FAO

Less than a decade after a worldwide surge in food prices that began in 2008, grain bins are bursting around the globe. But the risk isn't over, says Quartz, pointing to a meeting called by the Council on Foreign Relations. A majority of the economists and policymakers at the session "believe food prices will spike again within five years."

Nearly a quarter of the population of South Sudan, some 2.8 million people, urgently needs food assistance "and at least 40,000 people are on the brink of catastrophe," say three UN agencies.

Mammoth supplies and sluggish economic growth pushed down prices of the major food commodities - grain, dairy, meat, vegetable oils and sugar - by a combined average of 19 percent in 2015, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Hot weather and scanty rainfall are dimming the outlook for crops and livestock in southern Africa, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Some farmers have delayed sowing crops while waiting for rain while dry weather hurts emerging crops. "It's the sixth week of the cropping season now and there's not enough moisture in the soil," said an FAO official.

Abundant supplies and the strong dollar pulled down the FAO's Food Price Index 1.6 percent in November. The UN agency said the index, which has trended downward since early 2014, was 18-percent lower than a year ago.

Food security and agriculture should be at the center of the debate at the UN climate change conference later this year, said the head of FAO and the French agriculture minister. "We believe that agriculture in the broad sense - including forestry, fisheries and aquaculture - can and must play a central role in addressing climate change, particularly in adapting its impacts, such as water scarcity, soil salinity or increasing pests and diseases of plants and animals," said FAO director general Graziano da Silva.

Lower dairy and vegetable oil prices helped pull down the Food Price Index to its lowest reading since September 2009, said the FAO: "Prices for dairy commodities fell across the board, with milk powders being most affected, followed by cheese and butter."

Three types of tapeworms found in pork and fresh produce take the three leading places in a list of the 10 "food-borne parasites of greatest global concern" issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. "The parasites affect the health of millions of people every year, infecting muscle tissues and organs, causing epilepsy, anaphylactic shock, amoebic dysentery and other problems," says FAO.

Farmers lost a large portion of their livestock in the six districts of Nepal hit the hardest by earthquakes earlier this year, and half of the farming households lost nearly all of their stored crops of rice, corn, wheat and millet, says the Food and Agriculture Organization.

The leaders of the Group of Seven major advanced nations, meeting in Germany, said, "As part of a broad effort involving our partner countries, and international actors, and as a significant contribution to the post-2015 development agenda, we aim to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030."

Prices for the major food commodities fell by 1.4 percent during May, to their lowest levels since September 2009, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Its Food Price Index, at a reading of 166.8, was down by 20.7 percent in one year.

In the newly published book, "Understanding Mountain Soils," the FAO calls for attention to sustainable management of the soils, which are "home to a vast array of human activities ranging from quinoa cultivation in the Andes through European ski resorts to the collection of medicinal plants in Tajikistan's 'roof of the world' Pamir range."

Nearly one-fourth of the damage from natural disasters in the developing world is inflicted on agriculture, says a study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Global food prices, on the decline since last April, are 14-percent lower than a year ago, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The Food Price Index "has now reached its lowest value since July 2010," said the FAO.

Around the globe, "food systems need to be more sustainable, inclusive and resilient," says the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. In a speech in Paris, Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said...