Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

FAO/GIEWS has released the latest issue of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation quarterly report that focuses on developments affecting the food situation of developing countries and Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries. The report also includes an overview of global cereal production prospects and a table highlighting countries that require external assistance for food, identifying the primary causes of the local food crises.

HIGHLIGHTS

Counties requiring external assistance for food: FAO estimates that 37 countries are in need of external assistance for food in the world. Persisting conflicts have continued to acutely affect agricultural production and food security conditions. Weather shocks, including floods, hurricanes and droughts, have compounded the fragile conditions in some of the conflict-affected countries and also resulted in production shortfalls, adversely impacting food availability and access in other countries.

Africa: Northern Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan continue to be affected by severe food insecurity, while drought in parts of East Africa has curbed agricultural outputs and sustained high food prices. Wetter conditions in Southern Africa resulted in production recoveries, leading to significantly reduced food insecure numbers, while severe localized floods in West Africa have affected larger numbers of people.

Asia: Despite severe localized floods and droughts in some countries, production in the Far East is forecast to increase in 2017. Conflicts continue to intensely impact agriculture and food security in Iraq, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen. Elsewhere in the Near East, generally good weather boosted production.

Latin America and the Caribbean: In the Caribbean, the impact of hurricanes is expected to depress agricultural production for second season crops in the affected areas and adversely impact food security conditions. In South America, record cereal outputs are forecast in Argentina and Brazil in 2017.

Please download the full report here: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7830e.pdf.

FAO invites those working in policy or research on agricultural trade and climate change to submit papers to be presented at the 2017 International Conference on Climate Change Agricultural Trade and Food Security.

The Conference will bring together policy makers, academics and practitioners to exchange ideas, research findings and experiences on the linkages between agricultural trade and climate change.

The outcomes of these consultations will contribute to FAO’s flagship report, The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO), which will examine the potentials of agricultural trade and trade policies to enhance food security and sustainable agricultural production in the context of a world confronting climate change impacts.

For more information on the call, please see: http://www.fao.org/3/a-bt390e.pdf.

More information on the conference is available here:

http://www.fao.org/economic/est/est-events-new/climatetrade/en/.

To register: http://www.fao.org/trade/registration-form/en/?related=1026667&list=1. 

Registration to the Conference closes on Friday, 20 October 2017.

The Annual Eurasian Food Security Conference will take place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on October 03-05, 2017. The Conference is organized by the Eurasian Center for Food Security with support from the World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The topic of the conference is "Catalyzing an Agriculture-Led Transformation for Food Security and Wealth Creation in Eurasia". The Conference is an excellent platform to discuss the current state of food and nutrition security in the region, identify new trends and actions to unleash the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agriculture and food sectors in the greater Eurasia region. Bringing together public sector food policy experts, representatives of academia and civil society, the Conference provides a great opportunity to strengthen cooperation at local, regional and global levels.

The Conference sessions will cover the following topics:

• Priorities for policy research to improve food security and nutrition in Eurasia;
• Innovative interventions both by the government and private sector that helps boost food and nutrition security at the household and community level;
• The nexus of food security and natural resource management;
• Case studies on food security in Eurasia, etc.

Please visit the conference website for details: http://ecfs2017.org/?page_id=6&lang=en.

The registration is open until September 17, 2017.

FAO/GIEWS has released a special alert on drought affecting crops in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Highlights: 

• Prolonged dry weather conditions from April to late June in the main central and southern cereal-producing provinces raise serious concerns about the final production of the ongoing 2017 main cropping season.

• If rains do not improve soon, the 2017 cereal output may decrease significantly, further deteriorating the local food insecurity.

• Immediate interventions are needed to support the affected farmers and prevent negative coping strategies for the most vulnerable households.

The report can be accessed through the following link: 

http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7544e.pdf.

FAO/GIEWS has released a Special Alert on the drought in East Africa.

