World food output growth to slow: UN/OECD

BEIJING: Growth in global agricultural production is expected to slow in the coming decade, the UN food agency and the OECD said in a joint report today, warning threats to food security remain.

Global food security at risk: Thai rice subsidy could cause price turbulence

BANGKOK: A populist policy aimed at boosting the incomes of Thai farmers has raised fears of global rice price turbulence, and experts say the kingdom could just be hurting itself.

Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, has vowed to boost the minimum price farmers receive by buying unmilled rice directly at 15,000 baht ($485) per ton from October. The current price is about 10,000 baht.

Water crisis, population surge prompt rethink on food: UN

Stockholm: Population growth and water stress are driving Earth to a food and environmental crunch that only better farming techniques and smarter use of the ecosystem will avert, a UN report issued today said.

The number of humans is expected to rise from seven billion in 2011 to at least nine billion by 2050, boosting demands for water that are already extreme in many countries and set to worsen through global warming.

Skyrocketing Food Prices Threaten Global Security

As G-20 finance ministers met in Paris today, warnings that food riots could erupt in the face of steeply rising prices are resounding around the world. Members of the European Parliament called on the G-20 to take action. Many leaders are identifying extreme weather patterns and climate change as primary factors in poor crop yields.

"Global agricultural production is coming up against the increasingly apparent effects of climate change, increasingly severe climate disruptions which require more efficient production and which lead to instability in agricultural production," France's Agriculture Minister Bruno LeMaire told the United Nations General Assembly in a closed-door session Thursday.

USAID Administrator Highlights Private Sector Partnerships to Reduce Hunger and Poverty at the World Economic Forum

WASHINGTON, DC – At the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah gathered with the CEOs of Unilever and Monsanto to support the launch of WEF’s global framework titled “Realizing a New Vision for Agriculture.” The show of support emphasizes USAID’s leadership in creating synergies between the public and private sectors to meet the global food security challenge.

Championed by 17 global companies and supported by key public and civil-society leaders, the New Vision framework outlines priorities and examples to illustrate the role businesses can play in meeting global food and nutrition needs through accelerated, sustainable agriculture-led growth. Through the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative, the New Vision for Agriculture will aim to leverage private-sector investment to scale up agricultural growth in food-insecure countries. The 17 global companies that champion the initiative are: Archer Daniels Midland, BASF, Bunge, Cargill, The Coca-Cola Company, DuPont, General Mills, Kraft Foods, Metro, Monsanto Company, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SABMiller, Syngenta, Unilever, Wal-Mart Stores and Yara International.

“We are witnessing an unparalleled opportunity right now for innovative, large-scale private sector partnerships to achieve significant impact on global hunger and nutrition,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said. “USAID is committed to creating new public-private partnerships in Feed the Future focus countries to advance their national investment plans.”

To demonstrate that commitment, Shah announced alongside President Kikwete of Tanzania that USAID is investing $2 million to Tanzania’s catalytic fund this year. The fund is devoted to delivering rapid and sustainable agricultural growth in Tanzania – with major benefits for small-scale farmers and rural communities. Results from this public-private blueprint will potentially triple Tanzania’s agricultural output, generate half a million jobs and lift two million people out of poverty, becoming a “breadbasket” for the region. USAID will join multinational companies like Yara, General Mills, Monsanto, Syngenta and others in support of the investment blueprint for years to come, and hopes to expand the blueprint in the future to at least five additional African countries.

USAID also signed a memorandum of understanding at Davos with DSM, the world’s largest manufacturer of micronutrients and vitamins, to increase the dietary quality in the developing world, starting with rice fortification in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Mali Senegal and Tanzania.

Feed the Future is working to improve agricultural productivity, promote market development, facilitate trade expansion, invest in global innovation and research, promote equitable rural economic growth, and address child malnutrition in 20 food-insecure countries.

Source: http://www.ttkn.com