News archive 2011

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf today, attending an award ceremony for progress in date palm cultivation, reiterated his call for greater investment in agriculture, using the example of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) investments in date palm development, a program that has made it the seventh date producer in the world, with 6 percent of global date production.

On the eve of a three-day meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Agriculture ministers and senior officials from more than 100 countries have agreed to review the world crop gene pool of the International Treaty on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and urged those countries who have not signed the farming biodiversity treaty to do so as soon as possible.

The crisis in Libya raises concern about food security, as FAO asks for funds for data collection and urban vegetable farmers.

In response to the current rise in food prices, FAO will, in partnership with stakeholders, run a series of seminars in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Near East to help governments to make informed decisions on how to respond to high food prices. The two-day regional seminars will be held from March through June.

If women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and markets as men, agricultural production could be increased and the number of hungry people reduced by 100-150 million, FAO said today in its 2010-11 edition of "The State of Food and Agriculture" (SOFA 2010-11) report.

A team of animal health specialists from FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health has arrived in North Korea to assist veterinary authorities there in responding to outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth disease among pigs and cattle. They will assess the situation on the ground in order to provide guidance and technical assistance to North Korean veterinary officials to help them contain outbreaks and stop further spread of the disease.

Global food prices increased for the eighth consecutive month in February, with prices of all commodity groups monitored rising again, except for sugar. FAO expects a tightening of the global cereal supply and demand balance in 2010/11.

Up to 50 percent of crop yield increases have come from improved seeds. Yet many poor farmers in developing countries growing crops crucial to food security, such as sorghum, millet and cassava, have to rely on seed they have saved over the years. The best way to improve quality seed availability, and therefore improve food security, is through small enterprises.

A dramatic decline in brucellosis, a serious disease affecting both livestock and humans in Tajikistan, Central Asia, is being hailed as the first major victory of the recently privatized national animal health service.

Producing food and energy side-by-side may offer one of the best formulas for boosting countries' food and energy security while simultaneously reducing poverty, according to a new FAO report. The study draws on examples from Africa, Asia and Latin America as well as from some developed countries.