FAO in North America

UC Global Food Systems Forum

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on March 19, 2013

The University of California, through its Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, will convene some of the world’s leading experts April 9 at the Global Food Systems Forum to address how to sustainably feed 8 billion people by 2025.

The daylong forum, which will bring together farmers, researchers, policymakers, economists, environmentalists and other experts, will feature two moderated panels and keynote addresses by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and president of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, and Wes Jackson, founder and president of The Land Institute.

Michael Specter, global issues writer for The New Yorker magazine, will moderate the first panel, which will focus on the geopolitical, ethical, economic, environmental and technical challenges facing food systems from a global perspective. Award-winning author and journalist Mark Arax will moderate the second panel, which will address the implications, responsibilities and innovative opportunities from a California perspective.

The panelists will include a mix of UC and non-UC experts and thought leaders. View a list of speakers at http://food2025.ucanr.edu/Speakers.

To learn more about the UC Global Food Systems Forum and to register to watch the live webcast, visit http://food2025.ucanr.edu.

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Hungry Planet: reports from Syria, Kenya and Peru

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on January 18, 2013

In Syria’s neighbouring countries, food vouchers help refugees keep hunger at bay. After decades of excessive logging and reduced water flow, Mount Kenya is becoming green again. And a new plant breeding technique helps farmers in the high Andes of Peru.

To learn more, watch the latest episode of Hungry Planet, a joint production of FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme.

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Oxfam hosts online debate on future of agriculture

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on December 7, 2012

Oxfam will host a virtual roundtable conversation about the future of agriculture December 10-21.

Over 20 thought leaders on agriculture from around the world, including FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, have written short essays that will be posted over the next two weeks. Roger Thurow, Senior Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, will provide a mid-event analysis and final summary remarks.

Two new essays will be posted daily, and readers are encouraged to respond to the experts’ ideas and share their own. All essays and comments will inform an Oxfam discussion paper to be published in 2013 and feed into Oxfam’s long-term project, research, and advocacy planning.

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New report on North Korean food security

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on November 12, 2012

A new FAO/WFP report estimates that while there has been an increase in staple food production in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the second year running, the country continues to face an ongoing struggle with undernutrition and a lack of vital protein and fat in the diet, especially for an estimated 2.8 million vulnerable people.

The assessment team visited all nine agricultural provinces in late September/early October, around the main annual cereal harvest.

Of particular concern to the mission was a 30 per cent decline in soybean production, as well as the limited quantity of vegetables available, perpetuating a chronic lack of key proteins, oils, fats, vitamins and micronutrients in most diets. Soybean production was the primary victim of a prolonged dry spell in the first half of the 2012 main agricultural season. The impact of the dry spell on the maize harvest was largely mitigated by irrigation, as people were mobilized on a huge scale to water crops by hand.

“The country needs to produce more protein-rich foods like soybean and fish and to put more effort into growing two crops a year so a more varied diet is available for everyone,” said Kisan Gunjal, FAO economist and co-leader of the mission.

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Global food prices up slightly, cereal production forecast down

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on October 4, 2012

The FAO Food Price Index rose slightly in September 2012, up 1.4 percent, or 3 points, from its level in August. The rise reflected strengthening dairy and meat prices and more contained increases for cereals. Prices of sugar and oils, on the other hand, fell.

Meanwhile, FAO’s latest forecasts confirm a decline in global cereal production this year from the record registered in 2011. But record harvests are expected in low-income food-deficit countries.

World cereal production in 2012 is now forecast at 2 286 million tonnes, slightly down from the  2 295 million tonnes estimated in September, according to the new issue of FAO’s quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation report also published today.

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USDA forecasts sharp decline in corn, soybean production

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on August 10, 2012

The US Department of Agriculture projected a sharp decline in corn production for the second consecutive month. Its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates released today forecast U.S. corn production for 2012/13 at 10.8 billion bushels, the lowest since 2006/07.

Soybean production for 2012/13 is projected at 2.7 billion bushels, down 358 million due to lower harvested area and yields, the report said.

The new forecasts come on the heels of FAO’s latest Food Price Index, which rose 6 percent in July after three months of decline.

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Food prices up

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on August 9, 2012

The FAO Food Price Index climbed 6 percent in July 2012 after three months of decline. The Index averaged 213 points, up 12 points from June but well below the peak of 238 points reached in February 2011. Grains and sugar were the main drivers of the increase.

The severe deterioration of US maize crop prospects due to extensive drought damage pushed up maize prices by almost 23 percent in July.

International wheat prices also surged 19 percent amid worsened production prospects in Russia and expectations of firm demand for wheat as feed because of tight maize supplies.

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Health, wealth and…agriculture?

Submitted by Rachel Friedman on August 7, 2012

When it comes to health, modern society faces a dichotomy: on the one hand, nearly one billion people still suffer from hunger and malnutrition, while on the other hand the Western diet, lifestyle and environment are driving a surge in obesity and diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular ailments and cancers.

But according to a special feature in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these health concerns cannot be addressed in a vacuum by the health system alone. The eleven articles of the July 31 edition provide perspectives, research and case studies that bring together the paths of health, economy and agriculture. The focus is on integrating smallholder farmers into national and global food systems, value chains and markets, and health systems.

Introducing the theme and the rest of the articles in the issue, Laurette Dube, Praghu Pingali and Patrick Webb call for a broader “solution-oriented” approach to science, policies and on-the-ground actions, cutting across disciplines. This includes making use of the private sector to reduce hunger and poverty, while also curbing the spread of noncommunicable chronic diseases. The authors argue for a development paradigm that fosters common interests among multiple sectors to strengthen urban-rural links and support innovation, policies and institutions that promote healthy lifestyles and environments.

Read the introductory article online.

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Putting children out of work and into school

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on August 6, 2012

Photo credit: ©FAO/Giuseppe Bizzarri Worldwide 215 million children are child labourers, and around 130 million boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 17 work in agriculture. Many of them are engaged in hazardous activities – working in fields where pesticides have been applied, staying up all night on fishing boats, using sharp tools designed for adults, or carrying loads too heavy for their still-growing bodies. Most are unpaid family workers.

Pervasive poverty is one of the main causes of child labour in rural areas; it is also one of the consequences.

Last week, Washington hosted the first International Conference on Child Labour in Agriculture, where 160 participants from 50 countries, representing governments, international labour and development organizations, trade unions, teachers and farmers organizations, NGOs and corporations mapped out a framework committing themselves to action.

FAO’s Bernd Seiffert chaired a conference workshop on addressing child labour in neglected agricultural sub-sectors, such as fishing, forestry and livestock-keeping.

“The agriculture sector is under-regulated in many countries, and much labour legislation either explicitly excludes the informal sector and self-employed smallholders or is not enforced,” Seiffert says.

Learn more about the challenges of addressing child labour in the agriculture sector and Cambodia’s recent efforts to tackle the issue in its fisheries sector.

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New study on climate change impacts on tropical agriculture

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on August 2, 2012

Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT)A new study just out from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security shows that there are some crucial gaps in our understanding of the likely impacts of climate change on many key food staples and natural resources in developing countries.

The study, “Impacts of climate change on the agricultural and aquatic systems and natural resources within the CGIAR’s mandate”, contains summaries for 22 commodities and for agroforestry, forests and water.  These summaries, written by CGIAR scientists, outline the importance of each commodity for food and nutrition security, its biological vulnerability to climate change, and the likely socio-economic vulnerability of the people affected.

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