Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- The French ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Pierre Jacquemot, and the representative of the World Food Programm e (WFP) in Kinshasa, Abdou Dieng, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understandi n g, worth 1. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The three-day World Summit on Food Security ended in Rome late Wednesday after committing the international community to investing more in agriculture and to eradicating hunger at the earliest date. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Wednesday blamed fa iling agriculture in his country on heavy subsidies for farmers in the West, and sanctions that world big powers had imposed on his regime for alleged human righ t s violations. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- World leaders who convened in Rome, Italy, Monday for th e World Summit on Food Security have unanimously adopted a declaration pledging renewed commitm ent to eradicate hunger at the earliest date, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO ). Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- Libyan revolutionary leader Mouammar Kadhafi, the AU current chairman, on Sunday received in Rome the Italian writer and thinker, Mario Cabana, who is also the president of the Association of genetic rights in Italy. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for a gl obal deal on climate change to ensure sustainable food security. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Scientists from a leading Brazilian university will prov ide their expertise to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for its agricultural development programmes in Latin America and African countries, under an agreement signed in Rome Monday, the UN agency said. Full text...

Rome- Italy (PANA) -- Libyan revolutionary leader Mouammar Kadhafi, the current c hairman of the African Union (AU), arrived in Rome on Sunday to take part in the world summit on food security which opens on Monday at the headquarters of the U n ited Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- On the eve of the World Summit on Food Security, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) h a ve announced a US$1 billion agreement to fund agricultural development in poor c o untries that belong to both organizations, the FAO said on Sunday. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) â" Burundi's President P-ierre Nkurunziza left for Rom e on Saturday to attend the World Food Security Summit being organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Hours before the opening of the World Summit on Food Sec urity, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General Jacques D i ouf began a 24-hour hunger strike to call for action to end the scourge of hunge r and in solidarity with the one billion humans who suffer chronic malnutrition. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will on Sunday fast to sh ow solidarity with the one billion people worldwide, who live in chronic hunger, a UN spokesperson said. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- With privatization, globalization and the transformation of the food chain from the farm to the table, the private sector has become ver y important in the realisation of these objectives, said the Director-General of t he Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Jacques Diouf, at an international p r ivate-sector forum on food security. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- On the eve of next weekâ?s World Summit on Food Securit y, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for a day-long, worldw i de hunger strike against chronic hunger. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- The United Nations World Food Summit in Rome, Italy, sch eduled for 16-18 November, could be a waste of time and money unless world leade r s intervene now to salvage it, international agencies ActionAid and Oxfam said T h ursday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- An International Conference on Financing Regional Agricu ltural Policy in West Africa (ECOWAP/CAADP) will be held from Wednesday at the T r anscorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria's capital city. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- A sub-regional workshop on fishery involving Wes t African countries and the European Union (EU), with a view to "improving gover n ance in partnerships", started Tuesday in Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, P A NA reported. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Food prices in poor countries that are net importers of food still remain stubbornly high, despite a good 2009 world cereal production, F AO warned Tuesday in its latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IIT A), in Ibadan, south west Nigeria, has unveiled a strategy to boost agricultural research in Africa with plans to establish a Global Research Park in Nigeria, th e organisation disclosed in a statement made available to PANA here. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Just in time for the upcoming planting season, the Europ ean Union (EU) has put in motion a major effort to turn the tide of rising hunge r in Pakistan. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- The Zimbabwe government Monday floated grain bills, th e first in a series, to raise funds to purchase more maize - the country's staple food. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Monday announced a 'groundbreaking partnership' that will link African government commi tments to agricultural development with concrete programmes in seeds, soil health, policy and markets, the alliance said in a statement made available to PANA here. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Africaâ?s two leading farmer-focused initiatives will M onday announce a timely and important new partnership that will link pledges by A frican governments to increase investment in agriculture with concrete programme s in seeds, soil health, policy and markets in order to boost productivity of sma l lholder farmers across the continent. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Rome-based UN agencies Thursday resolved to work togethe r to revamp the fight against hunger, PANA reported from here. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- One hundred thousand poor people in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, will benefit from a Kshs. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Significant amounts of the food produced in developing c ountries is lost after harvest, thereby aggravating hunger, the Food and Agricul t ure Organisation (FAO) said Monday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Kenya's overall tea production for January to Septembe r 2009, dipped by 12 per cent to stand at 209. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is to pr ovide Tanzania with advisory support for farmers that will help them better respond to market opportunities and thus heighten food security, the agency said Wednesday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FA O) has begun widespread consultations over the first-ever international guidelin e s on governance of tenure to land and other natural resources such as water supp l ies, fisheries and forests. Full text...

