Five months after the beginning of the desert locust upsurge in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen, and four months since the launch of the response plan (24 January 2020) a total of USD 130 million have been mobilized in the region.
As described in the recently published Food and Agriculture Org...anization of the United Nations (FAO) quarterly report (January to April 2020), a lot has been achieved already, thanks to generous contributions from resource partners and affected governments.
But bringing a desert locust upsurge under control and mitigating its impact on livelihoods and food security requires a prolonged effort and numerous factors could influence the duration and magnitude of the problem, including the widespread presence of COVID-19.
more
Educational materials (slide presentations) from FAO covering important biosecurity aspects in poultry farms
Poster - Handle Antibiotica with care
As the number of transboundary pest and animal and foodborne disease outbreaks rises, so does the number of people who are chronically hungry due to these and other factors. The correlation can be explained by the link between our health and that of the planet. We rely on land and sea for the produc...tion of safe and quality foods for our daily nourishment. Pests and disease epidemics negatively impact the quality, quantity and safety of our food sources, and cripple economic growth and efficiencies in production. Furthermore, the epidemic and endemic levels of the pathogens and disease vectors can be difficult to control. This is why FAO stresses and promotes the special efforts required for cost-effective preventive measures rather than the more expensive control, disinfestation, treatment and disposal measures. When preventive measures are late or difficult, preparedness and contingency plans must be in place to enable rapid response. Early warning systems, based on close monitoring, surveillance, and timely reporting are fundamental to warn and empower communities to safeguard their livelihoods and assets by enhancing disease and pest prevention measures and for government services to take immediate measures to protect communities and national economies.
more
Educational materials (slide presentations) from FAO covering important biosecurity aspects in poultry farms
Guidance to implement the Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises (CFS-FFA) | Background Note
Since the introduction of penicillin in the early twentieth century, antimicrobial treatments have been utilized not only in human medicine but also in veterinary care – initially to ward off diseases, prevent post-surgery infections, and treat sick farm animals.Global food production... has intensified over the past 50 years due to economic expansion and popu-lation growth. The use of antimicrobials in agriculture – in livestock, fish farming, and even on crops – has grown as well. Antimicrobials are not only used as medicines, but are sometimes also added in low concentrations to animal feed as a way of stimulating growth.
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) both in human and veterinary medicine has reached alarming levels in
most parts of the world and has now been recognized as a significant emerging threat to global public
health and food security. In June 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nati...ons
(FAO) passed a resolution on AMR at its governing
Conference. This followed the adoption of counterpart
resolutions on AMR by The World Organisation
for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) in May 20152, and marked the
beginning of a joint effort by the three organizations
to combat AMR globally.
more
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 objectives 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.
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global human, animal, plant and environment health threat that needs to be addressed by every country. The impacts of AMR are wide-ranging in terms of human health, animal health, food security and safety, environmental effects on ecosystems and biodiversity, and ...socioeconomic development. Just like the climate crisis, AMR poses a significant threat to the delivery of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The response to the AMR crisis has been spearheaded through the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance (GAP-AMR), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, in close collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and formally endorsed by the three organizations’ governing bodies and by the Political Declaration of the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on AMR in 2016. In 2022, the three organizations officially became the Quadripartite by welcoming the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) into the alliance “to accelerate coordination strategy on human, animal and ecosystem health”.
The aim of the GAP-AMR is to ensure the continuity of successful treatment with effective and safe medicines.
Its strategic objectives include:
• improving the awareness and understanding of AMR;
• strengthening the knowledge and evidence base through surveillance and research;
• reducing the incidence of infection through effective sanitation, hygiene and infection prevention measures; optimizing the use of antimicrobial medicines in human and animal health; and
• developing the economic case for sustainable investment that takes account of the needs of all countries and increasing investment in new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines and other interventions.
