Natural Disasters Occurring Three Times More Often Than 50 Years Ago: UN - UrduPoint

New and unprecedented forms of natural disasters are most heavily felt in the agricultural industry, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a Rome-based UN agency, said on Thursday.

UN Agencies: Global Hunger Rises for First Time in Decade

Global hunger levels have risen for the first time in more than a decade, now affecting 11 percent of the world’s population, as conflict, climate change and economic woes bite, UN agencies said.

North Korea drought: Children at risk in 'worst crisis since 2001'

North Korea is facing severe food shortages after being hit by its worst drought since 2001, a report from the United Nations says.

FAO to Help Iran in Revival of World's Largest Lake

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations voiced readiness to participate in Orumiyeh Lake Restoration Program.

Over 900,000 Sri Lankans May Face Famine Due to Drought Followed by Floods

Drought and subsequent floods in Sri Lanka threaten the food security of around 900,000 people in Sri Lanka, a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP), issued on Thursday, said.

FAO says climate change main challenge to meeting food needs as world population grows

Climate change is expected to be one of the main obstacles to feeding the world population, which is probably to top 10 billion by mid-century, according to a report on Wednesday from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Brazil launches campaign to combat food waste

Brazil has launched an educational campaign to halve food waste by 2030, local news agency Agencia Brasil (EBC) reported on Tuesday.

Climate change could push 122 mn into extreme poverty, UN report says

Climate change could sink up to 122 million more people into extreme poverty by 2030, mostly in South Asia and Africa, where small farmers will see their output plummet, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) warned Monday.

UN highlights risk reduction, mitigation to combat El Niño’s impact in Central America’s Dry Corridor

The international community must take urgent action to help build resilience, food security, and restore livelihoods in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which are impacted by drought and other extreme-weather effects of the El Niño phenomenon, senior United Nations officials today said.

‘Investing in forests is an insurance policy for the planet,’ says UN chief

On the International Day of Forests, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on governments, businesses, civil society and other partners to adopt holistic policies and practices to protect, restore and sustain healthy forests.

Celebrity chefs serve up free meals from discarded food – UN environment agency

UN, 4 December 2015 – For those who have never tried ‘rejected’ veggie curry made with ‘saved’ coconut milk served with ‘broken rice’ and washed down with corn cob tea, two United Nations agencies have joined up with an Australian food charity for an event with a menu that also included ‘fish scrap cake’ and ‘rescued’ mango relish, accompanied by ‘leftover’ nine-grain followed by ‘rescued’ bread pudding for dessert.

Adverse weather pushes global food prices up by 3.9 per cent in October, says UN agency

UN,  5 November 2015 – Weather-driven concerns about sugar and palm oil supplies have led to price increase of major food commodities in October, said Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today.

Central America faces major crop losses due to El Niño, warns UN agency

UN,  14 September 2015 – This year’s cereal outputs in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua have been severely reduced because of the dry weather associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

Deforestation slows, 'but we need to do better' on sustainable forest use (UN agriculture chief)

 UN, 7 September 2015 – While the world's forests continue to shrink as populations increase and woodlands are converted to agriculture and other uses, over the past 25 years, the rate of net global deforestation has slowed down by more than 50 per cent, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report published today.

Famine threatens Central America's drought-hit "dry corridor"

Severe and prolonged drought is threatening Central America's so-called dry corridor with critical food shortages for the second year in a row.

Helped by floating robots, UN-backed research ship scours Indian Ocean for plastic waste. An estimated 5 trillion pieces of plastic currently float in the world's oceans

 UN, 14 August 2015 – The United Nations is supporting a project aiming to chart the impact of plastic waste, including garbage like plastic bags, and ‘microplastics’ used in products such as cosmetics and shower gels, in the Indian Ocean, underscoring the risk of dramatic upheavals in marine ecosystems even in one of the world's least-known and least-visited environments.

World Day to Combat Desertification observed at Expo Milano

Land degradation is a growing threat to global security which needs the attention of the global community, officials and experts said here on Wednesday at the global observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification.

UN agency reports world food prices declining to six-year low

UN,  4 June 2015 – The prices of major food commodities continued their downward trajectory through May as cereal prices dropped amid an increasingly favourable forecast for this year's harvests, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) confirmed today.

Geothermal energy can help developing countries boost food security, says UN agency report

UN, 7 April 2015 – A new report released today by the United Nations agricultural agency says that the heat energy generated by the earth’s core can be used for cost efficient, sustainable food production and processing in developing countries.

UN: Madagascar needs money to continue battle against locust plague

UN, 21 January 2015 – The battle against a plague of locusts in Madagascar is in danger of being lost, as funding to continue efforts against widespread infestations runs out, putting 13 million people at risk of food insecurity, the United Nations agricultural agency said today.