Countries have shut down the economy to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now. But a protracted pandemic crisi s could quickly put a strai n on the f ood supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultu...ral inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more. The shipping industry is already reporting slowdowns because of port closures, and logistics hurd les could disrupt the supply chains in coming weeks.
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Presently, there is no evidence that the virus responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic is carried by domestic food-producing animals, such as chickens, ducks, other poultry, pigs, cattle, camels, horses, sheep, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs or fish. While live animals can be a source of pathogen...s, all types of food can potentially be contaminated through contact with contaminated equipment, surfaces or environments. Proper cleaning and the prevention of cross-contamination are critical in the control of foodborne illnesses. The application of sound principles of environmental sanitation, personal hygiene and established food safety practices will reduce the likelihood that harmful pathogens will threaten the safety of the food supply, regardless of whether the food is sourced from intensive agriculture, small stakeholders or wildlife.
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The animal health subsector within the agriculture sector is the gatekeeper of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in livestock, aquaculture, animal products, and the immediate animal environment. In support of member countries taking responsibility for and moving forward with putting AMR monitoring and ...surveillance in place for the animal sector, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO-RAP) developed a regional AMR surveillance framework, each pillar of which is complemented by a guideline to reinforce its progressive implementation. The first of this series, Volume 1: Monitoring and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria from healthy food animals intended for consumption, is centered on healthy animals reaching consumers and on the protection of public health.
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The global tripartite self-assessment survey of country progress in addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a component of a broader approach for monitoring and evaluation of the global action plan on AMR. This report analyses the results of the second tripartite self-assessment survey. It has ...been developed and run by the three Tripartite organizations (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and World Health Organization (WHO)) and reflects progress in the human, animal (terrestrial and aquatic), plant, food safety and environmental sectors. 154 countries out of 194 WHO Member States responded to this round of the self-assessment survey – a response rate of 79.4%.
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The Global Early Warning – Early Action (EWEA) report on food security and agriculture is developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The report is part of FAO’s EWEA system, which aims to translate forecasts and early warnings into anticipatory action.
The Global Early Warning – Early Action (EWEA) report on food security and agriculture is developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The report is part of FAO’s EWEA system, which aims to translate forecasts and early warnings into anticipatory action.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to human and animal health and refers to the ability of microorganisms to defy the medicines prescribed. For instance when antibiotics are used improperly, such as an incorrect dose, insufficient duration or wrong frequency, resistance is heightened. The mi...suse of antimicrobials affects their efficacy, and increasingly more infections and diseases become untreatable. Many gains made in modern medicine throughout the 20th century will be lost, making AMR a global public and animal health issue that requires concerted action. AMR and the use of antimicrobials (AMU) affect food safety and security, people’s livelihoods, as well as economic and agricultural development.
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World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & World Organisation for Animal Health. (2021). Antimicrobial resistance and the United Nations sustainable development cooperation framework: guidance for United Nations country teams. World Health Organization
At its 48th session of Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), the Committee noted the importance of water quality and safety in food production and processing. CCFH requested the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide guidan...ce for those scenarios where the use of “clean water” (i.e. water that does not compromise the safety of the food in the context of its use) was indicated in Codex texts and on
where it is appropriate to use “clean water”. In particular, guidance was sought for the use of irrigation water and “clean” seawater and on the safe reuse of processing water.
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The GAP articulates five objectives for tackling AMR, and sets out the tasks required to achieve them, highlighting
roles and responsibilities for country governments, the One Health Tripartite organizations (FAO, OIE and WHO) and other national and international partners. To ensure that all stakeh...olders assume their roles and responsibilities, and to assess whether they are collectively effecting the necessary change in AMR, the implementation of the GAP needs to be routinely monitored and evaluated. To that end, the Tripartite organizations co-developed a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for the GAP, as outlined in this document
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English Analysis on World about Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment and more; published on 29 Sep 2021 by FAO and NEPAD
The One Health (OH) High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) of the Quadripartite Organizations defined OH as an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems.”
It recognizes the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plan...ts, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and interdependent [1]. The Tripartite which comprised the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) later became the Quadripartite organizations when the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) joined the OH alliance in 2022. There are Global and Regional Quadripartite Secretariats consisting of officials of headquarters and regional offices, respectively.
Over the years, the Tripartite/Quadripartite organizations and other partner agencies have developed several OH assessment and operational tools to support Member States in assessing their core capacities to achieve compliance with the requirements of international standards such as the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR), WOAH’s Terrestrial and Aquatic Animal Health Codes, World Trade Organization’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (WTO-SPS), FAO/WHO Codex standards, etc. Technical areas that the existing tools currently support include progress monitoring, coordination and collaboration mechanisms, and capacity building for prevention, detection, preparedness, and response to health threats emerging at human-animal-environment interface. More OH B operational tools are in the pipeline.
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This document provides additional guidance for the responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals, and should be read in conjunction with the Recommended International Code of Practice for Control of the Use of Veterinary Drugs CAC/RCP 38-1993. Its obj...ectives are to minimize the potential adverse impact on public health resulting from the use of antimicrobial agents in food-producing animals, in particular the development of antimicrobial resistance. It is also important to provide for the safe and effective use of veterinary antimicrobial drugs in veterinary medicine by maintaining their efficacy. This document defines the respective responsibilities of authorities and groups involved in the authorization, production, control, distribution and use of veterinary antimicrobials such as the national regulatory authorities, the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, veterinarians, distributors and producers of food-producing animals.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has put significant pressure on health systems all around the world. The drastic measures established to contain its spread are creating serious impediments to economic activity (including agrifood systems) and, consequently, to livelihoods and food security and nutrition.
Infographic: Preventing and controlling neglected parasitic zoonoses: a key role for the animal health sector
The One Health definition developed by the OHHLEP
This report sets out the compelling case for repurposing harmful agricultural producer support to reverse this situation, by optimizing the use of scarce public resources, strengthening economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and ultimately driving a food systems transformation that can suppor...t global sustainable development commitments.
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A new reportshows that people in some 25 countries are set to face devasting levels of hunger in coming months due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the greatest concentration of need is in Africa, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the Middle East and Asia – inclu...ding middle-income countries - are also being ravaged by crippling levels of food insecurity
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