Accessing land in Ghana for agricultural investment: Advice for women and youth
06/05/2020
The purpose of this brief is to provide advice on how women and youth may access farmland in Ghana. Following the appropriate process can help them to identify and address potential problems and avoid conflicting claims and litigation. It can also help them to ensure that the rights of all legitimate tenure rights-holders are respected.
Meat Market Review - Overview of global meat market developments - April 2019
30/04/2020
This publication provides an update on production, trade and price movements of meat products (bovine, ovine, pig and poultry meat). It aims to provide a clear snapshot view of key changes and underlying determinants of world dairy markets. It is the only publication that covers meat market developments in the entire world that is also updated regularly; it supports the division’s objective in providing market information relevant for policy makers, helping them in the process to take data-based policy decisions. • Average meat prices rebounded in 2019 following a fall in 2018. • Prices for pig meat rose the most in 2019, followed by bovine and poultry meat, but ovine meat eased from their highs. • Global meat production fell by 1.0 percent after two decades of steady growth in 2019, as pig meat production plummeted, only partially compensated by increases across all other meat complexes, especially poultry. • Global meat exports rose by 6.8 percent – the highest rate to record since 2012.
Cereal supply and demand balances for sub-Saharan African countries - No.1, April 2020
29/04/2020
The FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance System (CCBS) is a database of annual supply and utilization balances for main cereals, covering all countries of the world. It has been maintained by FAO/GIEWS since 1980 and is updated on a continual basis. This statistical report, which is a subset of CCBS data, presents the current year‘s cereal supply and demand balances for all sub-Saharan African countries. This report is complementary to the FAO/GIEWS report Crop Prospects and Food Situation and is published four times a year, with the same schedule.
The OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains: Helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
15/04/2020
This publication describes how the risk-based due diligence framework recommended by the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains (OECD-FAO Guidance) can help businesses to: identify and address the impacts of operations along their value chains and ensure that their actions and inactions are not undermining the SDGs, and; systematically manage risks and demonstrate their contribution to the SDGs in a measurable way.
The OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains: Helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
15/04/2020
This publication describes how the risk-based due diligence framework recommended by the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains (OECD-FAO Guidance) can help businesses to: identify and address the impacts of operations along their value chains and ensure that their actions and inactions are not undermining the SDGs, and; systematically manage risks and demonstrate their contribution to the SDGs in a measurable way.
Oilseeds, Oils & Meals. Monthly Price and Policy Update No.129, April 2020
15/04/2020
In March, FAO’s price index for oilseeds contracted for the second consecutive month, shedding 4.7 points (or 3.2 percent) and falling below the level recorded in the corresponding month of last year. The index for vegetable oils posted an even more pronounced fall of 19.0 points (or 12.0 percent), marking the lowest level recorded since October 2019. By contrast, FAO’s oilmeal price index strengthened further, gaining 13.0 points (or 8.0 percent) month-on-month, which lifted the indicator to a one-and-a-half year high.
Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Bulletin # 3, 10 April 2020
10/04/2020
Export prices of wheat and maize averaged lower in March than in February despite brisk trade activity amid worries over the COVID-19 pandemic as large global supplies and favourable production prospects continued to dominate market sentiment. By contrast, concerns over the pandemic and news of Viet Nam temporarily halting new export contracts, kept international prices of rice on the rise. An upsurge in food demand and disruptions to supply chains triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic underpinned food price increases in several countries in the second half of March. To counter over-pricing and ensure domestic availabilities during the pandemic, governments are adopting a variety of policy interventions. In Mexico and South Africa, prices of white maize rose significantly in March amid sharp currency depreciations largely driven by expectations of a COVID-19-induced economic downturn. In the Sudan, prices of staple foods soared to record highs in March following a further devaluation of the country’s currency as a result of acute foreign exchange shortages and a widening gap between the official and parallel exchange rates. Fuel shortages and a below‑average 2019 cereal output, coupled with high production and transportation costs, continued to exert an upward pressure on prices.
Special Report - 2019 FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
09/04/2020
A joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) visited the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from 16 November to 5 December 2019 at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The request was prompted by concerns over the impact of unfavourable weather conditions during the second half of 2019 on the main season crops. The Mission estimated the 2019 cereal production and the import requirements during the 2020 marketing year (January/December) and assessed the overall food security situation in the country.
Summary report: 2019 OECD-FAO Roundtable on Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains
03/04/2020
This publication provides a summary of an OECD-FAO Roundtable on Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains held in Paris, 29 October 2019. The Roundtable convened over 60 participants to review the findings and final report of the 2018-2019 OECD-FAO Pilot on Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains.
Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Bulletin # 2, 11 March 2020
11/03/2020
Export prices of wheat and maize generally declined in February amid well-supplied global markets and uncertainties about the impact of Coronavirus on global demand. By contrast, international prices of rice strengthened, on a combination of demand from Far Eastern and East African buyers and tight availabilities in some exporting countries. In Southern Africa, maize price increases eased reflecting improved prospects for the 2020 harvest, large import volumes and the effects of policies aimed at stabilizing prices. Prices, however, remained broadly higher, year on year, amid tight regional supplies. In East Africa, prices of coarse grains declined seasonally in most countries of the subregion in February as the recently completed second season harvests improved market supplies. By contrast, in the Sudan, prices continued to soar and reached record highs in February due to a below-average 2019 cereal output coupled with high production and transportation costs. In East Asia, prices of wheat flour in Pakistan declined from the record or near-record highs reached in January following Government measures and favourable production prospects for the about-to-start 2020 main season harvest.
Oilseeds, Oils & Meals. Monthly Price and Policy Update No.128, March, 2020
11/03/2020
In February, after rising three months in a row, FAO’s price index for oilseeds posted a moderate drop, shedding 5.8 points (or 3.8 percent). Meanwhile, the vegetable oil price index saw a more pronounced drop of 18.2 points (or 10.3 percent), thus interrupting the upward trend observed since July 2019. By contrast, the oilmeal index remained virtually unchanged. Year-on-year, all three indices trailing the oilcrops complex fared above the respective levels registered in February 2019.
Crop Prospects and Food Situation - Quarterly Global Report, No. 1, March 2020
05/03/2020
FAO assesses that globally 44 countries, of which 34 are in Africa, continue to be in need of external assistance for food. Agricultural droughts have aggravated food insecurity conditions, due to reduced harvests that also caused price hikes. Conflict driven crises continued to be the primary cause of the high levels of severe food insecurity.
Medium-term Outlook: Prospects for global production and trade in bananas and tropical fruits 2019 to 2028
02/03/2020
Medium-term Outlook: Prospects for global production and trade in bananas and tropical fruits 2019. Bananas and, particularly, tropical fruits constitute a significant source of economic growth, income, food security and nutrition for the rural areas of many developing countries.
Special Report – 2019 FAO Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission to the Sudan
28/02/2020
Between 24 November and 14 December 2019, assisted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other partners, the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR) carried out its annual Assessment Mission to determine crop production and food supply situation throughout the 18 states of the country. The Mission consisted of six core teams comprising members from the MoANR, the Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS) of the MoANR, the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries (MoARF), the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), the Strategic Reserve Corporation (SRC), FAO, FEWS NET, WFP and USAID.
Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Bulletin # 1, 12 February 2020
12/02/2020
Export prices of wheat and maize were mostly higher in January, mainly underpinned by a strong trade activity. International prices of rice edged up on easing harvest pressure and concerns over the potential impact of unfavourable weather on exporters’ outputs. In East Africa, prices of coarse grains in January persisted at relatively high levels across the subregion, due to an overall year-on-year reduction in the 2019 cereal output, further exacerbated by a difficult macro-economic situation in the Sudan and South Sudan. Heavy rains late last year, disrupting agricultural and marketing activities, contributed to sustaining the high level of prices in several countries. In Southern Africa, amid weak production prospects for the 2020 crops, prices of maize continued to increase underpinned by tight supplies and weak currencies, particularly in Zimbabwe.
Oilseeds, Oils and Meals. Monthly Price and Policy Update No.127, February, 2020
12/02/2020
In January, FAO’s price indices tracking the oilcrops complex continued to rise. The oilseeds and oilmeals indices increased for the second consecutive month, gaining, respectively, 5.0 and 4.2 points (or 3.4 and 2.7 percent). While the oilseeds index climbed to the highest level since May 2018, the index for oilmeals remained below the value observed in the corresponding month of last year. As for vegetable oils, the price index rose for the seventh month in succession,posting a month-on-month gain of 11.6 points(or 7.0 percent) and marking a three-year high.
Banana Market Review Snapshot February 2020
05/02/2020
Medium-term Outlook
05/02/2020
Medium-term Outlook: Prospects for global production and trade in bananas and tropical fruits 2019. Bananas and, particularly, tropical fruits constitute a significant source of economic growth, income, food security and nutrition for the rural areas of many developing countries. The projections for bananas and tropical fruits presented in this medium-term outlook span a ten year horizon, from 2019 to 2028.
Dairy market review: Price and policy update - July 2020
03/02/2020
International dairy prices in June, measured by the FAO Dairy Price Index, were down by 5.7 points (5.4 percent) from January 2020, with skim milk powder (SMP) registering the sharpest fall (-15.3 percent), followed by butter (11.8 percent), whole milk powder (WMP) (-11.2 percent), while cheese prices rose (+1.6 percent).
Improved Post-Harvest Handling and Processing Techniques for Value Addition of Cashew Nuts and Coffee in the Chittagong Hill Tracts - TCP/BGD/3609
01/02/2020
Processing and value chain development of vegetables, fruits, fish and livestock products using appropriate technologies promoted through introduction of farmers group marketing practices.