Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Kanayo Nwanze is due to arrive in the Gambian capital, Banjul, Wednesday for a two-day official visit to the West African nation. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - Grands Domaines de Mauritanie (GDM), a national private company operating in the agro-industry sector, will soon engage in banana cultivation. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigerian cocoa farmers are being offered lower prices as mould induced by heavy rainfall has reduced the quality of the chocolate ingredients, according to Socodevi, a Canada-based organisation working on improving crops in Nigeria. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – A new project geared towards reducing post-maize harvest losses and improving grain handling in Zambia was Thursday launched in the country, according to a statement obtained here by PANA. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Food Price Index decreased for a fourth consecutive month in July, mainly due to a sharp decline in international prices for maize, wheat and certain oil seeds, reflecting ample supplies for these commodities, the UN agency said Thursday. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) – Africa’s richest man and chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Nigerian Federal Government to invest one billion US dollars in rice production in the country. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The looming famine in South Sudan could be averted if the Government reaches an agreement to end fighting with rebels, regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) warned Thursday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - An Italian firm, Scienza Per Amore, has announced the introduction of a food security project in Africa, seeking to cut food wastage by turning unused animal feed into biofuel and processing of foods to improve nutrition. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Continued efforts to provide farmers, fishermen and pastoralists in South Sudan with life-saving emergency livelihood kits are at risk due to a funding shortfall, aggravating the risk of famine in some areas of the country, FAO warned Thursday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is supporting projects that will encourage the inclusion of cassava flour in bread and other confectioneries across West and Central Africa, according to a statement from the Nigeria-based International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – The South African company, Afri-Com, specialists in agro-pastoral domain, will be the second South African agricultural company to settle in Congo. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - South Sudan now faces the worst food security crisis in the world, the US government has warned, saying that violence has forced over 1.5 million people from their homes since mid-December, while more than 50,000 children under the age of five are at risk of dying from malnutrition this year. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The United Nations Friday called on the international donor community to renew a commitment to fight hunger and food insecurity in the Sahel. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Urgent action is required to improve the health of the world's limited soil resources and stop land degradation, so as to ensure that future generations have enough supplies of food, water, energy and raw materials, according to government representatives and experts meeting at the FAO headquarters here. Full text...

Lomé, Togo (PANA) – A project on the adaptation of agriculture to climate change in Togo, "Adapt" is being reviewed for validation in Lomé by actors and partners in the agriculture and environment sectors, official sources told PANA on Tuesday in the Togolese capital. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding marking the beginning of a new collaboration between them. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has released 160 million CFAF to support the promotion of cassava in Congo. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - UN food standards body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, has adopted new standards to protect consumer health worldwide. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The Benin government says it will spend 500 million CFA francs to purchase surplus maize across the country, PANA learnt Wednesday in Cotonou from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (PANA) – The Ivorian Government on Wednesday established a national council for nutrition (NCN), with a view to resolving the chronic malnutrition which has a prevalence rate of 30% and increases infant mortality in the country. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) – Three newly improved Vitamin A cassava varieties with yellow roots, aimed at tackling the problem of vitamin A deficiency among women and children, have been developed by scientists from two research institutes in Nigeria, according to a statement by the Ibadan-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture(IITA). Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The Congolese government and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have created a joint action plan to ensure an increased supply of fish in Congo, they announced in an official statement. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The Thomson Reuters Foundation, the corporate charity of the world’s biggest news and information providers, is teaming up with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to improve global information and awareness on hunger and food-related issues, including food production, food security, food waste, agriculture, land use, and malnutrition. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - A project by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to equip small fishing communities with the tools and know-how to dry fish on simple raised racks instead of on the sand has changed lives along the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Burundi, FAO said in a statement obtained by PANA Wednesday. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Tanzania will supply Kenya 200,000 metric tonnes of maize under a deal signed Thursday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, by officials of the two neighbouring East African countries, it was learnt here Friday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Thursday said Full text...

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) - ONE, an international campaigning and advocacy organization of nearly 6 million people taking action to end extreme poverty, Thursday applauded African Union (AU) leaders for solidifying their commitment to transforming Africa’s agriculture sector by improving upon the 2003 Maputo Declaration, under which they committed to spending at least 10% of their national budgets on agriculture. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - A newly-issued UN-backed expert panel report has taken a close look at where and how food waste occurs and recommended a number of actions that could help reduce the 1.3 billion tonnes of food that are squandered worldwide each year. Full text...

