News archive 2015

The improved evidence on rural migration trends and impacts will help policy-makers, improve agricultural and rural development policies in order to increase employment opportunities, and make rural areas more attractive to young people.

Highlighting the historic opportunity to become the “Zero Hunger generation”, FAO Director-General José Graziano Da Silva called for additional investment in social protection and rural development at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today.

Highlighting a renewed global interest in agriculture, the European Investment Bank and FAO signed a five-year Memoranun of Understanding to promote collaboration in expanding and deepening investment in agriculture in countries outside of the European Union.

The report noted how the international community needs to build on the successful experiences of some countries that have effectively used a combination of investment and social protection to combat hunger and poverty in rural and urban areas.

FAO's updated forecasts see better-than-expected global cereal production, but concerns are growing over a sharp shortfall in maize grown in sub-Saharan Africa as well as poor production in other food insecurity hotspots. The Food Price Index declined 0.9 percent in June, driven by a sharp fall in sugar prices.

Autogrill, the multinational company known for its motorway and airport restaurants in 30 countries, is partnering with FAO to cut down food waste and losses and support the introduction of products of small-scale farmers in developing countries, the UN agency announced today.

The United Nations food standards body Codex Alimentarius Commission is meeting in Geneva this week to examine food safety and quality standards. Charged with protecting consumer health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade, the Codex Alimentarius is a joint initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Two FAO projects have earned awards in an EXPO 2015 competition aimed at spotlighting best practices in sustainability in international food security work.

West Africa has unprecedented opportunities for agricultural growth, but making the most of them will require more effective regional integration, says a new 400-page book by the African Development Bank (AfDB), FAO and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Strong crop yields, higher productivity and slower growth in global demand, along with lower oil and fertilizer prices, should contribute to a gradual decline in real prices for agricultural products over the coming decade, according to the latest Agricultural Outlook report produced by the OECD and FAO.