As key partners for FAO’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) initiative, officials from across the United States government met with a delegation of ECTAD leadership on 18–21 November 2024. In meetings organized by FAO’s Liaison Office for North America, which included officials from the U.S. Department of State, Department of the Interior, USDA, and Department of Homeland Security Office of Health Security, as well as USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and the Resilience, Environment and Food Security divisions,  and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, FAO and U.S. government representatives explored new avenues for collaboration in addressing animal disease threats to human health, food security and national security. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched its 2024 Statistical Yearbook, offering an in-depth overview of the most significant trends shaping global agrifood systems. This year’s edition highlights critical challenges, including increased temperatures over land, the ongoing global struggle with food insecurity alongside increasing obesity rates, and the environmental pressures faced by agricultural production.

Martha Adjorlolo’s beehives, set amid the rural landscape of Donkorkrom, in Ghana’s eastern region are her livelihood and her passion. Though she only started beekeeping a year ago, she has quickly become committed to sustainable beekeeping practices. She already uses local methods—like the top bar hive, a type of beehive that allows bees to build their comb on horizontal bars made from natural materials, as well as natural repellents such as lemongrass oil and wood ash— to manage pests.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, today urged all FAO Members and partners to join the new Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, which was officially launched today at the G20 Leader’s Summit in Brazil.

The food security situation in northern Gaza is dire and the latest indications are deeply troubling, said Director of FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience Rein Paulsen in his address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.

"What do I want the river to carry away? The deforestation," Sandra Donado says, her voice competing with the sudden storm lashing her canoe as it floats down the Guaviare River in Colombia’s Amazon biome region. This waterway, a silent witness to the turmoil of the municipality of Mapiripán, has seen it all – the wildlife trafficking, the coca harvests that fueled conflict, the human bodies that marked its darkest days and the relentless erosion of the rainforest it once nourished. Now, Sandra hopes it will carry away the pain of the past and usher in an era of healing, for her community and for its land.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) formalized its membership as a founding member of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, a G20 initiative championed by Brazil to dramatically expedite efforts to achieve the eradication of poverty and hunger by 2030 as well as to reduce inequalities.

The United Nations Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment reveals urgent need for action to mitigate N₂O emissions to prevent catastrophic climate, environmental, and health impacts.

In this special edition of the FAO North America newsletter, we mark the 20th anniversary of the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases, or ECTAD. Two decades of accomplishments and partnerships with Member Nations and resource partners, particularly USAID Global Health, merits our congratulations to colleagues and partners for the work that has been done to strengthen animal health care where it is needed most.

A refined study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) involving 156 countries confirms that hidden costs within global agrifood systems amount to approximately $12 trillion annually. Of this, around 70 percent ($8.1 trillion) arise from unhealthy dietary patterns...

The benchmark for world food commodity prices surged to its highest level in 18 months in October, led by a sharp increase in vegetable oil quotations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally-traded food commodities, averaged 127.4 points in October, up 2.0 percent from September and 5.5 percent from its value a year ago. Nevertheless, the index remained 20.5 percent below its March 2022 peak.

Yogyakarta, 6 November 2024 – In response to global and national challenges posed by emerging threats, including zoonotic diseases, the Indonesian government, under the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) a...

In Liberia’s countryside, where the livelihoods of farmers and communities are tightly woven with the health of their livestock, a new chapter in public and animal health is unfolding. Thanks to the support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Liberia has embarked on its first active surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), paving the way for improved health measures and disease prevention.

On October 16, 2024, global experts, partners, and youth leaders gathered in Rome at the World Food Forum for the hybrid event “Empowering Youth to End Child Labour in Agriculture,” renewing their commitment to eradicate child labour in agriculture. The event showcased diverse perspectives, strategies, and interventions to tackle child labour, which affects an estimated 160 million children worldwide—70% of whom are involved in agriculture under conditions that deprive them of education, safety, and a healthy childhood.

The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) received 40 tablets from the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretariat to boost pest surveillance and protect plant health. The state-of-the-art tablets contain specialized software and mobile applications designed for conducting active surveillance and rapid detection of pests that can severely impact food safety, food security, and international trade.

The eyes of Aishagul Duganova, a 48-year-old mother of three, light up as she talks about her new greenhouse, which is bringing with it a new stability amidst her family's health problems and money troubles. In the village of Koram, around 150 kilometers east of Almaty in Kazakhstan, Aishagul's life has been marked by her husband’s debilitating injury and the severe illnesses of her elderly parents-in-law.

As part of ongoing efforts to promote global animal health, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the International Alliance for Biological Standardization (IABS) recently hosted a meeting to share advancements and discuss strategies for surveillance in populations vaccinated for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

Policy makers, researchers and the public have a new resource to gauge the scale and importance of agrifood systems in providing employment around the world. FAO has launched five new indicators and overhauled the data available on its FAOSTAT portal, the global go-to resource for those interested in agrifood facts and rural livelihoods.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concluded its impactful participation in the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP16) in Cali, Colombia, where its central message—agrifood systems play a critical role in achieving biodiversity goals—reverberated throughout the two-week event.

The Quadripartite collaboration on One Health – comprising the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) – co-organized the G20 High-Level Meeting on One Health on 30 October 2024. This event featured a panel discussion titled "Creating an Enabling Environment for One Health Implementation," emphasizing the critical need for robust governance and multisectoral coordination to advance the One Health approach, supported by real-life examples from various countries.