More than just a textile, cotton is a culture and a way of life for hundreds of millions of households worldwide. Cotton creates jobs and incomes for millions at the heart of the supply chain. 80% of cotton is used in the apparel sector, but all parts of the cotton plant can be used to produce food, feed, and energy. Cotton's diverse uses create high-value opportunities for smallholders, women, and young people - boosting livelihoods and contributing to food security. Watch the video to find out how and its partners help the cotton industry to thrive.
In Syria after years of conflict, 12 million people are food insecure. Goodwill Ambassador George Stroumboulopoulos visited the country in September to see what life is like for people wrestling with unrelenting crises for all this time. In Aleppo he met Ghufran, a former Taekwondo champ, who said her martial arts training helps combat hard times. Ghufran took on cleaning, cooking, and tutoring jobs, to make a living for herself and her three children. But last year as economic downturn led to skyrocketing prices across the country, Ghufran鈥檚 income fell short of making ends meet. She turned to WFP, which provides monthly food assistance for families like Ghufran鈥檚. Find out more about Ghufran鈥檚 .
Maher Dallah is originally a woodworker, but he wasn鈥檛 a complete stranger to bees and hives. Before he went into the business, his grandfather taught him how to make traditional beehives from clay. Maher built on his carpentry skills with help from 鈥檚 programme entitled Nabta (the Arabic word for seedling. Through Nabta, FAO supports young people in their entrepreneurial initiatives in agriculture and agriculture-related sectors. Participants get general training on agriculture and business. Investing in youth is vital to ensure the future of Syria鈥檚 agricultural sector.
Soil nutrient loss is among the most critical problems for food security and sustainability all around the globe. If not managed sustainably, fertility is lost, and soils will produce nutrient-deficient plants. Over the last 70 years, nutrients in food have decreased, and 2 billion people worldwide suffer from a lack of micronutrients. World Soil Day 2022 (5 December) and its campaign 鈥溾 seek to emphasize the current challenges in soil that could threaten our ecosystems and human well-being. Get the message across with the many and .
Carp was once the 鈥淜ing of Lake Shkod毛r鈥. Found in abundance in the largest inland body of water in the Balkan Peninsula, carp was a lifeline for fishers and their communities for generations. Lakeshore development, pollution, climate change and overfishing have taken a heavy toll on the lake鈥檚 biodiversity, including carp and other fish stocks, and that鈥檚 affected the lives and livelihoods of those who depend on them. Now around 420 fishers are taking part in an FAO initiative to improve sustainable fishing practices and rebuild breeding stocks by using aquaculture-based practices.
Have you ever wondered why some communities today constantly face extreme hunger? There鈥檚 a common saying that goes: 鈥淕ive a person a fish and they will have dinner for the night but teach them to fish and they鈥檒l never have to worry about food again鈥. It sounds easy enough, but what happens in the event of a disaster? What if the lake dries up? How do small-scale food producers survive emergencies? Watch this video to find out.
The shows that the price inflation remains high on domestic food around the world. July to October 2022 shows high inflation in almost all low-income and middle-income countries.
In recent decades, the violence has left millions of Colombians internally displaced. A peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in 2016 marked a significant watershed. Yet six years on, displacement has continued, leaving 7.35 million people in the country still in need of food security assistance. But at least for the villagers of Cedro, daily life recently has had a calmer and more normal feel to it. A project by helps provide for the villagers鈥 food and livelihood needs and get them on a path back to normal life.
Due to the devasting fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Sahar and her husband were among the young Gazans left with an income barely allowing them to get by. They could scarcely keep their family business afloat. Today, their products are quickly snapped up by local residents across the Gaza Strip. Sahar鈥檚 fortunes changed dramatically last year thanks to a joint UN initiative to mitigate the pandemic鈥檚 impact on women entrepreneurs. Targeting small and medium businesses, the programme rolled out by the and four sister UN agencies, developed the skills and capacities of 40 women-led agribusinesses in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Find out more about the programme .
Heatwaves, droughts, floods, and storms are increasing in intensity and frequency and impacting people鈥檚 ability to feed their families. As world leaders prepare to meet in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for the UN Climate Change Conference (), is calling on world leaders to act swiftly to help millions of people facing rising hunger and famine. The UN agency is urging global leaders to invest in systems that predict climate hazards and provide physical and financial protection to the most vulnerable. It is calling on world leaders to invest in climate action in communities in fragile contexts and to transform food systems. about the coordinated action needed to tackle the climate crisis.
The food we eat and how we produce it is evolving. explains what our plates might look like in the future and explore how the world鈥檚 small-scale farmers are revolutionizing what we eat.
A recent shows how the Black Sea Grain Initiative, effected to resume exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea amid the ongoing war, has offered hope and shown the power of trade in times of crisis. The report underlines why it鈥檚 critical to renew the initiative next month. Thanks to the initiative, port activity in Ukraine is picking up and large shipments of grain are reaching world markets. The total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported through the initiative had reached almost 8 million metric tons.
The shrinking value of the currencies of most developing economies is driving up food and fuel prices in ways that could deepen the food and energy crises already faced by many, according to the 鈥檚 latest Commodity Markets Outlook report. Because of currency depreciations, almost 60 percent of oil-importing emerging-market and developing economies saw an increase in domestic oil prices, even as prices decline in U.S. dollar terms.
Indigenous women like this Ecuadoran farmer have precious ancestral knowledge about growing and using traditional foods. They are the backbone of their families and communities 鈥 and make up roughly one-eighth of Latin America鈥檚 rural population. Even more crucially, perhaps, they keep and transmit precious ancestral knowledge on growing and using traditional foods, whose importance is only now being recognized. Yet the vital role the region鈥檚 Indigenous rural women play in their communities and society is very seldom acknowledged, much less celebrated. helps to support Indigenous rural women to overcome historic barriers, fully harness the ancestral wisdom they carry, and contribute on an equal footing to the life of their communities.
Innovative technologies can help us make our agrifood systems become more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. One such 鈥渘ew kid on the block鈥 is blockchain technology.