FAO Liaison Office for North America

04/04/2024
The One Health approach recognizes this intricate web of life. Designed to balance and optimize all the components of our ecosystem sustainably, this holistic approach calls on different sectors, disciplines and communities to work together to promote well-being and address threats to health and ecosystems.
18/11/2024
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.
30/07/2024

In rural Cambodia, two hours outside of the capital, Phnom Penh, scientists navigate to the bottom of a cliff face. Above them is a canopy of teak trees, their shining leaves swaying gently. The heat is stifling. Kampot pepper plants scattered here and there nearly block the narrow pathway. Filip Claes and Erik Karlsson, the scientists leading this expedition, walk for 20 minutes before they enter a barely noticeable cave entrance perhaps a metre and a half in diameter. It is shrouded in shrubs and vines.

15/11/2024
The global import food import bill is expected to increase by 2.2 percent from the previous year to more than $2 trillion in 2024, pushed up by higher prices for cocoa, coffee and tea and also buoyed by higher import costs for fruits and vegetables, according to Food Outlook, a report the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released Thursday.
13/11/2024
"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.
13/11/2024
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.
13/11/2024
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.
05/11/2024

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.

06/11/2024
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.
12/11/2024
The only way to reduce carbon emissions and restore nature on the path to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is to transform our agrifood systems, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, today told the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
12/11/2024
The United Nations Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment reveals urgent need for action to mitigate N₂O emissions to prevent catastrophic climate, environmental, and health impacts.
11/11/2024
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.
04/11/2024
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).
08/11/2024
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.
Unhealthy dietary patterns drive $8 trillion in annual hidden costs of global agrifood systems
08/11/2024

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...

05/11/2024
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.
23/10/2024
In Wayunaikki, the language of the Wayuu Indigenous Peoples, there is no word for “climate change’’. Yet, as the climate crisis undeniably batters their communities, they may just have found a key to resilience: a humble bean. The Wayuu have, for centuries, navigated the challenges of one the world’s most inhospitable climates. La Guajira, their ancestral homeland, stretches across the northernmost tip of mainland South America, bordering Colombia and Venezuela. This vast desert landscape, covering 20 848 square kilometres, is comparable in size to El Salvador and Slovenia.
23/10/2024
In this interview with the Codex Secretariat, the new Chairperson of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL), Dr Parthi Muthukumarasamy, talks about his background, his experience with Codex and the agenda of the 48th session of CCFL which gets underway in Quebec City, Canada on 27 October 2024.
01/11/2024
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.
01/11/2024

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.