7 May 2014, Central Philippines – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations announced today that tens of thousands of farmers in the Philippines are bringing in their first rice harvest just six months after one of the worst typhoons to ever hit the country. After Typhoon Haiyan hit central Philippines on 8 November, 2013, the situation was dire. More than 6,000 people lost their lives, while some 600,000 hectares of farmland were destroyed. Millions of people lost their only source of income and were threatened by severely compromised food security. Immediate response by the international community, the country’s Department of Agriculture and FAO were able to assist tens of thousands of rice farmers quickly restore and replant their devastated fields in the wake of the disaster.