National Geographic/FAO: Raising awareness on hunger and nutrition

The FAO and National Geographic partnership envisages cooperation, a regular dialogue and access to FAO expertise, knowledge exchange, content-sharing, cross promotion, joint activities and participation at events and on publishing platforms.



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Supporting family farms key for healthy food systems

While substantial progress has been made in the fight against hunger in recent years, more than 800 million people remain hungry and efforts need to be increased to reach the global target of cutting the percentage of hungry people in half by 2015, said FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva in his opening remarks at the annual World Food Day ceremony, held at FAO Headquarters in Rome.



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Putting family farmers first to eradicate hunger

Nine out of 10 of the world’s 570 million farms are managed by a family, making the family farm a crucial agent of change in pursuing sustainable food security and eradicating hunger in the future, according to a new U.N. report released today. Family farms produce about 80 percent of the world’s food. Their prevalence and output mean they “are vital to the solution of the hunger problem” afflicting more than 800 million people, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva wrote in the introduction to FAO’s new State of Food and Agriculture 2014 report.



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Principles for responsible agriculture and food investments are approved

Governments from around the world today approved a landmark set of principles meant to guide investment in agriculture and food systems around the world, aimed at assuring that cross-border and corporate investment flows lead to improved food security and sustainability and respect the rights of farm and food workers.



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PRO/MBDS> Dengue - China: Guangxi Zhuang

Dengue -- Worldwide/Unknown

South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region reported 453 cases of dengue as of [Sun 12 Oct 2014], local health authorities said on [Mon 13 Oct 2014].

No deaths have been reported in the region so far, according to the provincial health and family planning commission.

The cities of Nanning and Wuzhou have reported local cases, while other cities reported infections contracted elsewhere.

The total number of cases in China has now exceeded 30 000, according to an earlier



Source: HealthMap Global Disease Alerts http://ift.tt/1u5fgra

China pledges $50 million in support of South-South cooperation on agricultural development

China has announced a $50 million donation to FAO to support the Organization's program of "South-South cooperation" to improve food security and promote sustainable agricultural development over the next five years.



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Partnerships are crucial to fighting malnutrition

Marking the first in a series of three public discussions leading up to the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) in November, Nancy Stetson, US Special Representative for Global Food Security, stressed the importance of partnerships at a US-led Dialogue on Nutrition.



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Thomson Reuters Foundation and FAO launch global food security news platform

The Thomson Reuters Foundation, the corporate charity of the world's biggest news and information provider, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today launched a comprehensive global news section dedicated to food issues.



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PRO/MBDS> Dengue - China (03): Guangdong, alert

Dengue -- Worldwide/Unknown

Some 1340 new dengue cases were confirmed in south China's Guangdong Province on [Fri 10 Oct 204], said the provincial health authorities on [Sat 11 Oct 2014].

The total number of dengue infections in Guangdong rose to 28 851, over 27 times that of same period last year [1 Jan-10 Oct 2013], according to the provincial health and family planning commission.

Worst-hit Guangzhou, the provincial capital, has reported a total of 24 485 dengue cases. 20 cities in the province have reported



Source: HealthMap Global Disease Alerts http://ift.tt/1p9L1hr

PRO/MBDS> Leptospirosis - Malaysia: Negeri Sembilan, alert

Leptospirosis -- Worldwide/Unknown

A cluster of the bacterial disease, leptospirosis, has prompted Malaysian health authorities to temporarily close a popular national park, according to a Star Online report.

The 2 week closure of the Jeram Toi waterfall and recreational park, located about halfway between Seremban and Kuala Kelawang [in Negeri Sembilan state], occurred after 4 children, aged 15 to 18, contracted the disease after swimming there. The conditions of all 4 kids are stable and being treated at a local



Source: HealthMap Global Disease Alerts http://ift.tt/1sBy5qA

CFS set to endorse principles for responsible investments in agriculture and food systems

The 41st session (CFS 41) the Committee is expected to adopt a set of principles for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems that have been in development for the past two years.During CFS 41, one policy roundtables will focus on the issue of food losses and waste while the other deals with the increasingly critical contribution made by fish to food security and to healthy diets.



