News archive 2017

A severe drought followed by heavy rainfalls in Sri Lanka has hit large swaths of cropping areas, threatening the food security of some 900,000 people, according to a report published today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Famine has eased in South Sudan after a significant scale up in the humanitarian response, according to new analysis released today. However, the situation remains dire across the country as the number of people struggling to find enough food each day has grown to six million.

Seeds and fertilizer for more than one million people are being distributed by FAO in north-eastern Nigeria for the planting season that begins this month. It is part of efforts, led by the Government, to combat critical levels of food insecurity in areas affected by Boko Haram violence.

Years of conflict in Iraq has left 3.2 million people food insecure, including those who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. More than 3 million Iraqis remain displaced, putting pressure on the stretched resources of host communities. Another 240 000 Syrian refugees live in Iraq, 97 percent of whom are staying in communities or camps in northern Iraq.

FAO will work with the Rural Development Agency (RDA) to develop rural development plans and projects with a comprehensive territorial approach.

At an international seminar on drought organized by Iran, the Netherlands and FAO, speakers have called for renewed efforts to boost drought preparedness and build the resilience of farmers to extreme weather.

FAO and the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) signed a Memorandum of Understanding today aiming at scaling-up their collaboration and making rapid deployments easier.

The "BRICS" form an important economic block. They account for more than 40 percent of the world's population and over 20 percent of global GDP. Together, they produce more than one-third of global cereal production. Last year, Russia became the largest wheat exporter in the world.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is running mobile veterinary clinics in Haiti to protect the livestock of families still struggling to get back on their feet after Hurricane Matthew.

Information from satellites is being used in a new way to predict favourable conditions for Desert Locusts swarms, as part of an early warning collaboration by scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Desert Locust experts at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).