A full 90 percent of the Earth's topsoil is likely to be at risk by 2050, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN. To protect soil globally and help farmers, the UN agency Wednesday said the equivalent of one soccer pitch of earth erodes every five seconds. It also takes around a thousand years to create just a few centimetres of topsoil and to help restore lands. So, the UN agency is calling for more action by countries and partners who signed up to the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) over the last decade. The five key actions that the FAO called for tasked civilians, governments and international institutions with taking greater action to monitor and care for the soil. Also read: Most vulnerable now paying more for less food: FAO One achievement of the GSP has been the partnership with farmers and local governments to enhance soil health. Programmes were initiated to improve the amount of organic matter in the soil by adopting practices such as using cover crops, crop rotation and agroforestry, the FAO said. Costa Rica and Mexico signed up to these pilot schemes and trained farmers in the use of best practices which included using cover crops that prevent erosion, crop rotation and tree planting. Also, the GSP expanded data collection in the form of digital soil mapping. This technology informs policymakers of relevant soil conditions and empowers them to make informed decisions on managing soil degradation. Campaigns, such as International Year of Soils and World Soil Day were designed to raise youth awareness of soils and increase participation in preventing further degradation. Also read: FAO keen to work for modernisation of agriculture sector While the work of the GSP represents the efforts of non-state partners to promote sustainable soil practices, state policymakers are necessary actors in implementing a sustainable soil policy, the FAO said.

Healthy plants have the power to help end hunger, cut poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). But even though plants make up 80 percent of the food people eat, and provide 98 percent of the oxygen they breathe, threats to their survival are piling up. According to recent data, up to 40 percent of food crops are lost due to plant pests and diseases every year, and this affects both food security and agriculture, the main source of income for vulnerable rural communities. Read: Rising incomes more harmful to environment than population growth: UN report Climate change and human activities are also altering ecosystems and damaging biodiversity while creating new niches for pests to thrive in. Also, protecting plants from pests and diseases is far more cost-effective than dealing with plant health emergencies. This is because once established, plant pests and diseases are often difficult to eradicate, and need to be controlled through sustainable pest and pesticide management, FAO says. On the first International Day of Plant Health Thursday, the UN agency called for more investment in innovation to boost food security, especially for the billions worldwide living close to the bread line. Read: Urban noise pollution, wildfires among biggest emerging environmental threats: UN It called on governments to prioritise plant health and its sustainable management in formulating policies and legislation, and on academia and research institutions to deliver science-based solutions. "We need to continue raising the global profile of plant health to transform agri-food systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable," said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, adding that investments are needed in research to find more resilient and sustainable additions to the human diet.

Bangladesh sees no food crisis coming as a fall-out of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque on Wednesday. “The stocks of food grains and production which we have now won't have any major problems. There will be no food crisis,” said the minister while talking to the reporters after a meeting with Qu Dongyu, secretary general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in Dhaka. Regarding hike in commodity prices, Razzaque said people have to suffer a little because of the international market. “We will have a big harvest season in April. I hope there will be no problem.” The minister further said the price of coarse rice in Cox’s Bazar is not rising. The price has been within Tk 40-42 for the last one and a half months. Read: FAO Asia-Pacific regional conference to kick off in Dhaka Tuesday But, the price of fine rice is going up as there is a real shortage, he added. “People's income has increased. And so, the tendency of people to eat fine rice has increased,” the minister said. “But we are providing assistance to the poor.”

