News archive 2012

Some $538 million was mobilized to support FAO programmes during the first eight months of 2012, representing a 28 percent increase on the same period last year, FAO announced today.

Following two months of stability, the FAO Food Price Index rose slightly in September 2012, up 1.4 percent, or 3 points, from its level in August.The Index, based on the prices of a basket of internationally traded food commodities, climbed to 216 points in September from 213 points in August.

Scientists and researchers must help transform the social, environmental, political and economic situation in rural areas, where most of the world’s hungry live, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told undergraduate and graduate students and academics at the China Agricultural University in Beijing today. During the visit, he also had an Honorary Professorship bestowed on him by the university.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today presented the Organization’s highest award, the Agricola Medal, to Wen Jiabao, Premier of the State Council of China.

A major international initiative, bringing together a global alliance of development agencies, governments and universities, has been launched with EU-funding to better understand the role of aquaculture in food security in poor countries and to develop sustainable policies for improving the livelihoods of millions of people.

Promotion of traditional foods and better food and nutrition education can improve diets and help mitigate the impact of high international food prices, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said at a high-level meeting on nutrition held on the margins of the UN General Assembly.

Every year, an estimated 55 000 people die from rabies, 95 percent of them in Asia and Africa. Rabies is a viral disease that affects the nervous system and also kills farm animals. A successful project in Bali, Indonesia, shows that rabies can be controlled by combating the virus in animals, before it can be transmitted to humans.

UN Women and the three Rome-based United Nations agencies working on food and agriculture today launched a joint programme to empower poor rural women through economic integration and food security initiatives.

The first-ever Wangari Maathai Award has been given today to a forestry activist from Nepal to recognize his efforts to promote community forest management. The ceremony took place at the Committee on Forestry (COFO), at FAO headquarters in Rome.

FAO Director-General Jose' Graziano da Silva has appealed for both immediate and long-term actions by the international community to build the resilience of populations in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel to cope with food crises. Graziano da Silva met during the UN General Assembly in New York with Ms. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Designated Chairperson of the African Union Commission.