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Tag: FAO

  • FAO, WFO to help farmers drive global agricultural agenda

    The World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have reaffirmed their commitment to help farmers become the drivers of the global agricultural agenda.

    The new FAO-WFO agreement will focus on supporting and promoting the key role those farmers and their organisations play in efficient, inclusive and sustainable agriculture and food systems; reducing rural poverty; reaching food and nutrition security; and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

    It will do so by building farmers’ capacity to lead decision-making processes on agricultural policies at all levels, based on best sustainable agricultural practices that farmers are already applying.

    “This agreement will help build a farmers-driven agricultural agenda to bolster global Zero Hunger efforts, and better support the interests of millions of farmers worldwide. Farmers can bring a range of innovative solutions to the complex challenges we face today,” said FAO Deputy Director-General for Climate and Natural Resources, Maria Helena Semedo.

    “We, as farmers, rely very much on the support of FAO for the creation of a global political environment in agriculture, which is favourable to our farming systems, our families and our communities. As economic actors, our expectation is to increase productivity, tackling climate change, and contribute to global sustainable development. We are ready to do our part and we are deeply grateful to organisations like FAO that support us in this ambitious agenda,” said WFO President, Theo De Jager.

    The agreement will support joint initiatives aimed at:  strengthening collaboration on tackling climate change, responsible management of natural resources, sustainable livestock production, and safe and effective use of antimicrobials; and    enhancing the capacities of farmers’ organisations that are inclusive of women and youth to deliver quality services to their members.

    Others  are  increasing farmers’ technical capacity and sharing of practical, workable solutions on climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable agriculture and responsible natural resource management;    enhancing farmers’ advocacy capacity and impact on global political dialogues on agriculture; supporting family farmers and their organisations to have better access to markets and services; and implement guidelines and principles such as Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT), Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI) and Small-scale Fisheries (VG-SSF).

     

  • FAO seeks reduction in food waste

    With one in five deaths associated with poor diets, a policy brief launched by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has  urged  policymakers to prioritise the reduction of food loss and waste to improve people’s access to nutritious food.

    The brief, which has the theme: “Preventing nutrient loss and waste across the food system: Policy actions for high-quality diets”, pointed out that poor-quality diets are a greater public health threat than malaria, tuberculosis or measles.

    Meanwhile, approximately one third of food produced for human consumption does not reach consumer’s plate.

    The brief was prepared by the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition in partnership with FAO.

    It noted how foods such as fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, dairy products, meats and seafood are rich in nutrients, but are also highly perishable and therefore, susceptible to losses throughout the food system.

    The numbers are staggering: each year more than half of all the fruits and vegetables produced globally are lost or wasted. A vital source of protein, around 25 percent of all the meat produced – equivalent to 75 million cows – is not consumed.

    Panel member and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, said:  “To tackle all forms of malnutrition and promote healthy diets, we need to put in place food systems that increase the availability, affordability and consumption of fresh, nutrient-rich food for everyone. Taking specific actions to reduce the losses and waste of fresh and nutritious food is a fundamental part of this effort.”

    The brief proposed a series of policy actions across the entire food system, including educating stakeholders; focusing on perishable foods; improving public and private infrastructure; encouraging innovation and closing the data and knowledge gaps on food losses and wastes.

    Panel member and President of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Prof. Srinath Reddy, welcomed the brief, saying: “The Global Panel’s policy actions show how reducing food loss and waste could play a key role in improving the poor and inadequate diets that affect three billion people globally, and which are often responsible for persistent undernutrition, and the rise of overweight and obesity and the associated increase in non-communicable diseases.”

    FAO data indicated that in low-income countries food is mostly lost during harvesting, storage, processing and transportation, while in high-income countries the problem is one of waste at retail and consumer levels. Together, they have a direct impact on the number of calories and nutrients that are actually available for consumption.

    The loss and waste of micronutrients are of particular concern given the direct impact on wellbeing, learning capacity and productivity. Globally, agriculture produces 22 per cent more Vitamin A than we require. However, after loss and waste, the amount available for human consumption is 11 per cent less than required. Reducing the loss and waste of nutritious foods could therefore, yield substantial health benefits.

     

     

     

     

     

  • FAO advocates value addition to agric products

    The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called on the Federal Government to ensure value addition to Nigeria’s agricultural produce to achieve zero hunger by 2030.

    The Country Representative of FAO, Mr. Suffyan Koroma, made the call in Abuja, during the week, at a walk organised to commemorate the 2018 World Food Day.

    Koroma, who stressed that agricultural production would be a waste of time without value addition, appealed to the Federal Government to also consider other complementary services which agricultural production needed to thrive.

    “Nigeria should be free of hunger by 2030, but that does not just rest on agriculture. It goes beyond agriculture because the complimentary services that agriculture needs to thrive are also as valuable as the products that we produce, he said.

    Koroma stated that for food prices to be lower, it does not just mean production; it means the value-added products, the services, the energy, the effective legislation – all of these should contribute to zero hunger.

    “It even involves transportation, knowing what to produce and for what market. If we produce without adding value, it is basically useless; it is a sheer waste of time, he said, asking, “How do we control animal diseases, pests, conflicts, climate change and issues of flooding?”

    According to him, all these are relevant in efforts to achieve zero hunger. He expressed hope that the government will continue to strive in enhancing the drive to achieve zero hunger by 2030.

  • Food prices steady in August, says FAO

    The Food and Agriculture (FAO) said food prices remained stable in August as cereal prices rebounded while vegetable oils and sugar declined.

    The Food Price Index, a monthly index, released yesterday, averaged 167.6 points in August, virtually unchanged from its revised estimate for July and 5.4 per cent below its level in August 2017.

    The FAO Cereal Price Index rose 4.0 per cent during the month, with wheat prices rising twice as much due to deteriorating crop prospects in the European Union (EU) and the Russian Federation. International maize quotations rose by more than 3.0 per cent while rice prices eased during the month.

    The FAO Vegetable Oil Index declined 2.6 per cent from July, nearing a three-year low as palm, soy and sunflower oil quotations all fell amid favorable production trends and, in the case of palm oil, weak global import demand.

    The FAO Dairy Price Index posted its third consecutive monthly decline in August, falling 1.5 per cent amid relatively thin seasonal volumes.

     

    While droughts may adversely affect milk production growth in parts of Europe and Australia, New Zealand’s output prospects are improving.

    The FAO Sugar Price Index dropped 5.4 per cent from July to reach the lowest level in a decade, due largely to the continued depreciations of the currencies of major exporters Brazil and India.

    The FAO Meat Price Index was broadly unchanged on the month, as pigmeat and ovine meat quotations rose on strong import interests from China, offsetting declining poultry and bovine meat prices, with the latter under pressure by high export availabilities from the United States of America.

    FAO now forecasts global cereal production this year to reach 2 587 million tonnes, a small upward revision from July but a three-year low and 2.4 percent below last year’s record high level.

    The latest Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, also released today, cut by a notable 14 million tonnes the world wheat production forecast for this year, which now stands at almost 722 million tonnes, the smallest crop since 2013. Dry and hot weather intensified yield reductions around Europe.

    World rice production, meanwhile, is expected to rise 1.3 per cent from the previous year and reach a new record of almost 512 million tons this year, buoyed by larger output recoveries in Bangladesh and Viet Nam and stronger area rebounds in Sri Lanka and the United States.

    FAO raised its forecast for world cereal utilization to 2 648 million tons, largely due to greater use of maize for feed and industrial use and the robust rice harvest.

    Cereal stocks are also being reduced – especially in China, the European Union and the Russian Federation, and the global cereal stock-to-use ratio is expected to slide to 27.3 per cent, a five-year low.

    The forecast for world trade in cereals over the 2018/2019 season has been revised up to nearly 414 million tons, about 1.5 per cent below the previous year’s record high.

  • World food prices down 3.7% in July – FAO

    World food prices fell 3.7 per cent in July from the month before with declines seen across all crop types, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in Rome that the drop was the sharpest monthly drop since last December.

    FAO’s food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar averaged 168.8 points in July against an upwardly revised 175.3 in June.

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    “The decline in July was driven by weaker export quotations for wheat, maize and rice,” FAO said.

    “International wheat prices were generally weaker during the first half of the month, but concerns over production prospects in the EU and

    the Russian Federation started to push export values higher towards the end of the month,” it added.

    The sharpest individual falls were registered in the dairy price index and the sugar price index.

    FAO did not provide any new forecast for cereal output in 2018. The next new forecast will come on Sept. 6.

  • FAO warns over looming food shortage in Nigeria

    THE Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned over impending  food shortage in the country.

    The organisation, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, attributed the likely famine to armyworm pest invasion of maize and other crops farms.