The 36th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC) of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), hosted by Bangladesh  for the first time, will begin on Tuesday. The 4-day conference will be held in a hybrid format, said Agriculture Minister Dr. Mohammad Abdur Razzaque at a press conference at the Secretariat on Monday. He said the conference will continue till Friday. According to the Agriculture Ministry, the main session of the conference will be held at the InterContinental Dhaka while the opening ceremony and country showcasing at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center. Also read: Covid-19 pandemic swells number of hungry by more than 50 mn in Asia-Pacific: FAO-UNICEF Report The meetings of senior government officials, agriculture secretaries and senior government officials will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday and minister-level meetings will be held on Thursday and Friday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the minister-level meeting on Thursday. The Agriculture Minister said, “It is a glorious moment for us. We want to showcase our capabilities to the world by organising this conference successfully, so that other international organizations become interested in hosting conferences in Bangladesh in future," he said. The current state of food and agriculture in Asia and the Pacific, what need to be done to develop climate-tolerant agriculture and food system in the region, accelerating  the digitisation of agriculture value chain, prioritizing one-health approach, and economic cooperation and joint investment during Covid pandemic- will come up for discussion at the conference, said the minister at the briefing. Apart from agriculture ministers and secretaries from 46 countries in Asia and the Pacific, top officials of government and non-government organizations will also take part in it. Representatives of 43 member states, the Director General of the FAO, representatives of various UN bodies, development partners, NGOs and civil society have already registered to take part in it, said Dr Razzaque. Also read: FAO launches training for nutrition master trainers The first FAO Asia-Pacific regional conference was held in Bangalore of India in 1953. Bangladesh joined the organization in 1973.

Four million Afghans are facing “a food emergency” and the majority live in rural areas where $36 million is urgently needed for the coming months to ensure the planting of winter wheat, feed for livestock, and cash assistance for vulnerable families, the elderly and disabled, a U.N. official said Tuesday. Rein Paulsen, director of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience, told reporters at U.N. headquarters in a video briefing from Kabul that 70% of Afghans live in rural areas and there is a severe drought affecting 7.3 million Afghans in 25 of the country’s 34 provinces. These vulnerable rural communities have also been hit by the pandemic, he said. Paulsen said 4 million Afghans are facing a humanitarian emergency, characterized by “extreme gaps in food consumption, very high levels of acute malnutrition and excess mortality.” He said agriculture is “indispensable” to the Afghan population. He said it accounts for just over 25% of the country's GDP, directly employs some 45% of the work force, “and most importantly it provides livelihood benefits for fully 80% of the Afghan population.” Read:AKDN urges international community not to abandon Afghanistan Many vulnerable families rely on livestock for food, he said, but 3 million animals are at risk as a result of the drought leaving inadequate pasture. Paulsen said the winter wheat planting season -- the most important in Afghanistan -- is threatened by “challenges of the cash and banking system” as well as challenges to markets and agricultural items. Since the Taliban takeover on Aug. 15, fears have grown that Afghanistan could face economic collapse. Many banks have been closed, those that are open have limited cash withdrawals, and prices for staples have increased. “More than half of Afghans’ daily calorific intake comes from wheat,” Paulsen said. “The crop is simply indispensable in food security terms” and farmers must start to plant now. “FAO has resources in place to support an extra 1.25 million Afghans but much more is needed,” he said. “The seeds can’t wait, the farmers can’t wait. This window is requiring an urgent scale and support for donors now.” He said the FAO’s package of wheat, fertilizer and support for a single farmer costs $150. “For $150 a family of seven Afghans will produce 1.2 million tons of wheat -- they’ll produce enough wheat to give them cereal and flour for an entire 12-month period,” Paulsen said. That $150 is “incredibly impactful, very cost effective — and again, (it) underscores why it’s imperative that we don’t miss this winter wheat season,” he added. Read: Qatar supports shipment of WHO life-saving medical supplies to Afghanistan He also said more than 400,000 Afghans are displaced from their homes, mainly from rural areas, “and those numbers are rising.” He said keeping farmers in their fields and herders with their flocks is critical to preventing a deepening displacement crisis. If agriculture collapses further, Paulson warned, it will drive up malnutrition, increase displacement and worsen the humanitarian situation. FAO in 2021 has supported nearly 2 million Afghans with livelihood and cash assistance, Paulsen said. He said the $36 million that the FAO needs urgently for the winter farming season was part of the U.N.’s emergency appeal for $606 million. At a conference in Geneva on Monday, donors pledged $1.2 billion — double the amount sought, which Paulsen called encouraging. FAO hopes the pledges will fully fund the $36 million needed, but Paulsen noted that they are only promises for now and donors need to quickly provide the cash.