With the adoption of the GAP-AMR, countries agreed to develop national action plans (NAPs) aligned with the GAP-AMR to mainstream AMR interventions nationally. Individually, the Quadripartite took action to advance AMR interventions in their respective sectors. FAO adopted a resolution on AMR recognizing that it poses an increasingly serious threat to public health and sustainable food production, and developed an AMR action plan to support the resolution’s implementation. For its part, WOAH developed a strategy on AMR aligned with the GAP-AMR, acknowledging the importance of a One Health approach to AMR. Similarly, more recently, UNEP’s governing body, the United Nations Environment Assembly, recognized that AMR is a current and increasing threat and a challenge to global health, food security and the sustainable development of all countries, and welcomed the GAP-AMR and the NAPs developed in accordance with its five overarching strategic objectives
more
The monograph contained in this volume was prepared following the ninety-third meeting of the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which met virtually online from 24 March–1 April 2022. This ...monograph summarizes the data on the contaminant group trichothecenes T-2 and HT-2 toxins reviewed by the Committee. A monograph on the other features of this contaminant group, which were discussed at a previous meeting in 2001, are published in WHO Food Additives Series 47.
more
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has launched a new Compendium of forgotten foods in Africa which is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive collection of 100 African forgotten food crops.
Also referred to as neglected, underutilized or orphan crops, these species offer valua...ble benefits, including nutrition and diet diversification, while supporting resilient, climate-smart agriculture but they are at risk of being lost as foods such as maize, rice and wheat dominate African diets.
The compendium list includes details on each crop's botanical classification, agroecological suitability, agronomic requirements, traditional and medicinal uses, value-added prospects and nutritional content. Among the entries are: African locust beans, African nightshade, baobab, Bambara nut, bush mango, cassava, fonio, marula, moringa, teff and tigernut.
Produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s Regional Office for Africa with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Compendium is a direct response to the UN Food Systems Summit and the Call for Collective Action in the Global Manifesto on Forgotten Foods.
Embracing both agricultural heritage and innovation can transform agrifood systems across Africa. By cataloguing these forgotten or underutilized crops, traditional knowledge is being honoured in the push to unlock the potential for better nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and resilience against the climate crisis.
In a joint foreword to the publication, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel and FARA Executive Director Aggrey Agumya urged the mainstreaming of forgotten foods into African agrifood systems.
more
Unlike foot and mouth disease, the avian flu, e-coli or listeria, the COVID-19 pandemic has not spread directly through livestock or agriculture commodities, and has therefore not directly disrupted on-farm production. However, the crisis is undermining the ability of farms and agri-enterprises to e...nsure consistent supplies of food to markets due to enforced closures, labour shortages resulting from illness, and slowdowns in operations caused by physical distancing and lockdowns.
more
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health concern and a food safety issue. When pathogens become resistant to antimicrobial agents they can pose a greater human health risk as a result of potential treatment failure, loss of treatment options and increased likelihood and severi...ty of disease.
more
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched a new Framework for Environmental and Social Management (FESM) to ensure that both people and the environment are protected from any potential impacts of FAO programmes and projects.
“This Framework ensures that our proj...ects do both “no harm” and support the transformation to more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems by upholding the highest international standards for risk management,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu explained during a virtual event.
The Framework, which includes key elements of a people-centered approach and establishes environmental and social performance requirements for FAO programming, is also intended to ensure that all stakeholders, including local and indigenous communities, have ample opportunities to actively participate in projects’ activities and to voice their concerns about them.
more
This document outlines the FAO Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2021–2025 which serves as a roadmap for focusing global efforts to address AMR in the food and agriculture sectors. The aim of this plan is to help accelerate progress in developing and implementing multi-sectoral National Acti...on Plans to tackle AMR by calling attention to strategic priorities and areas of expertise for FAO support.
Available in English, Arabic, Russian, French, Spanish, Chinese
more
How to prevent the pork tapeworm? A neglected parasitic infection caused by Taenia solium - A neglected parasitic infection caused by Taenia solium. Available in different languages
The Climate-Smart Agriculture Sourcebook draws together a wide range of knowledge and expertise on the concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) to better guide policy makers, programme managers, sectoral experts, academics, extensionists, as well as practitioners to make the agricultural sectors (...crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry) more sustainable and productive, while responding to the challenges of climate change and food security.
This new fully revised digital platform edition of the CSA Sourcebook reflects new scientific insights as well as valuable CSA implementation experience obtained since the publication of the first edition. Five new modules were added: Climate change adaptation and mitigation, Integrated production systems, Supporting rural producers with knowledge of Climate-Smart Agriculture, The role of Gender in Climate-Smart Agriculture, and The theory of change for the CSA approach: a guide to evidence-based implementation at the country level.
more