabetes affecting over 40 percent of the population. Heavy dependence on imported food has resulted in Nauruans moving away from healthier traditional foods. The Government of Nauru has identified the need to promote local food production in order...

More attention to the health and management of the planet's soils is needed to meet the challenge of feeding a growing world population while coping with climate change and increased scarcity of natural resources. Soil is a critical natural resource yet until recently it has been largely overlooked and widely degraded. In December 2013, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared December 5 as World Soil Day. This day celebrates the...

Masanami Izumi is retiring after 20 years of service for FAO. Mr Izumi spent almost 17 years of his time in Samoa as Technical Officer responsible for Fisheries and Aquaculture. A farewell was held for Mr Izumi to acknowledge his long service to Samoa and the Pacific region. FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator, Mr Gavin Wall said the organisation is very fortunate to have long serving staff. “Staff committed to the organisation genuinely...

It is not uncommon for the realities of development programmes and projects to drift from the vision of development that justified them in the first place. This is the everyday truth in many countries and not just the Pacific; however, there is less latitude for error when dealing with small economies and so it becomes more important that this does not occur in the Pacific. The opening paragraph of the Samoa...

Encouraging more part-time growers to complement the present small number of commercial growers in the Cook Islands is being advocated as one of the ways ahead for agricultural development. Getting young people involved and working towards an organic industry producing healthy food for the local market and the tourist sector are all part of the way ahead, according to the FAO team that visited Rarotonga to study the local ‘farming sector’....

The coconut palm is the ‘tree of life’ for people of the Pacific Islands. In Kiribati, coconut trees play an important role in providing food, building materials, health supplements and protection of fragile coastal areas against the impacts of extreme climatic and natural processes that small atoll island countries frequently face. The Government of Kiribati recognizes the multiple benefits provided by the “tree of life” and is committed to protect...

Issues on nutrition will be the focus of high level discussions at the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), an inter-governmental meeting on nutrition jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in November in Rome. The prevalence of undernourishment remains unacceptably high – over 800 million people, according to FAO estimates. Child and maternal malnutrition remain the leading nutrition-related health burdens in the world. At...

Pastor Joe Amosa,Honourable Minister of AgricultureHonourable Ministers and the Ambassador of Japan who have graced this event with their presenceDistinguished Guests,Ladies and Gentlemen,  Thank you very much for inviting me to speak at this celebration. It is a pleasure for me to be here and to be in Savaii for the opening of the Agriculture & Fisheries Show, MAF Open Day and to commemorate World Food Day. In recognition of the importance...

Rice along with root crops is now a staple food for all Fijians, with an annual per capita consumption of 75 kg. Fijis heavy reliance on imported rice is estimated at FJD 40 million (US$ 21.14 million) annually for approximately 50,000 tonnes of rice. Rice has been cultivated for many decades in Fiji with mixed results. During the early eighties, two thirds of the national demand for rice was fulfilled by...