The Netherlands | 1 - 4 April 2012

Call for abstract | Extended to 20 January 2012
Working group convenors of the conference invite you to submit abstracts for the April 2012 conference in Wageningen, The Netherlands. 20 different working groups will be organised during the conference. Deadline for submitting abstracts is 20 January 2012.

Conference theme
In May 2007, a major demographic milestone was passed. For the first time, the earth’s population became more urban than rural. This process of urbanization will accelerate in the decades to come: most of the growth in the world population – to 9 billion people in 2050 – will occur in urban areas. By 2050, the urban population will be approximately twice the size of the rural population.

However, this does not mean that urban areas are or will become more important than rural areas. On the contrary, they have always relied heavily on each other, and will become even more mutually reliant during an era of rapid urban population growth.

17-19 January 2012
FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy

Ten years after the 2002 International Scientific Symposium on the Measurement of Food Deprivation and Undernutrition, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is organizing a new symposium to examine emerging trends in measuring Food and Nutrition Security Information and linking it more closely to decision-making.

Download provisional agenda

The Symposium will be an opportunity to:

*review recent advances in measuring food and nutrition security at individual and household levels;

*discuss the importance of information in decision making to improve food and nutrition security;

*identify ways to promote synergies across disciplines and sectors to improve the generation and use of food and nutrition information; and

*determine future research and analysis needs  for  providing decision makers with valid information and  evidence for sound policy formulation, programming and impact evaluation.

Source: EC-FAO news events

21 Nov, 2011

Amiti Sen,ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Rich nations are likely to seek a ban on food export curbs as part of a solution to the global food crisis, a move India vows to fight vehemently.

Developed countries, including the US and the EU, are likely to move the proposal, which also calls for eliminating import duties on so-called environment products, at the World Trade Organization ministerial in December in Geneva.

On 10th anniversary, international plant genetics treaty funds new projects
14 November 2011, Rome

Traditional food crops and other plant varieties worldwide are in urgent need of protection from climate change and other environmental stresses, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today, as it observed the tenth anniversary of the international treaty to protect and share plant genetic resources.

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf called on countries to develop specific policies to conserve and make wider use of plant varieties for generations to come. He lauded the injection of $6 million made available through the treaty to help farmers of traditional crops adapt to climate change.

13 November 2011

by Jennifer A. Ng

A NONGOVERNMENT organization (NGO) is calling on government negotiators not to further reduce tariff on rice as a concession to extend a protection on the commodity traded under the World Trade Organization (WTO). The protection is set to expire next year.

Rice Watch and Action Network (R1) said that reducing the tariff on rice that will enter the Philippines under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme would rob the government of badly needed revenues. Rice imported by traders within MAV is slapped a tariff of 40 percent while those outside of MAV is levied a duty of 50 percent.

There have been numerous governmental and intergovernmental initiatives to protect vulnerable populations from the negative consequences of higher food prices. In October 2010, the recently reformed Committee on Food Security (CFS) asked the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) to prepare a report on price volatility that covers ―all of its causes and consequences, including market distorting practices and links to financial markets, and appropriate and coherent policies, actions, tools and institutions to manage the risks linked to excessive price volatility in agriculture.

This should include prevention and mitigation for vulnerable producers and consumers, particularly the poor, women, and children, that are appropriate to different levels (local, national, regional and international) and are based on a review of existing studies. The study should consider how vulnerable nations and populations can ensure access to food when volatility causes market disruptions”.

Download HLPE Price Volatility and Food Security Report July 2011

A new report from the FAO blows the myth about increased grain consumption from developing countries leads to higher global demand and higher prices
2 August 2011

The perception that one of the main reasons for the price spikes in major food items, especially food grain, is the increased demand from countries like China and India persists in many parts of the world.

Ever since the global food crisis of 2007-08, a perception has persisted in many parts of the world that one of the main underlying reasons for the price spikes in major food items – especially food grain – is the increased demand from countries such as China and India. If anything, this perception has become even more widespread since prices started rising again, especially since early 2010.

19 July 2011

Government support for ethanol has led to an increase in corn production and a steep rise in soybean imports
A growing number of US farmers are switching to crops such as corn in order to meet the demand for ethanol.

Demand for biofuels in the US is driving this year's high food prices, a report has said. It predicts that food prices are unlikely to fall back down for another two years.

The report, produced by Purdue University economists for the Farm Foundation policy organisation, said US government support for ethanol, including subsidies, had fuelled strong demand for corn over the last five years.

Published in SUNS #7184 dated 6 July 2011

Geneva, 5 Jul (Kanaga Raja) -- The thirteenth quadrennial conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is now officially scheduled to take place in Doha, Qatar from 21 to 26 April 2012.
According to an UNCTAD press release, on 4 July afternoon, the Minister of State for International Cooperation of Qatar and the Secretary-General of UNCTAD signed the comprehensive document under which Qatar will host UNCTAD-XIII.

22 July 2011

Solo, Indonesia, 21 Jul (Meena Raman) -- Due to the weakness of implementation of the sustainable development agenda, the Rio Plus 20 summit in 2012 should strengthen the institutional framework so that policies and programmes can be implemented more effectively, according to speakers at a preparatory meeting for Rio Plus 20, held in the Indonesian town of Solo.