Bangladesh has been elected member of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Council from the Asia Region for the term 2022-2024. The result came from the 42nd Session of the UN Agency participated by 183 member states, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.  Read:FAO lauds Hasina's leadership in attaining food security in Bangladesh This comes at a time when Bangladesh is going to host the 36th Asia and the Pacific FAO Regional Conference (APRC) from March 8-11, 2022 in Dhaka which is expected to be attended by ministerial-level delegates from 46 member countries of the region. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has agreed to inaugurate the conference to be hosted by Bangladesh for the first time. Read: Bangladesh to host FAO Asia Pacific Regional Conference in 2022 Bangladesh, with other Council members, will now lead the organization at both policy and executive levels in deciding and advising on matters pertaining to the implementation of programmes and budget execution, monitoring of activities under the new results-based framework, monitoring of implementation of governance decisions and oversight of the administration of the organization for three years. The Bangladesh Embassy in Rome actively worked to obtain support in favour of Bangladesh. Read:Undernourished people likely to be increased up to 132 mn this year: FAO The ongoing 42nd Session of the FAO Conference, held on a virtual platform from the Headquarters of FAO in Rome, is being attended by an eight-member Bangladesh delegation led by Agricultural Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, which also includes Agricultural Senior Secretary Md Mesbahul Islam and Bangladesh Ambassador and Permanent Representative to FAO Md Shameem Ahsan.          FAO is the specialised agency of the UN that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.

Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO), has highly appreciated the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in attaining food security for 165 million people of Bangladesh despite being one of the top 10 most populous countries in the world.  He shared his deep appreciation during a ceremony marking the presentation of Letter of Credence by Md Shameem Ahsan, Bangladesh Ambassador to Italy, accrediting him as the Permanent Representative to FAO held in Rome recently.  “We can learn a lot from Bangladesh because their solutions are very economic, easy to adapt,” said the FAO Director-General. Read: Campaign on right to food, health launched Ambassador and PR Ahsan thanked DG Dongyu for receiving the credentials and also for sharing his candid analysis on recent attainments of Bangladesh.  He assured fullest support to the leadership of the DG to make the organisation more efficient, transparent and inclusive.  Recognising FAO’s valuable contributions to Bangladesh on food and nutrition security, food safety, agro environment, small holders farm productivity and income increase over the 40 years through various programmes/projects and even during the challenging period of Covid-19, Ambassador Ahsan appreciated FAO for their active support to develop the agriculture sector transformation plan in Bangladesh.  While thanking the Director-General to nominate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the Co-chair of the “One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)”, Ambassador Ahsan underlined the unique position of Bangladesh to play a leading role regionally in raising awareness and action to address AMR. Permanent Representative of Bangladesh also briefed the Director-General about the burden Bangladesh has been bearing for the last 4 years by giving shelter to 1.1 million forcefully displaced Myanmar nationals (Rohingyas) on humanitarian ground and deeply appreciated FAO for supporting people in Cox’s Bazar to improve their livelihood and boost agricultural productions, assisting small holder farmers for their increased income and capacity development. Read:Antimicrobial resistance can even threaten food security: PM Hasina Mentioning about the 36th Asia Pacific FAO Regional Conference (APRC) scheduled for 8-11 March 2022 in Bangladesh, the Permanent Representative  invited the Director-General which he accepted.  The event, held on a zoom platform, ended with the reiteration of assurances by both Bangladesh and FAO to work together closely in the coming days to eradicate poverty and hunger around the globe.   Manash Mitra, Economic Counsellor and Alternate Permanent Representative to FAO and Sikder Mohammad Ashrafur Rahman, Counsellor and Head of Chancery, were present on the occasion.  

Bangladesh will host the  36th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC) of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), for the first time since joining the organization  in 1973.

Heads of United Nation agencies called on countries to take action to protect children from food supply problems sparked by Covid-19 pandemic.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in partnership with the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), on Monday distributed agricultural machinery and rice seed as part of a joint emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic.