FAO

Food prices are rising and supplies are short in the three west African nations affected by the outbreak of the Ebola virus and the harvest season is imperiled by labor shortages due to restrictions on travel, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in a special alert. FAO reported "panic buying, food shortages and significant food price hikes on some commodities, especially in urban centers." With harvest-time near for rice and corn, travel restriction "will seriously impact farm production," said the alert.

Variously called African spinach, ramdana and brom-brou, amaranth is usually picked fresh for use in salads or cooked with meat or fish, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which selected the crop native to the Andes as its "traditional crop of the month."

Thanks to forecasts of large harvests, global grain supplies will rise again this year, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Half of the forest species - trees, shrubs, palms and bamboo - routinely used by countries around the world are threatened by climate change, over-exploitation and encroachment by pastures and farmland, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry and fisheries "have nearly doubled over the past 50 years and could increase an additional 30% by 2050," says Feedstuffs.

Food production and consumption — from farm to table to leftovers put in the trash can — carry "huge hidden costs" of at least $10 trillion a year, mostly from the consequences of unhealthy diets, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday. In its State of Food and Agriculture report, the FAO urged governments and the private sector to use a true-cost accounting system to assess the flaws in the agrifood system and how to mitigate them.