agriculture and food security

Two and a half million people in the Central African Republic (CAR) are facing hunger.
WFP/Bruno Djoye

Together, we must tackle growing hunger, urges Guterres  

26 July 2021
Climate and Environment

Inefficient global food production is at the root of a huge rise in hunger as well as one-third of all emissions and 80 per cent of biodiversity loss, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned, in a call to all countries to transform food systems to speed up sustainable development. 

A farmer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has received agricultural training, tools, and seeds from FAO.
© WFP/Arete/Fredrik Lerneryd

FAO head urges G20 to invest in a healthy planet for healthy food

22 July 2021
Climate and Environment

The head of the UN food relief agency called on the world’s richest nations on Thursday to invest more in sustainable living, to feed the world’s growing population.
 

A volunteer carer called Trinity is working in a COVID-19 field hospital in Nasrec, Johannesburg.
IMF/James Oatway

News in Brief 22 July 2021

22 July 2021
News in Brief
  • Africa: 7 in 10 countries to miss COVID19 vaccination targets
  • Reversing biodiversity loss is worth $1.4 trillion a year: FAO chief
  • Togo joins international bid to end statelessness
Audio -
3'9"
COVID-19 vaccines are delivered by boat to Bwama Island, a hard to reach area in Kabale District western Uganda.
© UNICEF/Catherine Ntabadde

News in Brief 3 June 2021

3 June 2021
News in Brief
  • COVID surge risk in Africa, warns WHO
  • China-sized restoration call from UNEP, FAO
  • Food price inflation fastest since 2011
Audio -
3'9"
A farmer works in a rice field in Bagré, Burkina Faso.
© FAO/Alessandra Benedetti

Free up ‘bottlenecks’ stifling Africa’s agri-food sector, urges FAO chief 

10 May 2021
Economic Development

The UN agriculture chief warned on Monday that severe underfunding of Africa’s agri-food sector has boosted food insecurity and was hampering the future development of countries across the continent. 

Men unload sacks of onions from a truck in Bamako, Mali, a landlocked developing country. Their lack of direct access to the vital trade links often result in landlocked countries paying high transport and transit costs.
World Bank/Dominic Chavez

New UN-backed framework to boost agricultural trade between African nations

15 April 2021
Economic Development

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), together with the African Union (AU) Commission, launched a new continent-wide framework on Thursday, to boost trade and improve food security. 

Pulses and dried fruits for sale at a market in Rome.
FAO/Marco Salustro

UN highlights importance of pulses for diets and food security

10 February 2021
SDGs

The United Nations is marking World Pulses Day on Wednesday, highlighting their importance not only as a vital source of nutrition, but also for improving soil fertility and warding off crop pests. 

A child is tested for malnutrition at a UNICEF-supported health clinic in Bangladesh. According a UN report, malnutrition among young children and infants remains a pervasive problem in South Asia.
UNICEF/Siegfried Modola

Over 1.9 billion people in Asia-Pacific unable to afford a healthy diet: UN report

20 January 2021
Health

The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and surging food prices are keeping almost two billion people in Asia and the Pacific from healthy diets, United Nations agencies said on Wednesday.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are set out for cooking in a village in Muzaffargarh district in Pakistan.
UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi

Fruits and vegetables crucial for healthy lives, sustainable world: Guterres

21 December 2020
SDGs

The United Nations is marking 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, spotlighting their vital role in human nutrition and food security, as well as urging efforts to improve sustainable production and reduce waste. 

COVID-19 is undermining nutrition among the world’s most vulnerable people, particularly children, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Pictured here, a WFP staff member interviews displaced persons at an informal IDP settlement in Maiduguri, Nigeria.
WFP/Oluwaseun Oluwamuyiwa

COVID-19 worsening food insecurity, driving displacement, warn UN agencies

10 November 2020
Migrants and Refugees

Global hunger and population displacement, which were already at record levels when COVID-19 struck, could “surge” as migrants and those reliant on a dwindling flow of remittances desperately seek work to support their families, a new UN report has warned.