Green and Social Democrat (SPD) politicians in Germany say the 7% sales tax (VAT) rate on meat should be raised to 19% to help curb global warming and fund animal welfare improvements.
Family farmers have an important role in the global fight to end hunger and promote a healthy diet, according to the President of the United Nations General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) states that, in a context in which almost one million plants and animal species are endangered by the impact of man, traditional agriculture can make a contribution essential to safeguard agricultural biodiversity.
Uruguay formally announced it will support China's Agriculture and Rural Affairs deputy minister as the next Director-General of FAO to be elected June 2019. The official statement was made by Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa during a meeting with China's Deputy Prime Minister Hu Chunhua in Montevideo.
Zoonotic diseases continue to be a threat to global health, causing millions of deaths and economic losses every year. To support countries to control these diseases, the Tripartite organizations (FAO, OIE and WHO) launched a guide entitled ‘Taking a Multisectoral, One Health Approach: A Tripartite Guide to Addressing Zoonotic Diseases in Countries’.
Global food prices began the year on a buoyant note, as the FAO Food Price Index averaged 164.8 points in January 2019, up 1.8 percent from the previous month. A sharp rebound in dairy price quotations and firmer prices of palm and soy oils drove the increase, the United Nations agency said today.
The United Nations FAO has raised its forecast for global cereal production in 2018 to 2.601 million tons, primarily due to higher estimates for wheat production in Canada and China. Nonetheless, the new forecast remains 2.1 percent below the record level achieved in 2017.
International food commodity prices dipped in October, as falling dairy, meat and vegetable oils prices more than offset a surge in sugar prices, the United Nations said. The FAO Food Price Index, a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities, averaged 163.5 points in October, down 0.9 percent from September and 7.4 percent below its level a year earlier.
FAO Goodwill Ambassadors for Nutrition, the King of Lesotho and Queen Letizia of Spain will be joined by the UN Rome-based Agency Heads and other key players in the effort to achieve Zero Hunger at the global World Food Day ceremony held at FAO Headquarters in Rome on 16 October.
Global agricultural food commodity prices fell in September due to growing inventories of key staples. The FAO Food Price Index declined 1.4% from August and is now 7.4% below its level during September 2017.
The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reaffirmed today at an event held in Rome their commitment to jointly address the challenges they share at the global level, such as stopping the increase in hunger, promote prosperity and peace, and build a more sustainable future for all.