Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - A 10-hectare cassava farm pilot project, which aims to contribute to efforts to ensure food security and reduce poverty in Nigeria, is due to be launched in the country's South-west Ogun state next week, the project's promoters said. Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The locust invasion, which started in the eastern part of Libya, has spread to other parts of the country, including Zlitin in the west, a local agriculture official announced Friday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The World Food Programme (WFP) has secured permission to cross the Ethiopian border to deliver relief supplies to Southern Sudanese people and is seeking permission from Sudan to open its border. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Food Price Index rose sharply in March, up 4.8 points, or 2.3 percent, to an average of 212.8, the highest level since May 2013. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian Prime Minister Oumar Ly Tatam has launched a campaign for artificial insemination of cows, PANA learned on Monday from the Malian Ministry of Livestock in Bamako. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - ONE.org has launched one of the continent’s biggest musical collaborations ever, ‘Cocoa na Chocolate’, in support of a new campaign to boost investments in agriculture: ‘Do Agric, It Pays’. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The Government of the United Kingdom has released US$13.7 million in emergency funding to the UN Food and Agriculture Oorganization (FAO) to help conflict-affected families in South Sudan restore their agriculture-based livelihoods and stave off an increasingly alarming food security situation. Full text...

Douala, Cameroon (PANA) – The export of Cameroonian coffee dropped by about 50% last month compared to the same period last year, says the Cameroonian national coffee and cocoa office (ONCC). Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Dr Evelyn Nguleka of Zambia was on Friday picked to serve on the World Farmers Organization (WFO) board. Full text...

Tunis, Tunsie (PANA) - The prospects for cooperation between Tunisia and FAO were the main top for discussion Friday between the Tunisian President, Muncef Marzouki, and the Director General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), José Graziano da Silva. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) – A three-day international conference on ‘Getting Nutritious Foods to People’, expected to attract more than 200 high-level stakeholders from public, private business and civil society, is to hold in Kigali, Rwanda, from 31 March to 2 April. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - A unique, Africa-led fund designed to improve food security across the continent has become a reality for the first six countries slated to benefit from the initiative. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Getting more African youth involved in agriculture and boosting support for the region's vulnerable family farmers will be pivotal to improving food security and economic well-being in the years to come, FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, told participants at the Organization's Regional Conference for Africa. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Senegal, Vincent Martin, on Tuesday in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, presided over the opening of a workshop on management strategies on risks linked to pastoral and agro-pastoral activities in Senegal and Sahel. Full text...

Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - The European Union (EU) has placed Guinea on the blacklist of countries which are not doing enough in the fight against illegal fishing, the organisation said in a statement here Tuesday. Full text...

Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Despite important economic progress and agricultural successes, Africa remains the world’s most food insecure continent, with relatively low levels of agricultural productivity, low rural incomes and high rates of malnutrition, FAO said here Monday. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - New data released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on the occasion of the International Day of Forests confirm that forest areas continue to decline globally, with the biggest losses of tropical forests occurring in Africa and South America. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The World Bank has approved US$122 million to target nearly 22 million pastoralists in the Horn of Africa region, who are in need of life-saving support to cope with climate change, bank officials said on Thursday. Full text...

Durban, South Africa (PANA) - The 10th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform opened in Durban, South Africa, on Tuesday. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – Zimbabwean National Defence College students arrived here Monday on a study tour of the nation’s food security programme and understand the pivotal role food security play in ensuring Nigeria’s security. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwanda plans to introduce a new mobile phone technology that will use treated waste water from purification stations across all 30 districts of the country, to irrigate plantations, according to the Rwandan Minister of Agriculture, Agnes Kalibata. Full text...

Lagos , Nigeria (PANA) - The 28th session of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) conference for Africa is due to hold in Tunis, the Tunisian capital, 24-28 March, according to a statement made available to PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

Lagos , Nigeria (PANA) - Farmers in Nigeria will soon generate 42 billion naira (US$252.5 million) from wheat production, according to Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The 10th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform Meeting (PP) is due to hold 18-22 March in Durban, South Africa, PANA repprted. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - A surging global population and growing demand for food pose major challenges for agriculture, which in the years to come, will need to produce more food using fewer natural resources while at the same time coping with a changing climate. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - As a result of the increased production of genetically modified crops worldwide, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned in a ground-breaking survey that an increasing number of incidents of low levels of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are being reported in traded food and feed. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Reducing gender inequality is fundamental to eliminating hunger and developing more sustainable food systems, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva has said. Full text...

Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - For the first time, Somali farmers are turning themselves into suppliers of high-quality food assistance for their compatriots. Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) - The first Agriculture and Livestock Exhibition opened Friday in Niamey, the Nigerien capital, under the theme of ''Innovations and agricultural equipment to boost productivity in Niger'', PANA reported from here. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Weather-related events and increased demand came into play as the FAO Food Price Index registered its sharpest increase since mid-2012, averaging 208.1 points in February 2014, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Thursday. Full text...

Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) The European Union (EU), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Zimbabwe have launched a major programme to assist poor smallholder farmers to boost production, productivity and engage in commercial agriculture through integrated farming approaches. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, Wednesday appealed to governments to boost support to the world’s small-scale family farmers in order to win the fight against hunger. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – More than 1,250 exhibitors from 20 Africans countries are attending the 15th international agriculture and animal resources fair (FIARA) that opened on Wednesday in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - No fewer than 64 representatives of smallholder farmers from 8 districts across Rwanda will benefit from the Markets Access Programme funded by the the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), according to a statement issued here. Full text...

Yaoundé, Cameroon (PANA) – The Cameroonian minister of scientific research and Innovation, Mrs Madeleine Tchuinté, and the director of the Institute for Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Noé Woin, on Tuesday in Yaoundé signed six financing conventions. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - As part of its pledge to give Mali 65 billion FCFA for its post-war development, Germany has granted Mali 28.6 billion FCFA to enable it finance priority projects such as agriculture and decentralization, PANA learnt from official sources here. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mali on Sunday launched a national campaign to vaccinate its animals, including 9.7 million cattle, 13 million sheep, 18 million goats, 35 million poultry and 800,000 camels , PANA learnt from official sources. Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) – Niger authorities on Friday launched an operation aimed at selling cereals at low prices to people experiencing severe food insecurity or flood victims, PANA reported here. Full text...

Douala, Cameroon (PANA) – The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has launched its agricultural development programme called "Humid Tropic" for humid tropical zones in Cameroon. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The worsening food security situation in the Near East is not only caused by the structural constraints the region is facing in producing enough food and an increasing dependence on food imports but also by conflict, the flow of refugees and migration, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said here Thursday. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Reducing high food losses and waste will be critical to improving food availability, achieving food security, and reducing stress on natural resources in the fast-growing Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Conflict, rapid population growth and urbanisation, as well as a heavy reliance on food imports are posing serious challenges for food security in the Near East and North Africa, although progress has been made in some countries, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Monday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The booming world fish trade is generating more wealth than ever before, but countries must help small-scale fishers and fish farmers benefit too, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Monday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Farmers from across the world were united in Brussels this week to underline the crucial role of family farms in ensuring good quality food for consumers, growth and jobs. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - Benin produced more than 300,000 tonnes of cotton during the 2013-2014 season, compared with 240,000 tonnes in the previous season, representing an increase of 60,000 tonnes. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) – A conference on agricultural micro-insurance in West Africa will be held on Thursday in Paris on the theme "Agricultural micro-insurance in West Africa: Realities and perspectives”, the organizers said in a statement on Tuesday. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - President Yahya Jammeh has said he is “determined to end the importation of basic food items by 2016 without fail.” Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Field schools that train farmers in alternative methods of pest control have succeeded in nearly eliminating the use of toxic pesticides by a community of cotton growers in Mali, according to a new FAO study published, Monday by the London-based Royal Society. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) will Wednesday launch a project aimed at improving the productivity and access to markets of farmers in Kenya. Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) - Niger and the international agro-industrial firm Geocoton Friday signed a pact aimed at boosting cotton farming in the Dosso region, located 140 km from the capital, Niamey, the Nigerien Agriculture Ministry said. Full text...