What's New

On December 12, nearly 200 countries signed a landmark climate change deal into effect. The COP21 Paris agreement pledges to keep global temperature increases "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to further limit increases to 1.5C by 2100. While individual countries' emission reduction targets are not legally binding, countries are legally obligated to review their progress every five years.

This press release was originally posted on FAO.org .

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the CGIAR research program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) today launched a new initiative to enhance global cooperation on measuring and reducing food loss and waste. The G20 agriculture ministers requested FAO and IFPRI to launch this initiative in Istanbul, Turkey, this past May.

Smallholder farmers make up over 90 percent of Ethiopia’s agricultural output and thus play a pivotal role in the country’s food production and availability. However, little research has been done regarding how farmers’ production and supply decisions respond to changes in agricultural prices. These supply responses can have significant implications for overall food security.

Despite increased attention from policymakers and health professionals, malnutrition continues to be a major global health problem. According to the 2015 Global Nutrition Report: Africa Brief , almost one in three people suffer from some form of malnutrition worldwide. The highest concentration of malnutrition is found in Africa south of the Sahara; in this region alone, an estimated 220 million people are calorie-deficient, 58 million children under age five are stunted (too short for their age), and 13.9 million children under five suffer from wasting (weigh too little for their age).

In 2006, the African Union Special Summit of the Heads of State and Government, adopted the 12-Resolution “ Abuja Declaration on Fertilizer for the African Green Revolution” , which aimed to increase Africa’s fertilizer use from the then-average 8kg per hectare to 50kg per hectare by 2015.  According to the International Fertilizer Industry Association, however, average fertilizer use in the region today is still only 12kg of fertilizer per hectare, compared to 150kg per hectare average in Asia.