The Government of Russia has announced a contribution of $3 million (KSh 300 million) to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to support Kenya’s response to the worst desert locust invasion to affect that East African country in over 70 years.

While Somalia and its partners, including the United Nations, focus on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, other parts of the international organization remain concentrated on supporting the Somali authorities in a range of areas – including the current desert locust infestation. 

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, said today that significant gains had been made in the fight against the desert locust upsurge in East Africa and Yemen.

Desert locust upsurges aren’t a new phenomenon. Locusts are one of the oldest migratory pests in the world and have wreaked havoc on crops across the globe for centuries.

Juan Carlos Rivera lives in the Dry Corridor of El Salvador, an area where high temperatures, low rainfall and regular droughts pose constant regular problems to his way of life.

The improvement of the security situation in Daraa Governorate in southwest Syria has allowed thousands of displaced families to return to their homes.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is seeking $350 million to scale up hunger-fighting and livelihoods-boosting activities in food crisis contexts where COVID-19's impact could be devastating.

In Mali, the first cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were reported on 25 March 2020 in a context of growing insecurity and when the Government had just declared a food security and nutrition emergency, for which it requested support from its international partners especially in view of last year’s poor crop production results

Throughout history 6 000 – 7 000 plant species have been cultivated for food. Yet today 40 percent of our daily calories come from just three crops: rice, wheat and maize.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, has warned that efforts to control desert locusts will take time, noting increased concern for the Sahel and Southwest Asia is adding to the burden of efforts ongoing in the Horn of Africa and Yemen. 

Rehman produces okra, gourds, melons and tomatoes in the two tunnel garden units he built in the back yard of his home in Aka Khel, a town in one of Pakistan’s most food-insecure regions.

FAO Representative in Somalia Etienne Peterschmitt discusses COVID-19 and its impacts on vulnerable groups and the UN agency's work.

As the COVID-19 epidemic rages on in Indonesia, the Government of Indonesia has increased the number of laboratories allowed to test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of coronavirus disease.

When the local dairy supply centers closed because of the COVID-19 emergency, Alvaro Ramon, a cattle farmer and milk supplier in the Amazon region of Ecuador, was left with many gallons of milk and a spirit of solidarity.

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, has appealed to donors for $100 million in urgent aid to ease the plight of desperate farmers, herders, fishers and their families in Yemen. 

“My father used to harvest wild honey from anthills and trees; he was an expert in traditional beehives and as young as 15, I had already acquired these vital traditional skills. We learned to work the hard way without protective gear and using fire that killed the bees in order to harvest this honey”. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has intensified its desert locust control measures in Turkana County, through the issuance of six surveillance vehicles, three pickups mounted with sprayers, one helicopter, two spray airplanes and one fixed wing aircraft for surveillance operations along the Kenya-Uganda border. 

In collaboration with Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, FAO carried out the first of a series of agricultural input distributions to support vulnerable farming families to prepare for the spring season in the context of the current pandemic and humanitarian crisis in the country.

Urgent action required to stem crises, FAO Director-General tells UN High-Level meeting.

Despite the difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, FAO Turkey is working closely with its counterparts in the Government of Turkey to implement a Syrian refugee response project and a range of activities to address current challenges.