High-level delegations of fisheries ministries from more than 50 countries are gathering in Agadir, Morocco for a summit with industry players to discuss emerging governance needs in a sector that provides the world with 17% of its animal protein and developing countries with more export revenue than meat, tobacco, rice and sugar combined.
Weather patterns associated with El Niño are sending mixed signals about the early prospects for cereal crops in 2016, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, according to FAO's Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, released on Thursday.
Prices of major food commodities declined for the fourth year in a row in 2015, averaging 19.1% below their previous-year's levels, as the dwindling global economy also triggered sharp price falls from metals to energy markets.
The United Nations 68th General Assembly declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses (IYP) and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) has been nominated to facilitate the implementation of the Year in collaboration with Governments, relevant organizations, non-governmental organizations and all other relevant stakeholders.
Major food commodity prices fell in November, reversing about half their rise in the previous month, as the cost of internationally-traded staples, except for sugar, fell across the board. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 156.7 points in November, down 1.6 percent from its revised October average, and 18% below its value a year earlier.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged nearly 162 points in October, up 3.9% from September, while still down 16% from a year earlier. FAO's latest Cereal supply and Demand Brief slightly trimmed its October 2015 forecast for global cereal production and now projects production at 2.53 billion tons, 1.1% below last year's record output
International food commodity prices continued to decline in August as ample supplies, a slump in energy prices and concerns over China's economic slowdown all contributed to the sharpest fall of the FAO Food Price Index in almost seven years.
The world's forests continue to shrink as populations increase and forest land is converted to agriculture and other uses, but over the past 25 years the rate of net global deforestation has slowed down by more than 50%, FAO said in a report published on Tuesday.
Prices for major food commodities in July hit their lowest average monthly level since September 2009 as sharp drops in the prices of dairy products and vegetable oils more than offset some increases for those of sugar and cereals. Meat prices, meanwhile, remained stable.
A growing number of countries are ratifying an international agreement to combat illegal fishing, fueling interest in how best to implement the instrument. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to strip between $10 billion and $23 billion from the global economy, and their impacts undermine the way fish stocks are managed to make it a double concern around the world.