Reading Time: 1 minute Rome | Reuters — World food prices rose slightly in April, up for the third month in a row but they remained almost 10 per cent lower than a year earlier, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket […] Read more
World food prices edge up in April
FAO seeks help for drought-ravaged Ethiopia
Reading Time: < 1 minute Rome | Reuters — Ethiopia faces its worst drought in decades, leading the United Nations’ food agency to call on Friday for an emergency cash injection of US$50 million to help the country overcome the crisis. Crop production has fallen up to 90 per cent in some regions and failed completely in the country’s east, […] Read more
El Nino strengthening, to be among biggest on record: WMO
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — The El Nino weather pattern, a phenomenon associated with extreme droughts, storms and floods, is expected to strengthen before the end of the year and become one of the strongest on record, the United Nations’ weather agency said Monday. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said this El Nino was already “strong […] Read more
Pulses: Pulse Australia recruits top scientist
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada –– Following are a few highlights in the Canadian and world pulse markets on Wednesday morning, Oct. 14. • Pulse Australia has announced that world-renowned agronomist Paul McIntosh, who has vast experience working with crops in Queensland, will be joining their organization. • Due to rising pulse prices in India, the government says […] Read more
Youth Ag-Summit: Two to represent at UN meeting
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two delegates from the 2015 Youth Ag-Summit will be jetting to Rome in October to take part in a meeting of the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security. Australia’s Laura Grubb and Kenya’s Samba Ouma were selected from 80 nominees. Ouma and Grubb are now charged with presenting the Canberra Youth Ag Declaration — […] Read more
Number of hungry people worldwide drops below 800M, U.N. says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rome | Thomson Reuters Foundation –– The number of people in the world still going to bed hungry 15 years after the U.N. placed eradicating hunger and extreme poverty at the top of its Millennium Development Goals has dropped to 795 million, according to a report released on Wednesday. The report by three U.N. agencies […] Read more
World food prices fall in January, rally seen unlikely
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rome | Reuters — World food prices are unlikely to rise much from their four-year slump as long as high production, low oil prices and limited import demand continue, a senior economist for the United Nations’ food agency said Thursday. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) global food price index fell in January, continuing […] Read more
Food diversity under siege from global warming, UN says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rome | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Climate change threatens the genetic diversity of the world’s food supply, and saving crops and animals at risk will be crucial for preserving yields and adapting to wild weather patterns, a United Nations policy paper said on Monday. Certain wild crops — varieties not often cultivated by today’s farmers […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