The highlights:

• Prevailing severe dry weather conditions, virtually since October 2016, have affected rangelands and crops in large parts of East Africa, causing a serious deterioration of food security conditions in the subregion.
• Major areas of concern are central and southern Somalia, southeastern Ethiopia, northern and eastern Kenya, northern United Republic of Tanzania, and northeastern and southwestern Uganda.
• Localized Fall armyworm infestations are likely to further affect yields in the affected areas.
• Soaring prices of cereals are limiting food access for large numbers of poor households.
• The purchasing power of pastoral households in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia is severely constrained by plunging prices of livestock and rising prices of cereals.
• Recurrent climatic shocks have undermined household resilience. Urgent support to agricultural livelihoods is critically needed.

The Special Alert can be accessed through the following link: 

http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7537e.pdf.

The latest issue of the FPMA Bulletin FAO/GIEWS monthly report on food price trends at world, regional and country level, with a focus on countries where prices of one or more basic food commodity are at abnormal high levels in main markets, has been released.

Main highlights of this issue are higher international prices of wheat and rice, while at sub-regional level, a general increase in prices of rice in Asia and the new harvests in East Africa are putting downward pressure on cereal prices, which, however, remain at near-record levels.

KEY MESSAGES

• International wheat prices generally increased in June on quality concerns amid unfavourable growing conditions for the 2017 crops in some key producing countries. Export prices of maize remained generally unchanged, while rice quotations continued to increase mainly on account of strong demand.
• In East Africa, cereal prices either remain stable or declined in June with the new 2017 harvests, but remained at near-record levels in several countries. Prices increased sharply in the past several months, due to tight supplies because of drought-reduced 2016 second season crops and concerns about the overall performance of this year’s harvests following poor rains and crop pests.
• In Asia, sustained demand further underpinned domestic prices of rice in exporting countries in June. Elsewhere in the subregion, rice prices rose further and reached record highs in Bangladesh, reflecting losses incurred in the 2017 main season crop, coupled with reduced production and imports in 2016. In Sri Lanka, an anticipated reduction in the 2017 output continued to support prices of rice.

The report can be accessed through the following link:

http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7536e.pdf.

FAO has released the quarterly Global Early Warning Early Action Report for July - September 2017.

The report is a summary of major risks to agriculture and food security including their likelihood and the extent of their probable impact. It provides recommendations on early action in relation to food security and agriculture to mitigate or prevent the potential impact of the anticipated disasters. Early actions can include activities such as protecting livelihood assets to mitigate or prevent the impact of the disaster on preparedness activities. As such, a critical link is established between early warning information and concrete operational programming, thereby supporting more effective prioritization, advocacy and operational decision making. 

The report can be accessed through the following link: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7453e.pdf.

12:30 - 14:30 Rome time, FAO Headquarters.

This Special Event will provide government representatives, UN entities, civil society and the private sector and other stakeholders with a platform to share experiences in accelerating progress towards gender equality and rural women’s empowerment. It will highlight forward-looking strategies and partnerships in the fight against hunger, malnutrition and extreme poverty.

Rural women play an important role in agriculture and rural development, and make a strong contribution to food security and nutrition at household and community levels. Worldwide, there is an increasing recognition that rural women must be at the centre of any intervention to promote sustainable agriculture and eradicate food insecurity and poverty. The 2030 Agenda envisages a future in which no one is left behind, where achieving gender equality and empowering women is an absolute precondition to break the cycle of poverty and hunger, and to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The event can be followed on webcast: http://www.fao.org/webcast

Programme

Opening remarks

José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO

Presentation on FAO’s technical work on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

Kostas Stamoulis, Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Development Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO

Panel discussion

• His Excellency Hugo Martinez, Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador

• Her Excellency Néziha Labidi, Minister of Women and Family Affairs of Tunisia

• Her Excellency Fatimata Dia Sow, Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender of ECOWAS

• His Excellency Ty Sokhun, Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia

• His Excellency Ali Recep Nazli, General Director of Foreign Relations and EU Coordination of Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey

• Haowa Bello, CEO and Founder of Madame Coquette - Beneficiary of the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme

• Jessica Vega Ortega, Coordinator of the Yani Tundavii Dikuintií Collective of the Network of Young Indigenous Peoples of Latin America, Focal Point for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus

Questions and answers

Concluding remarks