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UN agency seeks urgent response to “alarming” spread in Asia-Pacific bird flu

Beijing, China Reuters The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization on Thursday called for an urgent and unified response to an “alarming” rise in avian influenza in humans and animals across the Asia-Pacific. The H5N1 virus has spread more widely than ever before, reaching as far as South America and Antarctica and infecting new species […]

Brazil sees over 100 countries joining alliance against hunger, minister says

Brasilia, Brazil Reuters More than 100 countries are expected to back a global alliance against hunger that Brazil has proposed to counter the increasing number of people going hungry in the world, a Brazilian minister said. Minister of Social Development Wellington Dias told Reuters in an interview on Thursday he will travel to the United […]

Aquafarming becomes main global source for fish, UN food agency says

Rome, Italy Reuters For the first time farmed aquatic production has exceeded the catch from traditional captured fisheries, the UN food and agriculture agency said on Friday, underscoring hopes that aquaculture can meet growing global demand for seafood. In its latest biennial report on the state of world fisheries, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization […]

Nearly 55 million people face hunger in West and Central Africa

Dakar. Senegal Reuters Soaring prices have helped fuel a food crisis in West and Central Africa, where nearly 55 million people will struggle to feed themselves in the coming months, UN humanitarian agencies warned on Friday. The number facing hunger during the June-August lean season has quadrupled over the last five years, they said, noting […]

Surging bird flu outbreaks raise human-infection risk, UN agencies warn

A South African National Parks ranger monitors a group of African penguins at Cape Town's famous Boulders penguin colony, a popular tourist attraction and an important breeding site which which are suffering an outbreak of avian flu in Cape Town, South Africa, on 27th September, 2022.

Reuters Three UN agencies on Wednesday warned that an ongoing rise in avian flu outbreaks globally raised concerns that the virus might adapt to infect humans more easily, and urged countries to strengthen disease surveillance and improve hygiene at poultry farms.  A South African National Parks ranger monitors a group of African penguins at Cape […]

West Africa faces acute food shortages with thousands near famine, say UN agencies

General view shows the submerged red sorghum field after heavy rain in Kournari village, on the outskirts of Ndjamena, Chad, on 26th October, 2022.

Dakar, Senegal Reuters Forty-eight million people in West and Central Africa face acute food insecurity in the coming months, a 10-year high spurred by insecurity, climate shocks, COVID-19 and high prices, United Nations humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday. West and Central Africa has faced increasing risks caused by higher temperatures and erratic rainfall. War in […]

World food prices hit record high in 2022

Russia Rostov harvesters

Paris, France Reuters A surge in the cost of most food commodities last year, as the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raised concerns of shortages, sent the UN food agency’s average price index to the highest level on record. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which tracks international prices of the […]

Dying lands: Farmers fight to save the “skin of the Earth”

China Jiangxi crops

ROD NICKEL, AYENAT MERSIE, DAVID STANWAY and XIAOYU YIN, of Reuters, report on how human efforts to preserve soil are proving no match for increasingly extreme weather, which is damaging the living system and depleting its ability to produce food…