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Countries agree on key policy commitments to fight malnutrition globally

Reaching an important milestone in the fight against global malnutrition, countries today agreed on policies aimed at ensuring that people around the world have access to healthier diets.Representatives of FAO and World Health Organization (WHO) member countries reached consensus on a political Declaration and a voluntary Framework for Action including more than 50 recommendations.



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The Committee on World Food Security 5 years later: an assessment by civil society

Civil society plays a crucial role helping building consensus, giving a voice to the hungry, representing society’s diversity and being a part of international decision-making processes, FAO Director-General told civil society representatives today at the Organization’s headquarters, where they began the annual forum of the International Civil Society Mechanism, a vehicle for non-state actors to participate in policy making.



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FAO sets standards to improve national forest monitoring systems

FAO has launched free software tools that it hopes will improve the way many developing nations monitor the state of their forests to tackle deforestation and climate change.



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Good harvests and ample stockpiles continue to drive international food prices down

Food markets are more stable and prices for most agricultural commodities are sharply lower than they have been in recent years, according to the latest edition of FAO's biannual Food Outlook report and a new update to the Organization's Food Price Index.



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Ebola: FAO launches new initiative to tackle growing food security threat

FAO today launched a new programme to urgently assist 90 000 vulnerable households in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone whose food supplies and livelihoods are threatened by the disruptive effect the Ebola epidemic is having on rural economies, agricultural activities and markets.



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PRO/MBDS> Dengue - China: Guangdong, alert

Dengue -- Worldwide/Unknown

South China's Guangdong province reported 1431 new dengue cases on [Sun 5 Oct 2014], bringing the total number up to 21 527, said local health authorities on [Mon 6 Oct 2014].

The number was rising quickly, with more than 1000 new cases found each day last week [week of 29 Sep 2014]. One new fatality case was reported by the provincial health and family planning commission on [Sun 5 Oct 2014], bringing the death toll in the province to 6.

The latest case was found in the Liwan District



Source: HealthMap Global Disease Alerts http://ift.tt/1vPawbs

Ministers meet at FAO to discuss role of commodity markets

Governments ought to review the way international agricultural commodity markets are governed, making sure that smallholder farmers have more of a voice in a sector that employs one billion people and accounts for a fifth of the world’s economic activity, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told more than 30 ministers from around the world gathered for a meeting on the subject Monday.



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PRO/MBDS> Dengue - Malaysia (08): alert

Dengue -- Worldwide/Unknown

A total of 149 deaths resulting from dengue were recorded nationwide in the 1st 9 months [January-September] of the year [2014], compared to only 48 cases during the same period [January-September] last year [2013]. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said this is a significant increase, whereby 77 527 dengue fever cases were recorded [in 2014] compared to 23 099 cases last year [2013].

"Moreover, the ministry anticipates that the change in weather recently will contribute towards



Source: HealthMap Global Disease Alerts http://ift.tt/1vFx0Mj

PRO/MBDS> Plague, pneumonic - China (02): Gansu, fatal, RFI

Plague -- Worldwide/Unknown

A 45-year-old man in northwest China's Gansu province has died of a plague, the 2nd death of its kind this year [2014], official media reported on [4 Oct 2014].

The case was reported in Subei County under the jurisdiction of Jiuquan City. The man, a herder, died on [1 Oct 2014] in hospital.

The provincial health and family planning commission confirmed the case after lab reports were released, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. [The victim] grazed his sheep in a pasture where wide



Source: HealthMap Global Disease Alerts http://ift.tt/1xTOhpc

Locust plague in Madagascar halted, but at great risk of resurgence

A locust plague that spread across Madagascar threatening the main staple food crops and pasture in the country has been successfully contained, however, progress is under threat due to a gap in funding, FAO said today. In April 2012 the highly destructive Malagasy Migratory Locust ravaged crops and pastures on its way from the southwest of the country toward the North.



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