Bujumbura- Burundi (PANA) -- Germany has granted one additional million euros to enable the World Food Programme (WFP) to better fight against food insecurity in Burundi, according to a press release from the German diplomatic representation i n Bujumbura made available to PANA on Monday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Ground control operations are in progress against an inf estation of desert locusts in Mauritania, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) warned Monday. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Friday laun ched a guide to help the billion people around the world suffering from hunger a c hieve access to adequate food. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- The number of Ethiopians needing emergency food a id has climbed by over one million from last yearâ?s figure, the government anno unced Thursday. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- A Swiss food company, Nestle, is embroiled in a row wi th supporters of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, after it abruptly terminated a milk supply contract with the veteran leader over his seizure of a farm from a white farmer under the country's controversial land reforms. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- For the umpteenth time, the International Institute of T ropical Agriculture (IITA) has denied any plans to relocate from Nigeria. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Executive Director of the West and Central African C entre for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), Paco Sereme, on Tuesday said in Dakar that researchers must anticipate the effect of climate change on A f rica. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has called on world leaders to reach a "broad consensus on the total and rapid elimination of hunger" when they gather in Rome for the World Summit on Food Security scheduled 16-18 November. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- Belgium announced that it had released 500,000 euros for the purchase of 1,200 tonnes of food to be distributed by the World Food Pro g ramme (WFP) to some 330,000 people in Kenya, said a statement issued in Brussels , the capital, Friday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- As the world marked the World Food Day on Friday, the Sp anish government announced that it had set aside Sh96. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf Friday called on worl d leaders to reach a broad consensus on the total and rapid elimination of hunge r when they gather in Rome, the Italian capital, for the World Summit on Food Sec u rity of Heads of State and Government on 16-18 November. Full text...

Rome- Italy (PANA) -- The Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agricul ture Organisation (FAO), Jacques Diouf, on Thursday pleaded for the return of th e amount of the Public Aid to Development (PAD) for agriculture to its former 17 p er cent level. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) â" The Ghana government on Wed-nesday increased the producer price of cocoa by 35 per cent to 2,208 cedis (about US$1,472) per ton with imme d iate effect. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- African states featured prominently among a list of states where hunger and starvation have increased alarmingly over the past 20 years, with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) listed as the worst-hit by hunger, according to a report released here Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) â" The United Nations Agency- for Food and Agriculture Org anisation (FAO) Wednesday said the â?combination of food and economic crisesâ? has pushed the number of hungry people worldwide â?to historic levelsâ? with mo re than one billion people undernourished. Full text...

Rome- Italy (PANA) -- The Director General of the United Nations Food and Agricul ture Organisation (FAO), Jacques Diouf, on Monday deplored the low use of irriga t ion for agricultural purposes in Africa, saying this had made agriculture vulner a ble to the vagaries of the climate. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- A broad coalition of public and private sector organizatio ns Monday announced a new partnership aimed at raising the yields and incomes fo r smallholder farmers in West Africa by increasing their access to improved, loca l ly-adapted varieties of major food crops, according to a press statement from th e coalition here. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa ( AGRA) and the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA) Friday announced a new partnership to support African parliamentarians promoting polici e s to help small-holder farmers, a press statement from AGRA said here. Full text...

Bamako- Mali (PANA) -- A four-day meeting on the African seed programme will be h eld Monday in Bamako, the Malian capital, an official source told PANA here on F r iday. Full text...

N'Djamأ©na- Chad (PANA) -- The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is support ing a programme in Chad to help bring down food prices, the UN food agency's pro g ramme officer in Chad, Batedjim Noudjalbaye, said on Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The recent positive performance of agriculture in sub-Sa haran Africa indicated a break with the past and the outlook for the sector is i m proving. Full text...