    According to the FAO National Communications Officer, David Karl, the pest crop destruction has extended to other crops such as millet, sorghum, cowpea and vegetables, thus could pose threat to the Federal Government’s food sufficiency drive.

    However, he noted that FAO in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) organised a three-day training for over 100 farmers with the aim of curtailing and managing the noxious pest and its effect on crops.

    He said the training was carried out in Kaduna State with participants drawn from other parts of the region while similar training was held for farmers in the Northcentral (Abuja) and Southwest (Akure) regions among others.

    It reads in part: “As the rainy season dawn in all parts of the country, planting of maize has begun in earnest, especially in the Northern part of the country, where majority of the produce is cultivated. However, the presence of the invasive trans-boundary pest, the Fall Armyworm (FAW), noticed for the first time in Nigeria in 2016, continues to be a great threat to the nation’s food security.

    “The looming danger of the possibility of the pest extending its host range to other important crops such as millet, sorghum, cowpea, vegetables is very high and therefore calls for urgent attention.”

     

     

  • Boko Haram: Future of recovery looks bright – Shettima

    Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has said the future of recovery of the internally displaced People (IDP) suffered by the Boko Haram crisis looks bright with the scale up of humanitarian activities both by the Federal, State Government and the strategic partners.

    “The future of reconstruction, Resettlement and Rehabilitation is bright as humanitarian activities are been scaled up by both government at all levels and strategic partners like FAO as peace is gradually returning to the troubled communities,” Shettima said.

    Shettima who disclosed this at the lunching  of the 2018 rainy season distribution of agricultural seedlings to farmers displaced by the insurgency and other people living in the host communities at the Farm Centre in Maiduguri.

    Over 1.1 million IDPs including returnees farmers  and members of the host communities in the Boko Haram troubled northeast Nigeria will benefit from the 2018 rainy season input distribution of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations from Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

    FAO support apart from the distribution of quality agricultural kits comprising of seedlings such as millet, sorghum, cowpea, maize, vegetables and fertilizer will also carry out critical capacity building of the farmers.

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    Represented by his deputy Dr. Mamman Durkwa at the event commended FAO for their effort in tackling food security due to the strategic intervention on IDPs in the region.

    The governor charged them not to relent in their collective effort to salvage the situation in the overall interest of Borno State and the country at large.

    He urged the benefiting farmers to make good use of the opportunity and rebuild their livelihood as they return to their communities.

    Earlier in his address, the FAO Country Representative in Nigeria Mr. Suffyan Koroma said Agriculture is the backbone of northeastern Nigeria therefore restoring normalcy in the region requires a restoration of agricultural livelihoods.

    Mr. Koroma who was represented by the Program Officer and Head of Program FAO Sub-office Maiduguri, Mr. Michael Oyat noted that insurgency in northeastern Nigeria has led to high levels of displacement.

    “Of all internally displaced people, 80 percent identified agriculture as the main sources of livelihoods before the crisis. A restoration of livelihoods, particularly in agriculture will be central for a full recovery in the region.

    “FAO’s overall role in northeastern Nigeria is simple –enhance food security through agricultural support, particularly to those most affected and vulnerable to shocks both in the external or the local contexts.

    “As the main planting season, the rainy season is a major opportunity to strengthen livelihoods in the region. For farmers who are able to farm this season, FAO’s programme will link them to agricultural inputs that will improve their incomes and food insecurity,” Mr. Koroma explained.

    Some of the farmers who spoke to our correspondent after collecting their inputs expressed delight over the intervention by FAO, describing it as timely.

    Ya Bintu, 50 year old mother of seven children from Muna Garrage who was displaced from Bama said, she has already gotten a farm and that the intervention is coming when the rains just set in.

    Another beneficiary Musa Ibrahim praised FAO, adding that IDPs now have no excuse to sit at the camps and continue to beg for food.

    “This is an opportunity for us to stop depending on the government. We should take the advantage of what FAO has given us and go back to farm and feed ourselves. Anybody that prefers to stay at the camp to wait for government now has no excuse because, the opportunity has come,” Musa advised.

  • Nigeria to face pressure in livestock production – FAO

    The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said Nigeria would face unprecedented pressure in its livestock production in the next 30 to 40 years.

    The FAO Country Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Suffyan Koroma, stated this at the onset of the dialogue on in Abuja “Lunch of Africa Sustainable Livestock’’ (ASL 2050) project held in Abuja.

