News archive 2021

Worsening soil pollution and waste proliferation threaten the future of global food production, human health and the environment, and require an urgent global response, according to a joint report released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 127.1 points in May, 4.8 percent higher than in April and 39.7 percent higher than in May 2020.

Due to the impact of climate change, plant pests that ravage economically important crops are becoming more destructive and posing an increasing threat to food security and the environment, finds a scientific review released on Tuesday.

Facing the triple threat of climate change, loss of nature and pollution, the world must deliver on its commitment to restore at least one billion degraded hectares of land in the next decade – an area about the size of China.

Addressing hunger and poverty is the “foundation for stability and peace”, said QU Dongyu, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), at a webinar hosted by the Vatican to discuss the link between conflict and hunger.

Global action is making a major difference in efforts to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, but more needs to be done as consumer demand and fish production continue to rise, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, said Monday.

FAO hosts a lecture by Laureate Esther Duflo on innovative research and how to make messages work for the poorest

Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants’ knowledge, innovations and resilience capacities are essential and should be recruited in the policy-making processes, agreed the High-Level Seminar convened today by FAO, the governments of Costa Rica and Spain and the Vatican.

Key EU and FAO officials, including FAO Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol; EU Deputy Director-General, Marjeta Jager; and the EU Ambassador and Permanent Representative to FAO, Alexandra Valkenburg, who opened and moderated the session, contributed to the dialogue. They called for urgent actions to transform agri-food systems, so they deliver healthy and sustainable diets to all.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, has warned that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – also known as the 2030 Agenda – will not be achieved without large-scale restoration of degraded terrestrial, freshwater & marine ecosystems. He was speaking at a joint “townhall meeting” that brought together staff from FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).