Economic Development

FAO is using using helicopters and vehicles to carry out locust survey and control operations in Madagascar.
FAO/Annie Monard

UN agency seeks further funding for Madagascar locust control plan

19 December 2013
Africa

A locust control programme launched in Madagascar is making progress against an invasion of the voracious insects that is threatening rice and maize crops but requires an additional $17 million for the next two phases, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development Shamshad Akhtar.
UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

Global economy improving but greater policy coordination needed, UN reports

18 December 2013
Global

The global economy is expected to continue to grow over the next two years, the United Nations today reported, but stronger international policy coordination is needed to steady the remaining fragility in the banking system and geopolitics which could hamper financial stability.

Communities in Madagascar trying to protect their fields from locusts using smoke.
IRIN/Clarel Faniry Rasoanaivo

UN and Madagascar launch locust control campaign to avert food crisis

23 September 2013
Africa

A locust control campaign has been launched by the United Nations and the Government of Madagascar to treat over 2 million hectares of infested areas in a bid to avert a food crisis that could affect some 13 million people in the island nation.

Locusts swarms can be hundreds of miles long, leaving little vegetation behind.
FAO/Yasuyoshi Chiba

UN agency appeals for urgent funds to control locust plague threatening Madagascar

26 June 2013
Africa

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today urgently appealed for $22 million to tackle the locust plague that has already infested over half of Madagascar’s cultivated land and pastures and threatens to trigger a severe food crisis in the island nation.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks at a Roundtable event on “The Future we Want – MDG’s Post 2015 and Agenda 2025” at Joaquim Chissano Conference Center, Maputo, Mozambique.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

In Mozambique, Ban calls for push to achieve Millennium Development Goals

20 May 2013
Africa

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today emphasized the importance of countries stepping up their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before their 2015 deadline and stressed developing countries like Mozambique have the most to benefit from accelerated action.