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For many, Jamaican ginger beer, ginger tea or ginger biscuits are a household staple. This Caribbean island has long had a global reputation for its excellent ginger, known for its potency and pungency – but the industry is being threatened.Ginger Rhizome Rot (GRR) disease has for years devastated production across the island and even caused many farmers to stop ginger production altogether. The disease has been so prominent that, between 2015 and 2018, Jamaica’s ginger production dropped by almost half.However, a band of public and private sector food heroes called the Ginger Working Group have been...

Composed by thirteen Member States from the Mediterranean region, the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) is an intergovernmental organization sharing common objectives with FAO. The long history of collaborations between the two organizations initiated in 1977 when the first joint activities started to be implemented. After years of interactions, a further step was accomplished in 2009 with the signature of a framework agreement focusing on areas such as traditional foods, forests’ protection, irrigation, plant disease management and quarantine measures. In 2015, the...

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the creation of the United Nations and what better way to showcase South-South and Triangular cooperation achievements, than with a compilation of good practices on how SSTC is being leveraged to support the efforts of countries to accelerate the progress towards the attainment of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). About a month ago, the UN Office of South-South and Triangular Cooperation (UNOSSC) launched its volume three of “Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development”. This volume features 195 good practices, obtained by 77 partners including Member States,...

Rome - Italy's agri-food system offers lessons on the transformations the world needs, and the nation is playing a critical role by promoting a multilateral food coalition that is closely aligned to FAO's own rural development framework as articulated in the Hand-in-Hand Initiative and the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said today in an address to members of Italy's parliament.   "FAO is proud to be your partner in this noble mission of eradicating hunger, eliminating poverty and creating a world of harmony and solidarity," the Director-General said in remarks to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the...

Beijing - On the occasion of World Food Day 2020, FAO China Office collaborated with Toutiao, a popular Chinese social media network with 120 million daily active users, to organize the Food Heroes Campaign and celebrate food heroes who contributed to ensuring food supply during the COVID-19 outbreak. Various organizations and general public were invited to contact FAO-China and nominate the food heroes they know.On 16 October, 15 candidate profiles were selected and posted for public voting on Toutiao. During the ten-day voting period from 16 to 25 October, the total votes for 15 candidates reached 1,154,727....

A double-celebration marking World Food Day and the 75th anniversary of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) underscored the need to make urgent and lasting changes to ensure food security for all, in keeping with the theme of this year’s observance, Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together. Our actions are our future.   FAO Director-General QU Dongyu joined in the FAO Brussels event, along with the Vice-President of the European Parliament, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, high-level officials from the OACPS, and the Director of the World Food Programme.   “Our work is not done yet. Together with all key stakeholders, we are working to...

On 29 September 2020, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) authorized an exceptional voluntary contribution to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) of EUR 2.8 million. This year, Spain has generously increased its voluntary contributions and broadened the spectrum of international cooperation to support actions that can help alleviate the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations. This includes enhancing food security, protecting the livelihoods of impacted farming families, and improving the resilience of rural communities, as well as activities aligned to achieving...

Brussels - In recent years, parliamentarians in Europe and other regions of the world have formed alliances to step up efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition globally, while making food systems more sustainable, inclusive and resilient. The European Parliamentary Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition,  was created in 2016 as an initiative of and under the auspices of FAO, is an alliance of currently 30 members of the European Parliament formed with the aim to achieve the objectives encompassed in the Sustainable Development Goals and in particular, SDG2 (end hunger). “The European Parliamentary Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition always works to keep food security...

For Diego Urbano, an 18-year-old student in southern Colombia, coffee is in his blood. He was born into a coffee-producing family and now, after joining a project boosting the use of technology in the sector, he is passionate about continuing that tradition - with an innovative twist. “As young people, we want to continue building our future in the countryside – by being innovative in the way we produce, market and consume,” Diego says. As part of the project, Diego and 29 other students from the Educational Institution La Victoria were trained in coffee harvesting, filtration and barista processes to encourage young...

The world’s demand for fish is growing: over the last thirty years, there has been a 122% rise in fish consumption globally. In 2018, global capture fisheries recorded a catch of 96.4 million tonnes, the highest recorded total to date.   Small-scale fisheries play an important part in meeting this demand. They are present in all parts of the world, and the vast majority of their catch is destined for local human consumption. The sector provides an important contribution to nutrition, food security, sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation, especially in developing countries. In recognition of the important role they play, the...