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FAO unveiled today its new comprehensive COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, aimed at preventing a global food emergency during and after the COVID-19 pandemic while working on medium to long-term development response for food security and nutrition. The agency is calling for $1.2 billion in initial investment to support the needs of the new programme.

The weeks following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease have been filled with grave challenges and uncertainty. As the effects of border closures and movement restrictions become more visible in some countries and are slowly lessening in others, attention must be drawn to a vital component of global health that is under threat of crisis: our food systems. As the Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Maximo Torero, said, “We fully agree with governments that first has to be health and the measures they are taking have to...

The 2019 Annual Progress Report provides an overview of the major improvements and transformational changes to the FMM since 2018, in addition to presenting key achievements, challenges and lessons learned thus far in the implementation of the Mechanism over 2019.

On May 20, 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) significantly increased cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries by virtually signing two groundbreaking partnership agreements with the Ministry of State on Food Security of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on projects to transform the agriculture sector to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and enhance the food security system in the UAE. The projects, “Transforming the Food and Agriculture Sector to Achieve the SDGs for Enhanced Food Security and Nutrition,” (with a budget of USD 3 597 111) and “Assessment and Strategic Analysis of the Food Control...

The pandemic will end, the health crisis will ease, but if we don’t protect the livelihoods of millions of people today and the food value chains, we will have to rebuild them tomorrow – at much greater cost, warned FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today at a Congressional Webinar Briefing. The event - The Coming Crisis: Preventing a Hunger Catastrophe amid COVID-19 - was co-hosted by FAO North America and the Alliance to End Hunger with the House and Senate Hunger Caucuses, and highlighted the key findings of the recently released 2020 Global Report on Food Crises. COVID-19 - an...

The Board of the Green Climate Fund today approved a $119 million disbursement for a FAO co-designed project to boost the resilience to climate change of vulnerable rural communities in Cuba. The Green Climate Fund will contribute $38.2 million, while the Government of Cuba provides $81.7 million in co-financing for the project, which is expected to help 240...

On February 15, FAO and the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change (Pakistan) Malik Amin Aslam signed a USD 47 million project to help the most vulnerable farmers in the Indus River Basin increase their resilience to climate change. The agreement follows the approval of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) of a grant of nearly USD 35 million. The project stands to directly benefit 1.3 million rural people, including women farmers. Pakistan’s agriculture sector is affected by its arid to semi-arid climate, as well as its dependency on a...

The 6th High-Level Strategic Dialogue between FAO and France was held from the 5 to 6 of February at FAO Headquarters. Maria Helena Semedo, Assistant Director-General for Climate and Natural Resources, welcomed a French delegation led by Philippe Lacoste, Director of Sustainable Development at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. Semedo heralded this latest “meeting of friends” and praised France for its continued commitment to the Organization, which was underscored once more in 2019 by a promised contribution of EUR 2 million to the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF). The first day of the event was dedicated to reviewing the...

The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF)

Rome - A strategic dialogue between France and FAO will take place from the 5th to6th of February 2020. The high-level meeting will take place at FAO’s headquarters in Rome, and will focus on the collaboration between FAO and, for France: the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Agriculture and Food (MAA), as well as the French research institutions INRAE, CIRAD, AGREENIUM and IRD.  The two days of dialogue - one dedicated to the research institutes and the second to the...