News archive 2009

The world food supply looks less vulnerable to shocks than it was during last year’s food crisis, FAO said in its Food Outlook report published today.

Agricultural mitigation in developing countries can make farming more resilient to the vagaries of climate change and can also reduce hunger and poverty, FAO said in a policy brief for climate change negotiators meeting in Bonn/Germany.

Grants are to be awarded to on-farm seed conservation and development projects in Egypt, Kenya, Costa Rica, India, Peru, Senegal, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Cuba, Tanzania and Morocco.

Farmers in poor countries to receive compensation for conserving and propagating crop varieties as the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture meets.

Saying that vulnerable fishing and coastal communities around the world will bear the brunt of climate change's impacts, FAO and a group of 15 other international organizations today have urged climate negotiators to ensure that fisheries and aquaculture are not neglected in ongoing discussions regarding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

Japan has paid its full 2009 contribution to the FAO budget amounting to 78.4 million.

A three-year Italian-funded FAO programme to improve the long-term food security of 32 000 poor fishing and farming families in Myanmar has been agreed. The programme will assist Myanmar to develop sustainable small-scale fisheries and aquaculture livelihoods in coastal mangrove ecosystems and improve rice production.

Land acquisitions are on the increase in Africa and other continents, raising the risk that poor people will be evicted or lose access to land, water, and other resources, according to the first detailed study of the trend.

A new internet portal has been launched today by FAO that will serve as a one-stop-shop for individuals and organizations searching for the latest information about the welfare of livestock.

Sunflower oil is by far the major vegetable oil consumed in Kazakhstan, but growing demand in recent years has been met largely by imports rather than increased production.