News archive 2012

A new FAO-led partnership is looking to improve how the environmental impacts of the livestock industry are measured and assessed, a necessary first step in improving the sustainability of this important food production sector. Common indicators and guidelines for environmental assessments will lead to shared understanding of livestock’s environmental impact - and better policymaking.

Farmers and consumers stand to benefit from a new global strategy to control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The plan was endorsed in Bangkok by representatives of more than 100 countries and international donors at a conference organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are joining forces to combat foot-and-mouth disease on a global scale, laying out a detailed strategy to bring the devastating livestock disease under control. The two organizations underlined, however, that only solid commitment from global partners will make the strategy possible.

FAO is mobilizing emergency support for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to counter the rapid spread of peste des petits ruminants, a virulent livestock disease of goats and sheep. The disease not only threatens food security in the country, but could also result in a spill-over to southern African countries that have never had the disease.

FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva has warmly welcomed the “Zero Hunger Challenge” by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Big problems call for bold goals. The Zero Hunger Challenge can help us mobilize political commitment, the first step to eradicate hunger,” Graziano da Silva told a high-level meeting in Rio de Janeiro last night.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said that countries were seizing the moment to transform our goals of sustainable development into action at the Rio+20 Conference.

The European Union is contributing €5 million (6.5 million) towards the Benefit-sharing Fund of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. FAO made the announcement at a high-level meeting on the plant treaty at Rio+20. The Fund helps farmers in developing countries manage crop diversity for food security and climate change adaptation.

FAO, IFAD, WFP and Bioversity International have issued a joint statement on the occasion of the Rio+20 conference. The organizations call for "profound changes in the way we produce and consume food and manage the earth's resources."

Speaking at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Mexico, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva has called on world leaders to maintain food and nutritional security as a priority on the international agenda. "Hunger is a persistent problem; the efforts of all G20 members to improve food security must be similarly persistent, even in times of financial crisis," he said.

FAO, IFAD and WFP have expressed the wish that G20 leaders meeting in Mexico redouble their efforts to fight hunger. The three UN food agencies have published a joint statement at the outset of the G20 Summit.