Chronic Food Deficit In N. Korea — UN

Impoverished North Korea faces a chronic food shortage following a harsh winter which has affected its harvest, a United Nations official said March 11. Years of mismanaged farm policy and natural disasters in the 1990s resulted in famine that some estimates said killed as many as a million people. “We know that they have had

WFP Sends Food Aid To North Africa

Food stocks are depleted and supply chains disrupted in Libya, the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) said March 2, calling for urgent humanitarian aid to the country hit by political unrest. Responding to the critical situation in North Africa, the WFP is launching a $38.7 million emergency operation to provide food assistance to 2.7


FAO Warns On Oil As World Food Prices Hit Record

Global food prices hit a record high in February, the United Nations said March 3, warning that fresh oil price spikes and stockpiling by importers keen to head off popular unrest would hit already volatile cereal markets. Rising food prices are a growing global concern, partly fuelling the protests which toppled the rulers of Tunisia

Britain Threatens To Withdraw From FAO

Britain said Feb. 26 it could leave one of the United Nations’ agencies fighting hunger unless it improves its “patchy” performance. The threat to pull out of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) follows a review of British overseas aid ordered by the nine-month- old coalition government, which administers one of the world’s biggest aid


Argentina Dissolves Agricultural Export Regulator

Argentina has dissolved the agricultural trade agency ONCCA responsible for the country’s corn and wheat export limits, and the government said it will still seek to guarantee domestic supply of grains. It was unclear what the move would mean for Argentina’s heavily regulated export policies, which have angered farmers for years. President Cristina Fernandez’s government

France Takes On Germany In Global Gastronomy Battle

France unveiled a global campaign Feb. 16 to reconquer the world’s dinner plates and regain its standing as the gastronomic yardstick four years after Germany overtook it as Europe’s top food exporter. Germany, known more as an industrial powerhouse, pushed ahead of France in the European Union’s 2007 food export ranking, as tough competition in


Climate Change Brings Stronger Storms

Witnesses to Cyclone Yasi’s destructive tear across northeastern Australia described it as a monster for its size and ferocity. It was also an omen. Climate scientists say global warming is heating up the world’s oceans and atmosphere, providing more fuel for tropical cyclones and creating ever-greater risks for crops, miners and billion-dollar beachfronts. The risks

Food Price Rises Bring Risk Of New Riots

France’s agriculture minister warned the United Nations Feb. 18 that food riots like those of three years ago could break out around the world because of steep rises in food prices. Bruno Le Maire was addressing the General Assembly after the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported earlier this month that its food price index


North Korea Confirms Foot-And-Mouth Outbreak

North Korea has confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth disease across the country and lodged the outbreak with the UN food agency. South Korean media reported that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) would dispatch a team next week to help the reclusive state contain the outbreak. The North’s KCNA state news agency said the most affected

Food Costs At Records, UN Warns Of Volatile Era

Record-high global food prices showed no sign of relenting following a rash of catastrophic weather, highlighted by a major U.S. snowstorm and a cyclone in Australia, which could put yet more pressure on prices and spark further unrest around the world. The closely watched UN Food and Agriculture Organization Food Price Index touched its highest