News archive 2009

Helping migrants to invest in agricultural development in their home countries is at the heart of a new agreement between FAO and the International Organization for Migration. FAO and the IOM have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on agricultural projects in developing countries which stem directly from migrant communities in Europe and other nations of the OECD.

Finland and FAO have signed a €14 million partnership agreement to improve forest data collection and analysis as well as management skills in selected developing countries for sustainable forest management.

The King and the Queen of Sweden have met the heads of the three Rome-based UN organizations today to discuss the global food price situation, the impact of climate change on agriculture and the effects of the financial crisis on food prices.

China is to make available to FAO a multi-million dollar trust fund that will focus on providing technical cooperation and inputs to projects in Africa with the aim of improving food security. The Fund will last for three years and will be a model of south-south cooperation.

The Heads of Government of CARICOM countries as well as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Michelle Bachelet of Chile are putting their support behind a proposal by FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf for a World Summit on Food Security next November in Rome, on the occasion of the 36th Session of the Conference of the Organization.

FAO Director General Jacques Diouf calls for more attention to be paid to water management in agriculture and for increased support and guidance for farmers in developing countries to tackle water scarcity and the related problem of hunger. Agriculture accounts for 70 percent of all global freshwater withdrawals.

The weekend of 20-22 March the Association of European Professional Football Leagues and its 29 members and associate members will join forces with FAO, with hundreds of professional football matches across Europe being dedicated to raise awareness about the problem of hunger.

As part of its response to high food prices, FAO has developed an interactive database of staple food prices on national markets in 55 developing countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

The dual challenges of economic turmoil and climate change are bringing the management of forests to the forefront of global interest. The need to reform forestry institutions and increase investments in science and technology are key to the better management of forests, notes FAO's latest State of the World’s Forests report.

FAO will be represented by its Director General Jacques Diouf as well as leading experts at the triennial 5th World Water Forum, the most important event on the international water calendar, to be held in Istanbul from March 16 to 22.