    He said the prediction was built on the evidence that the demand for livestock-based foods would grow rapidly due to increased human population and resultant rise in consumer purchasing power and urbanisation.

    “Data from FAO shows that by 2050, beef, dairy and poultry consumption are anticipated to grow by 117 per cent, 557 per cent and 253 per cent respectively from the 2010 levels,’’ he said.

    Koroma said as a result of this data, policy and institutional reforms should be developed, while long-term projections were made.

    NAN

     

  • ‘Seven million people in S/Sudan at risk of severe food insecurity’

    ‘Seven million people in S/Sudan at risk of severe food insecurity’

    Three UN agencies on Monday warned that seven million people in South Sudan, almost two-thirds of the population, could become severely food insecure in the coming months without sustained humanitarian assistance and access.

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) in a statement said, if this happens, this will be the highest ever number of food insecure people in South Sudan.

    The period of greatest risk will be the lean season, between May and July.

    Particularly at risk are 155,000 people, including 29,000 children, who could suffer from the most extreme levels of hunger.

    In January, 5.3 million people, or nearly half of the population, were already struggling to find enough food each day and were in “crisis” or “emergency” levels of food insecurity (IPC Phases three and four), according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report released today.

    This represents a 40 per cent increase in the number of severely food insecure people compared to January 2017.

    The report comes one year after famine was declared in parts of South Sudan in February 2017.

    Improved access and a massive humanitarian response succeeded in containing and averting famine later last year.

    In spite of this, the agencies said, the  food insecurity outlook has never been so dire as it is now.

    The FAO, UNICEF and WFP warned that progress made to prevent people from dying of hunger could be undone, and more people than ever could be pushed into severe hunger and famine-like conditions during May to July unless assistance and access are maintained.

    “The situation is extremely fragile, and we are close to seeing another famine. The projections are stark.

    “If we ignore them, we’ll be faced with a growing tragedy.

    “If farmers receive support to resume their livelihoods, we will see a rapid improvement in the country’s food security situation due to increased local production,” said Serge Tissot, FAO Representative in South Sudan.

    A growing tragedy that must not be ignored

    Overall hunger levels have risen due to protracted conflict that led to reduced food production and constantly disrupted livelihoods.

    This was further exacerbated by economic collapse, which impacted markets and trade, making them unable to compensate for the decrease in local food production.

    Prolonged dry spells, flooding and continued pest infestation, such as Fall Armyworm, have also had a damaging impact.

    “The situation is deteriorating with each year of conflict as more people lose the little they had.

    “We are alarmed as the lean season when the harvest runs out is expected to start this year much earlier than usual,” said Adnan Khan, WFP Representative and Country Director.

    “Unless we can pre-position assistance rather than mount a more costly response during the rains, more families will struggle to survive.”

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    In areas like Unity, Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Central Equatorial, riddled by reoccurring outbreaks of violent conflict and displacement, the proportion of people suffering from extreme food insecurity ranges from 52 to 62 percent – more than half the states’ combined population.

    The number is expected to keep increasing unless people find the means to receive, produce or buy their own food.

    Conflict and worsening hunger have led to already soaring rates of malnutrition.

    Without assistance, as of May, more than 1.3 million children under five will be at risk of acute malnutrition.

    Malnutrition rates are set to rise once the rainy season starts in April.

    Once this happens, many communities will become isolated and unable to reach medical services.

    The rains will make the country’s dirt roads unusable, and it will become more and more difficult to deliver supplies to medical centres.

    “We are preparing for rates of severe malnutrition among children never before seen in this country,” said Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan.

    “Without an urgent response and access to those most in need, many children will die. We cannot allow that to happen.”

    Of particular concern are the areas around Leer, Mayendit, Longochuk and Renk where children under five face extremely critical levels of malnutrition

    In 2017, FAO, WFP, UNICEF and their partners rolled out their largest ever aid campaign, saving lives and containing famine. In 2017, agency partners conducted more than 135 rapid humanitarian missions to the most hard-to-reach areas, providing life-saving assistance to over 1.8 million people.

    FAO provided five million people, many in difficult-to-reach or conflict-affected areas, with seeds and tools for planting, and fishing kits in 2017.

    FAO has also vaccinated more than 6.1 million livestock to keep animals alive and healthy. This has been vital as most of the population rely on livestock for their survival.

