News archive 2012

Photo: ©FAO/Djibril Sy
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are increasing efforts to promote private sector investment in agribusiness in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region through a series of new technical assistance projects.
21-03-2012
Photo: ©FAO/Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Viet Nam
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva has called for sustainable increases in farm production and fairer and more inclusive food and agricultural systems.Intensifying agriculture in harmony with the environment is the centrepiece of the new approach urged by the FAO, he told the Organization’s Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific in Hanoi
21-03-2012
Photo: ©FAO/Farooq Naeem
Keeping track of statistics related to food and agriculture is an important part of efforts to reduce hunger and foster development. Making those numbers more accessible and meaningful to people who need to use them is the idea behind the newly revised FAO Statistical Yearbook. It breaks down numbers from around the world into broad thematic categories: the state of the agricultural resource base; hunger dimensions; feeding the world; and sustainability.
20-03-2012
Photo: ©FAO/Roberto Faidutti
Continued civil unrest in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011 has raised serious concern over the state of food security, particularly for vulnerable groups, FAO warns. The alert is raised by the Organization's Global Information and Early Warning System on food and agriculture, which monitors the global food situation and provides advance warning of impending food crises.
14-03-2012
Photo: ©FAO/Roberto Faidutti / FAO
International talks convened at FAO last week to finalize negotiations on a proposed set of voluntary global guidelines on responsible governance of land tenure and access rights to land, fisheries and forest resources have concluded successfully. The proposed guidelines are now set to be considered for final approval by the Committee on World Food Security at a special session in Rome in mid-May.
13-03-2012
Photo: ©FAO/Issouf Sanogo
Several countries in the Sahel region of western Africa need urgent support to prevent a full-blown food and nutrition security crisis and to protect and restore livelihoods dependent on livestock and crops, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). At least 15 million people are estimated to be at risk of food insecurity in the region.
9-03-2012
Photo: ©FAO/Danfung Dennis
World wheat production in 2012 is expected to be the second-highest on record at 690 million tonnes. However international food prices rose in February for the second consecutive month. According to FAO's quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation report the 2012 wheat will be 1.4 percent down from the record 2011 harvest but still well above the average of the past five years.
8-03-2012
Photo: ©FAO/Farooq Naeem
One of the keys to eradicating hunger and extreme poverty is to increase social, educational and economic opportunities for women and girls. A new Gender Equality Policy launched today by FAO aims to place the improvement of gender equality at the center of the UN agency's work to boost sustainable agriculture and development.
8-03-2012
©FAO/Issouf Sanogo
Director-General José Graziano da Silva praised Belgium’s new cooperation programme when he met with the country’s ambassador and permanent representative to FAO H.E. Vincent Mertens de Wilmars in Rome.
6-03-2012
Photo: ©FAO/Giuseppe Bizzarri
FAO has just released a suite of guidance documents and policymaking tools that governments can use to help rural communities benefit from bioenergy development and ensure that biofuel crop production does not come at the expense of food security.
5-03-2012