Praia, Cape Verde (PANA) - Cape Verde will work with the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries of Africa (CPLP) to establish, next year, a law on the human right to food, PANA learnt here Tuesday from official sources. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - A new report released on Tuesday by two UN agencies identifies "10 top" food-borne parasites with the greatest global impact, including those found in pork, fish, fresh produce, fruit juice and milk. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Food and Agriculture Organisaton (FAO) and its partners, say if small-scale forest and farm producers joined to form producer organisations, they could increase forest productivity and improve livelihoods of local communities. Full text...

Johannesburg, South Africa (PANA) - As the 23rd African Union (AU) Summit continues in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, a campaign and advocacy organisation, which calls on African leaders to recommit to spending at least 10% of national budgets on effective agriculture investments, has gathered more than 2 million signatures of support from African citizens across the continent. Full text...

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (PANA) - Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director General José Graziano da Silva has congratulated African leaders attending the AU Summit here for "raising the bar" in the fight against hunger. Full text...

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (PANA) - The FAO-managed Africa Solidarity Trust Fund Thursday gave the green light to four new projects that will focus on youth employment and malnutrition, among others. Full text...

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (PANA) - The African Union (AU) Summit will set a broad set of goals for Africa’s agriculture sector to eliminate hunger and triple continental trade in agricultural products by 2025. Full text...

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (PANA) – With its member States among those with world’s fastest growing economies, the African Union (AU) is determined to ensure that the growth benefits all Africans, “without leaving anyone behind”. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Some 500 farmers will benefit from the second phase of the Social Enterprise Programme (SEP), designed to assist women farmers in Nigeria, according to project designers Caterina De' Medici Africa Projects Limited (CDMA). Full text...

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (PANA) - The Executive Council of the African Union (AU), grouping foreign ministers and ministers of agriculture, opened its 25th session in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on Monday with discussions on how to reverse the decline of agriculture in Africa. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Countries should put more policy emphasis on maintaining and enhancing the vital contributions of forests to livelihoods, food, health and energy, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Monday. Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) – In Burundi, the third nationwide talks on agriculture and livestock farming, held from 16-20 June, has recommended strict birth control to have fewer mouths to feed in a country suffering from both increasing demography and lack of lands. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will present the key findings of its biannual flagship publication, the State of the World’s Forests (SOFO), on Monday, the UN agency indicated in a press statement here Friday. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – Tanzania anticipates good crop harvests owing to above average rainfall this year, the the Bank of Tanzania reported, noting that average wholesale prices for all major food crops, except for rice, decreased in April 2014. Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Determined to find ways of overcoming food insecurity across the country, authorities in Burundi are organizing a four-day national conference on agriculture and livestock. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Chile, China and Morocco Tuesday won recognition from the Food and Agriculture Oorganization (FAO) for outstanding progress in fighting hunger, FAO said in a news dispatch from its headquarters in Rome, Italy. Full text...

Curepipe, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritius Saturday opened its first endemic flora and fauna garden called “La Vallée d’Osterlog”, located at Le Val in the south of the island, a sanctuary of rich biodiversity with several species of fauna and flora spanning an area of 275 hectares of land, PANA reported from here. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Morocco, Chile and China will receive awards from the FAO for making significant progress in the global fight against hunger, according to an FAO press statement here Friday. Full text...

Douala, Cameroon (PANA) - Cameroonian Trade Minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, says the country's tea has received approval from the Economic Community of Central Africa States (CEMAC) for free access to the markets of all member countries. Full text...

Douala, Cameroon (PANA) – Contaminated rice, reportedly imported from Pakistan, could flood Cameroon, which shares 1,600 km-long border with Nigeria, according to the national coordinator of the Cameroonian human rights organization (OCDH), Prince Nasser Kemajou. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - As hundreds of millions of people around the world continue to suffer from hunger and malnutrition, governments should make stronger commitments at the upcoming Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) to ensure healthier diets for all, the heads of FAO and WHO said Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Countries Tuesday endorsed a set of wide-reaching guidelines that will boost the already vital role of small-scale fishers in contributing to global food security, nutrition and poverty eradication, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. Full text...