    UNICEF and partners admitted some 208,000 children with severe acute malnutrition in 2017 and plan to reach 215,000 this year.

    Together with WFP, UNICEF took part in 51 rapid response missions in 2017 to reach communities cut off from regular aid assistance.

    The Rapid Response Mechanism will remain a key means of accessing conflict-affected communities in the coming months.

    At the peak of its response this year, WFP aims to reach 4.4 million people with life-saving food and nutrition assistance.

    WFP is pre-positioning food in areas likely to be cut off during the rainy season, so people will not go hungry.

    WFP plans to pre-position 140,000 metric tonnes of food and nutrition supplies – 20 percent more than in 2017 – in more than 50 locations across the country.

    NAN

  • Food insecurity of IDPs drops to 2.6 million- FAO

    Food insecurity of IDPs drops to 2.6 million- FAO

    …as security improves in the northeast 

    The Food and Agricultural Organization ( FAO ) of the United Nation has said that the number of people estimated to be facing food insecurity in the north east has dropped from 5.2 million people during to 2.6 million.

    The figure according to FAO represents a period of June to August 2017 to October – December 2017.

    The Deputy Country Representative in Nigeria Mr. Nourou MackiTall who represented the Country Representative Mr. Suffyan Koroma  at the FAO 2017-2018 dry season program where agricultural inputs, equipment and animals were distributed to returnees at Katarko community in  Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State  explained that the drop in the figure is as a result of the improved security in the region among other factors.

    “This improvement is due to (i) improved security conditions which allowed for farming activities in the locations that were previously not safe and an upturn in market and trade activities;(ii) the delivery of food aid and livelihood support to almost 3 million people; and (iii) favourable climatic conditions for farming; thanks to the continued efforts of the Government, National and International agencies in the Northeast,” MackiTall explained.

    He also noted that FAO under the rainy season intervention early this year reached an estimated 970,000 people in the North east worse affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe with seeds and fertilizer which has also impacted on the drop in food insecurity.

    He added that  about 215,000 people from Yobe State were reached under the scheme, stressing that the intervention significantly changed  the household food security for the targeted population of returnees and people in the host communities.

    Mr. MackiTall however warned that food security and humanitarian situation in region is still fragile with an estimated population of 3.7 million  people at risk of critical food insecurity by June to August 2018 if the humanitarian food  livelihood assistance is not expanded and sustained in the region.

    As a way of mitigating the impending danger, FAO he said is targeting about 700,000 people representing close to 110,000 households in the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, including IDPs in formal and informal camps, returnees and host communities in the LGAs in emergency and crisis places.

    He said; “In Yobe State, about 152,000npeople (23,400 households) distributed across 11 LGAs will benefit. These 11 LGAs have been identified by the Yobe State authorities as having high potential for irrigated vegetables and rice production. The input to be provided will include kits  of vegetable seeds, rice seeds, fertilizer, 930 kits of water pumps and 1,200 hand tools kits for micro gardening,” he said.

    Under the livestock program, Mr. MackiTall informed that 27,000 goats, 1000 bulls along with animal feed and vertinary supplies will be distributed to beneficiaries from Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Yobe State he said will benefit from 350 bulls, 6,560 goats for women household among others.

    He noted that FAO as part  of its efforts to tackle the energy needs of the people in the region is in the process of establishing fuel efficient stoves production centre in the North east to reduce health problems caused by population and to safeguard the environment.

    The Commissioner of Agriculture for Yobe State Engr. Mustapha Gajerima, who represented Gov.  Ibrahim Gaidam  said the irrigation support programme was in line with his government’s policy on irrigation farming in the state, adding that his administration has already  developed four irrigation sites to promote dry season farming.

    “The significance of dry season farming was in tandem with our administration’s drive to harness the irrigation potential at Mugura, Boloram, Nguru and Jumbam.

    “Our overall target is to develop about 1,000 hectares of land for irrigation farming before the end of 2018,’’ Gaidam said.

    Maigoje Foundation, one of the implementing partners of FAO programs in Yobe, explained that  a thorough assessment was conducted to ensure that only eligible persons benefited from the programme.

    The Executive Director, Maigoje Foundation  Dr Usman Abba, said the foundation had fashioned out effective monitoring strategies  for the materials to be used for the intended purpose of providing sustainable means of livelihood to the beneficiaries.

    He further said each beneficiary is a bonifide member of the community that has either been affected in the conflict in one way or the other.