Mayramou Hamadou wears a smile on her face like a badge of honour. Though the mother of four doesn’t own land, she is part of a community effort that feeds the town of Mayo-Moskota, in Cameroon’s troubled Far North region. This year, the 47-member Klakil Farmers cooperative — of mostly women supported by the World Food Programme () — has harvested over 100 kg of peppers from its 7-hectare plot. Its members include longtime Mayo-Moskota residents but also displaced people like Mayramou, who fled the Boko Haram insurgency that has gripped this region and parts of neighbouring Nigeria too.
Agriculture and Food
With the highest birth rate in the world, recurring droughts exacerbated by climate change and a lack of arable land and access to water, producing enough food to sustain Niger’s rapidly growing population is an enormous challenge. To help improve food security for its growing population and address climate-related challenges, is supporting an ambitious programme – funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation – that aims to harness the country’s agricultural potential, boost economic development and ensure a more sustainable approach to using natural resources.
The 2021 is a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the important role of fruits and vegetables in nutrition, food security and human and planetary health. It also aims to reduce food loss and waste and promote sustainability and safety of the fruits and vegetables value chain. #iyfv2021
Like other women on Santiago, the largest island of Cabo Verde, Maria Lizita Varela used to rely on sand extraction as a source of income. It was thankless, dangerous work. The negative environmental impact of sand extraction is palpable, too. Now, an -funded project on the islands of Santiago and Maio is offering women opportunities for better incomes through safer and less time-consuming activities.
’s Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS) programme provides agricultural and entrepreneurial training for young people in rural areas. These JFFLS programmes have been implemented in many countries around the world, focusing on providing vulnerable youth, especially in crisis and post-conflict contexts, with practical and commercial farming skills. Emmanuel was invited to take part in the training by an FAO Youth Coordinator. He was part of the first group of young people in CAR to go through the training, which took place in Boali, 95 kilometres away from Bangui.
For more than 57 years, the partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations () and has contributed to addressing global challenges, including food insecurity, climate change, animal/zoonotic diseases and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. The IAEA and FAO , which upgrades their partnership and expands the horizons of their work.
In the area of Bamyan in central Afghanistan, whilst men do most of the farming, it is the women who take care of livestock. It tends to be a solitary activity, however, and women working together as a community, is uncommon in Afghanistan. The Household Food and Livelihood Security project funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation, aims to change this, bringing women together, boosting their knowledge and raising incomes not just for their own households, but for their whole community. The women livestock keepers participate and form bonds in group meetings, where they can exchange their views, share experiences and learn new techniques as well as keep in contact with their relatives or loved ones.
Donors are responding favourably to ’s call to significantly increase contributions to deliver an overall programme of work of at least US$11 billion from 2022 to 2024.
El Salvador: Growing ‘green gold’ in Central America’s Dry Corridor
We see them at the grocery store, the farmer’s market and as side orders served with our favourite dish. In many countries, they are part of the cultural heritage and are consumed on a regular or even daily basis.
We love pulses because of their nutritional value and environmental benefits. The World Pulses Day is an opportunity to raise awareness and recognize the contribution of legumes to sustainable food systems and healthy diets. They are critical in addressing the challenges of poverty, food security, human health and nutrition, soil health and environment, thereby contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals and the â€ÈÙ To celebrate the day, the #LovePulses takes place today virtually at 1:30pm (EST).
We have tripled food production in the last 40 years. But we know unless we change the way we produce food, we will not only lose those gains, we will pay a terrible price. Covid-19 has made it devastatingly clear that our health and the planet’s health are indivisible; that unless we halt biodiversity loss and repair our relationship with the natural world, more diseases will jump species. It is estimated that three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in people in the past 10 years are zoonotic. is working to help get policy and investment behind more productive, profitable, and sustainable land-use around the world, and directly supporting smallholder farmers to make the shift.
A locust fighting force assembled by countries in East Africa to combat an invasion of the crop-devouring pest is at risk of seeing its activities grind to a halt as funding to sustain its operations dries up, warned. Without additional financing for fuel, airtime, and pilot hours, the 28 anti-locust aircraft which are now patrolling the skies to spot and spray locust swarms could cease operations in March. FAO informed humanitarian partners that some $38.8 million are still needed to help East Africa and Yemen get through the last mile of their desert locust marathon.
The Ãå±±½ûµØFood Systems Summit is a turning point in the world’s journey to achieving the SDGs by 2030. Over the next year, the Summit will raise global awareness, deepen our understanding of the problems we must solve, and set a course to radically change the way we produce, process, and consume food. The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) is taking place now in Germany to provide an international audience of experts from various sectors with an opportunity to address and reach consensus on issues and challenges relating to global agricultural policy and food security.