News archive 2009

Tea prices reached record levels this year but should ease in 2010 as weather patterns returned to normal in the main tea-producing regions of Asia and Africa. The FAO Tea Composite price, the indicative world price for black tea, reached a high of $3.18 a kilogramme in September amid droughts in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya, underpinned by increased demand.

A panel of independent experts convened by FAO has issued recommendations regarding proposals to limit international trade in several commercially exploited aquatic animals under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The proposals relate to several shark and coral species and Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Marine capture fisheries already facing multiple challenges due to overfishing, habitat loss and weak management are poorly positioned to cope with new problems stemming from climate change, a new FAO study suggests. Small island developing states-which depend on fisheries and aquaculture for at least 50% of their animal protein intake-are in a particularly vulnerable position.

Recognizing the importance of monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in climate change mitigation, FAO and Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) signed an agreement today, to work together in the field of emissions measuring and reporting.

Global food prices are on the ascent again with the FAO Food Price Index registering four straight monthly rises. However market conditions are different from those that triggered the food price crisis that started two years ago, according to FAO's new Food Outlook report.

Driven largely by awareness of marine resource depletion and vulnerability of their coastal communities, six countries today signed on to a Spanish grant of $19.5 million aimed at improving livelihoods and the future of millions of small-scale fishers.

Finland is the first country to contribute to a $60 million FAO programme to support climate change mitigation in agriculture in developing countries. The multi-donor programme aims to promote sustainable low-emission agriculture in developing countries over the coming five years, in partnership with countries and other relevant organizations.

Bananas are expected to resist the impact of the global financial crisis more than other agricultural commodities, according to an FAO report. A separate report calls for more action to halt banana and plantain diseases.

Farming practices that capture carbon and store it in agricultural soils offer some of the most promising options for early and cost-effective action on climate change in developing countries, while contributing to food security.

In animal health circles, it's the equivalent of the Apollo 11 moon landing: some time in the next 18 months, FAO jointly with the World Organisation for Animal Health and other partners will officially declare one of the most devastating animal diseases known to man, rinderpest, as eradicated. It will be the first time in history that humankind has succeeded in killing off an animal disease.