News archive 2009

The world's farmers must quickly switch to more sustainable and productive farming systems to grow the food needed by a swelling world population and respond to climate change, FAO's top crops expert told an international farm congress here today.

Findings made during a field visit by an international team of scientists organized by FAO suggest it could be easier than previously thought to contain future outbreaks in the plague of caterpillars which caused the Liberian Government to declare a state of emergency last month.

Representatives of over 60 countries have made progress in laying the groundwork for a binding international agreement aimed at closing ports to ships involved in illegal fishing.

Almost all of Gaza's 13 000 families who depend on farming, herding and fishing have suffered damage to their assets during the recent conflict and many farms have been completely destroyed. FAO fears increase of food insecurity after the conflict, and is planning emergency interventions.

A team of international experts led by FAO is racing against time to contain a vast plague of voracious Armyworm caterpillars which has triggered a national emergency in Liberia and could spread to much of West Africa unless resolved soon.

Chiefs of key international agencies pledged to step up commitments against hunger and malnutrition, at the Madrid meeting on Food Security for All. The meeting was hosted and organized by the Spanish Government and co-sponsored by the UN.

Huge hordes of ravenous caterpillars have appeared in northern Liberia, destroying crops and vegetation, sending terrified villagers fleeing from their homes, and raising the spectre of a food, health and environmental emergency in West Africa.

International Year of Natural Fibres (IYNF) 2009 was officially launched at FAO in Rome today. A series of events will be held round the globe over the next 12 months to raise public awareness of natural resources that have played a major role in the history of nations and societies, and continue to do so.

Delegates from more than 60 countries are meeting in Rome to continue negotiations on a global plan of action for adapting to global changes that affect how countries manage freshwater resources. The meeting is part of preparations for the 5th World Water Forum.

Getting agriculture back on its feet is a prime challenge for Burundi, a country struggling to heal the scars of more than a decade of civil war and where most people depend on farming.