Target Zero Hunger

Tonle Sap Lake in northeast Cambodia is one of the most productive inland fishing waters in the world, due to flooding and monsoon. Fisheries are the backbone of country’s economy, with Tonle Sap contributing over half of the country’s fish production. Yet the lake’s 4.8 million residents are some of the poorest in Asia. Many depend heavily on fish and rice for their livelihoods and have to send their children to work rather than school, in order to survive. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working with the government and partners to get children back to school.

This time last year, swarms of desert locusts began spreading to countries in the Horn of Africa, devastating crops and people’s livelihoods. FAO's emergency campaign appealed for urgent action to avoid a desert locust plague and a looming humanitarian crisis. One year on, we ask FAO' s senior locust forecasting officer Keith Cressman if we are winning the fight. Host/Producer: Charlotta Lomas, FAO.

Plants make up 80 percent of the food we eat. Yet, each year we lose up to 40 percent of food crops because of pests and diseases. This leaves millions of people without enough food to eat and seriously damages agriculture - the primary source of income for poor rural communities. Plants are critical to our food security, which is why the UN declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). Ralf Lopian, chairperson of the International Steering Committee of the IYPH, explains.

All around the world, people, plants and animals are dying from infections that cannot be treated – even with the best medicines available. That's because of the rise in antimicrobial resistance - the increasing failure of antibiotics and other life-saving drugs to treat diseases. It's a global problem that threatens to be the next pandemic, as Chief Veterinary Officer Keith Sumption explains.

The COVID-19 pandemic could threaten global food security if urgent action is not taken, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The UN agency has launched a COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme, which aims to mitigate the immediate impacts of the pandemic while also strengthening the long-term resilience of food systems and livelihoods. In this podcast, FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol details the plan and calls for a global coordinated response to the crisis.  Producer: Charlotta Lomas, FAO.

Sudan has been hit by devastating floods; the worst seen in decades. More than 600,000 households (2.9 million people) have been impacted across 17 of the country’s 18 states, with homes destroyed and farmland damaged just ahead of the harvest season. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is calling for urgent funding to support Sudan, a country already facing alarmingly high rates of hunger and food insecurity. Dominique Burgeon, the Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division, has just returned from a mission to Sudan.

August 19th marks World Humanitarian Day, a day to commemorate the humanitarian workers worldwide who are protecting and saving the lives of millions. 2020 has been a particularly challenging year as a result of the restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this podcast we hear from Meshack Malo, FAO representative for South Sudan.

Deforestation and desertification impact the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the world. A new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reveals big gains in forest protection but that it’s still not enough to meet global targets. FAO Senior Forestry Officer Anssi Pekkarinen explains how data can help boost protection. Interview: Charlotta Lomas, FAO.

The number of hungry people worldwide continues to rise, according to the latest report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World. The joint report by UN agencies gauges whether the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger remains achievable. To learn more we’re joined by FAO’s Assistant Director General and Chief Economist Maximo Torero via Zoom. Producer: Charlotta Lomas, FAO.  

The pandemic's impact across the Pacific has been immense. For many countries in the region, imported foods constitute half of a person's food intake. If the pandemic continues, and the global and local supply chain is affected, it will disrupt the region's food systems, explains Eriko Hibi, FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Pacific and Representative to thirteen Pacific States. Interview: Charlotta Lomas, FAO.

300 kilometers south of Tunis, in the Gulf of Gabes, women have long harvested clams to generate an income. The seasonal work is often labor intensive and poorly paid. That is why FAO, in collaboration with the Tunisian government and a local women’s association, have created a pilot project to support the women in securing a fairer price for their clams, and it’s having all kinds of other benefits.  

It’s the worst Desert Locust outbreak in decades for many countries in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are most affected by the locust swarms. To date, the swarms have spread to a total of seven countries, including nearby Djibouti, Eritrea and Uganda. As the situation continues to deteriorate, FAO warns there’s a growing risk the pests could migrate to more neighboring countries. Report: Charlotta Lomas, FAO  

In 2013, FAO launched the Blue Growth Initiative, which supports the development of aquatic resources and the communities that depend on them. Today, innovators across the globe are coming up with new and exciting ways to harness the ocean’s resources sustainably, from blue fish fashion to the medical use of fish skin. These creative inventions offer potential alternative income generating opportunities for fisheries communities worldwide. Lucy Hughes is the inventor of MarinaTex, a bioplastic made from fish waste. The graduate student's innovation won the 2019 James Dyson Award. Producer: Charlotta Lomas, FAO.

In Montenegro, smallholder farmers rely heavily on traditional agriculture practices for their livelihoods. So much so, that a poor blueberry harvest or honey season can have devastating impacts on rural households. That’s why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)are rolling out a project there that links rural farming households with agritourism. The project aims to diversify the incomes of farmers in small villages across the region as well as promote Montenegrin cuisine and preserve traditional food production practices. And it’s having all kinds of positive impacts, particularly on young people, as FAO’s Charlotta Lomas has been finding out.

The agriculture sector is a major contributor to global warming. If the world is to keep to 1.5°C warming targets by the end of the century, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the agriculture sector is key. As world leaders convene in Madrid this week for the United Nations climate summit, COP25, Alex Jones, director of the Climate and Environment Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), says agriculture is firmly on the climate agenda. Editor/Producer: Charlotta Lomas

The state of world’s ocean is in decline. From overfishing and pollution to climate change, the threats to ocean health are many and varied. That’s why the UN Secretary General created a Special Envoy for the Ocean. Listen to the full interview with Ambassador Peter Thomson. Host/Producer: Charlotta Lomas, FAO. Sound: Eric Deleu, FAO.

La Guajira, Colombia’s northernmost region, is dry with desert landscapes. It’s prone to drought and food insecurity particularly in rural areas. In recent years, the economic crisis in neighboring Venezuela has pushed over a million migrants across the border, including 165,000 people into La Guajira. The influx of migrants has put a strain on host communities, where food is limited and natural resources scarce. That’s why in 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s Early Warning Early Action team decided to act. Producers & Presenters: Anais Hotin & Charlotta Lomas.

Every year, around one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. Food loss and waste has all kinds of consequences for economies, food security and the environment. A new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, explains where exactly these losses are occurring along the food chain, from farm to fork, and how countries are stepping up to tackle the problem. Andrea Cattaneo, a senior economist at FAO, outlines the report. Interveiw: Charlotta Lomas

Young people from around the world share their concerns about their future and call for greater action on climate change. Producer: Charlotta Lomas, FAO.

In 2018, conflict was the major driver of food crises in 21 countries, affecting around 74 million people. Contributing to peace is therefore critical to tackling hunger. FAO experts Julius Jackson and Philip Priestley discuss the importance of conflict sensitive approaches to humanitarian work. Interview: Charlotta Lomas, FAO