UN News April 25
POOR FARMERS RECEIVE $200 MILLION BOOST FROM UN TO FACE FOOD CRISIS
New York, Apr 25 2008 4:00PM
The United Nations rural development arm announced today that it is providing up to $200 million for poor farmers during the upcoming cropping season as it tries to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of millions of people facing hunger and malnutrition due to soaring food prices.
“The capacity of the world’s 450 million smallholder farmers to respond by growing more food is at risk because of spiralling energy and fertiliser prices,” said Lennart Båge, President of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “Poor farmers are not reaping the benefits of higher food prices because they cannot afford the fertiliser or seeds to plant next season’s crops.”
Speaking after a meeting of the agency’s Executive Board in Rome, he called for concerted comprehensive and coordinated action to be taken by the international community to prevent the slide of millions into abject poverty.
“Poor rural farmers are central to any solution to today’s global food crisis and the long-term problems of hunger and poverty,” Mr. Båge noted.
He called for a three-pronged strategy: providing emergency food aid to feed the hungry today; supporting, in the short term, smallholder farmers in their bid to plan next season’s crops; and longer-term investment in agriculture to ensure food security, nutrition and rural development.
“The world has under-invested in agriculture and rural development for far too long,” the President stated. “It is high time to put this right.”
Yesterday, the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that surging food prices are thwarting the agency’s ability to feed the world’s hungry.
“We can buy 40 per cent less food than we could last June with the same contribution,” WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a video conference from Rome, voicing concern that as many as 100 million people face being pushed deeper into poverty.
IN VIENNA, SECRETARY-GENERAL OPENS NEW MODERN, CLIMATE-FRIENDLY UN COMPLEX
New York, Apr 25 2008 5:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon began an official visit to Vienna today by inaugurating a new environmentally-friendly, state-of-the-art facility which will support discussions between countries on a range of critical issues, from nuclear weapons to drugs and crime.
Donated by Austria, the “M Building” – as the new complex is known – encompasses dozens of meeting rooms and has the capacity to service up to 1,500 people. “The United Nations and other Vienna-based organizations are very grateful for this meaningful contribution, which will facilitate our work here immeasurably,” Mr. Ban said at the inauguration ceremony.
The Secretary-General highlighted the fact that the new facility is environmentally friendly and hailed its many energy-saving features, such as re-circulating heat and sensors to optimize cooling and heating efficiency and minimize waste.
“For the past year and a half I’ve been pushing the environmental agenda, and it’s encouraging to see that in this building has been designed with the best interests of the planet at heart,” he stated.
In remarks to the press on the site of the new conference building, Mr. Ban addressed the current food crisis, owing to the soaring prices of basic staples such as rice and wheat.
“We must take immediate action in a concerted way,” he said, stressing the need, in the short term, to address the humanitarian crisis, and, in the long term, to explore how to improve distribution systems and promote improved production.
While in Vienna, the Secretary-General met with Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik. He later held a working luncheon with Ms. Plassnik and the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as senior officials from Poland and Hungary. They discussed cooperation between the UN and the European Union, Kosovo, Chad, Darfur, the Middle East, Cyprus and UN reform.
Mr. Ban also met with Austrian President Heinz Fischer, with whom he discussed the country’s contribution to peacekeeping operations in Chad and Kosovo, the Olympic Games, the Annapolis peace process in the Middle East, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and this September’s summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Secretary-General arrived in Vienna from Côte d’Ivoire, the final leg of a four-nation West African tour that also took him to Burkina Faso, Liberia and Ghana
New York, Apr 25 2008 4:00PM
The United Nations rural development arm announced today that it is providing up to $200 million for poor farmers during the upcoming cropping season as it tries to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of millions of people facing hunger and malnutrition due to soaring food prices.
“The capacity of the world’s 450 million smallholder farmers to respond by growing more food is at risk because of spiralling energy and fertiliser prices,” said Lennart Båge, President of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “Poor farmers are not reaping the benefits of higher food prices because they cannot afford the fertiliser or seeds to plant next season’s crops.”
Speaking after a meeting of the agency’s Executive Board in Rome, he called for concerted comprehensive and coordinated action to be taken by the international community to prevent the slide of millions into abject poverty.
“Poor rural farmers are central to any solution to today’s global food crisis and the long-term problems of hunger and poverty,” Mr. Båge noted.
He called for a three-pronged strategy: providing emergency food aid to feed the hungry today; supporting, in the short term, smallholder farmers in their bid to plan next season’s crops; and longer-term investment in agriculture to ensure food security, nutrition and rural development.
“The world has under-invested in agriculture and rural development for far too long,” the President stated. “It is high time to put this right.”
Yesterday, the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that surging food prices are thwarting the agency’s ability to feed the world’s hungry.
“We can buy 40 per cent less food than we could last June with the same contribution,” WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a video conference from Rome, voicing concern that as many as 100 million people face being pushed deeper into poverty.
IN VIENNA, SECRETARY-GENERAL OPENS NEW MODERN, CLIMATE-FRIENDLY UN COMPLEX
New York, Apr 25 2008 5:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon began an official visit to Vienna today by inaugurating a new environmentally-friendly, state-of-the-art facility which will support discussions between countries on a range of critical issues, from nuclear weapons to drugs and crime.
Donated by Austria, the “M Building” – as the new complex is known – encompasses dozens of meeting rooms and has the capacity to service up to 1,500 people. “The United Nations and other Vienna-based organizations are very grateful for this meaningful contribution, which will facilitate our work here immeasurably,” Mr. Ban said at the inauguration ceremony.
The Secretary-General highlighted the fact that the new facility is environmentally friendly and hailed its many energy-saving features, such as re-circulating heat and sensors to optimize cooling and heating efficiency and minimize waste.
“For the past year and a half I’ve been pushing the environmental agenda, and it’s encouraging to see that in this building has been designed with the best interests of the planet at heart,” he stated.
In remarks to the press on the site of the new conference building, Mr. Ban addressed the current food crisis, owing to the soaring prices of basic staples such as rice and wheat.
“We must take immediate action in a concerted way,” he said, stressing the need, in the short term, to address the humanitarian crisis, and, in the long term, to explore how to improve distribution systems and promote improved production.
While in Vienna, the Secretary-General met with Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik. He later held a working luncheon with Ms. Plassnik and the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as senior officials from Poland and Hungary. They discussed cooperation between the UN and the European Union, Kosovo, Chad, Darfur, the Middle East, Cyprus and UN reform.
Mr. Ban also met with Austrian President Heinz Fischer, with whom he discussed the country’s contribution to peacekeeping operations in Chad and Kosovo, the Olympic Games, the Annapolis peace process in the Middle East, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and this September’s summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Secretary-General arrived in Vienna from Côte d’Ivoire, the final leg of a four-nation West African tour that also took him to Burkina Faso, Liberia and Ghana
Labels: Conserve, farming, food crisis, sustainability, United Nations
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