News archive 2021

An ambitious commitment adopted today by 22 countries plus the European Union aims to secure a sustainable future for fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

The FAO Director-General spoke at the opening of the Science Days, a virtual conference organized by the Scientific Group of the UN Food Systems Summit and facilitated and hosted by FAO (8-9 July).

Global food commodity prices fell in June for the first time in 12 months, according to a benchmark United Nations report released today.

"Family farmers are agents of change on the ground," Qu said. "They are key to end hunger and poverty and to boost sustainable agri-food systems." Therefore, their voices must be heard and respected, the Director-General further pointed out.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, today told a gathering of experts, diplomats and senior officials that the agricultural world and the environmental world needed to “listen to each other and collaborate.”

Although progress towards the SDGs is expected to be made in the coming decade - assuming a fast recovery from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and stable weather conditions and policy environments - the past year of disruptions from COVID-19 has moved the world further away from achieving the SDGs. This calls for urgent attention to the factors and forces driving performance in agri-food systems.

Launched today Promoting youth engagement and employment in agriculture and food systems is a report by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS)'s High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) on food security and nutrition.

Science, technology, innovation and data are key to transforming agri-food systems, said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu at the 2021 Integration Segment of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) on Friday.

The United Nations International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) 2020 ended officially today with a virtual closing ceremony highlighting the many successes achieved - despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, which extended the Year's activities for an extra six months.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, QU Dongyu, today encouraged African leaders to engage universities and young people in the much needed agri-food systems transformation on the continent.