Ebène, Mauritius (PANA) - The Indian Ocean commission (IOC) has launched a platform, ''Women, sustainable development and food security (FDDSA),'' in Mahajanga, Madagascar, official sources told PANA on Saturday at the IOC headquarters. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - A simple but innovative use of insecticide-impregnated nets to protect livestock is doubling milk output in Kisii, Kenya, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a statement Wednesday. Full text...

Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The 9th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform Meeting ended here Wednesday with member countries tasked to put into practice the lessons learnt, in order to improve nutrition and agricultural production, create jobs and reduce poverty on the continent. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Participants in the ongoing CAADP partnership meeting have underscored the need for an effective and strong leadership at all levels of governance to translate various policies formulated to fight hunger into action in the agricultural sector across Africa. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The African Union (AU) said Tuesday Africa remained the most attractive destination for foreign investments in agriculture, which would further boost continental agricultural growth. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Madagascar needs more than US$22 million of emergency funding by June to start fighting a severe locust plague that threatens the country's next cropping seasons and the food security of more than half the country's population, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African countries have been told to invest more in Youth development and put in place incentives that will encourage them to take to farming as way of solving the unemployment problems, reduced poverty and create wealth, according to the NEPAD Director of Programmes, Estherine Fotabong. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The ninth edition of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) partnership platform meeting opened here Monday with a call on stakeholders to sustain and improve on the achievements recorded in the last decade of the programme. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)-Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Journalists Network, aimed at strengthening the coverage of agriculture-led development in the African media, was launched on Sunday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Some 20 African countries will benefit from the African Development Bank's (AfDB's) US$63.24 million-fund initiative known as the Support for Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-SC), one of the three implementers of the project in Africa, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), said in a statement obtained by PANA here Sunday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva, attending the inaugural Mass for Pope Francis I at the Vatican on Tuesday, said the United Nations would look up to the Catholic Pontiff as a “friend of the poor” to support the fight against hunger, malnutrition and extreme poverty. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The ninth edition of the meeting of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP) is to hold in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 25-26 March, according to a statement from the organisers, obtained by PANA here Tuesday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Urbanization, economic growth and other transformations are causing changes in lifestyles and diets in many parts of the world and countries are not coping as well as they should, FAO said on Friday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - After more than a decade, scientists at the Ibadan-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have developed a biological control product named aflasafeTM that is used to control aflatoxins in grains, according to a statement from the organisation made available to PANA in Lagos on Monday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria’s earnings from global cocoa export have steadily increased from US$882.9 million recorded in 2011 to US$900 million last year, according to Trade and Investment Minister Olusegun Aganga. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Jose Graziano da Silva, on Friday met with Ugandan Vice-President Edward Sekandi to discuss ways to ensure food security in the East African country. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (Dakar) - Agriculture is the driving force behind industrialization in Africa, the president of the Institute for Research on Development Issues and Counseling (CESS), Gaston Gohou, said here Friday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Farmers and veterinarians across Africa are increasingly using cell phones to issue alerts quickly about possible animal disease outbreaks at a very early stage and to track wide-scale vaccination campaigns, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The attainment of food and nutrition security in West Africa requires an all-inclusive approach in which civil society and farmer-based organisations have a crucial role to play, according to an agriculture expert. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Child labour in the livestock sector is widespread and largely ignored, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which has released the first global study on child labour issues related to livestock. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The way certification schemes for biofuels are structured makes it difficult for smallholder producers and many developing countries to participate in export markets, according to a new report from UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Some dozen African researchers and policy makers who gathered Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the first international conference on agricultural biotechnology research, have agreed to work together to harmonize their methods in the fight against food insecurity, particularly in the East African sub-region. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – Greenpeace on Saturday urged the Senegalese authorities to urgently put in place a strategy to save the white grouper fish, which has become an endangered species due to years of over-exploitation. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) – Mali, the European Union and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday signed a partnership agreement of about 9.8 billion CFAF to fight food insecurity in the West African country. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is working in partnership with the Egyptian and Sudanese governments to control the latest threat from desert locusts. Full text...

Lomé,Togo (PANA) - Issues related to the trading in and health of animals are the subjects of discussion at the 20th conference of the Regional Commission for Africa of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) underway in Lome. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), through its flagship programme - the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) - is set to hold a special workshop on nutrition from 25 February to 1 March in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital. Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) – The Nigerien government Tuesday launched an international appeal for funds, targeting 177 billion CFA Francs, to enable it finance and co-ordinate its humanitarian needs. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has re-appointed, for another four-year term, Nigerian-born Kanayo F. Nwanze, as the organisation's President. Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) – Japan will give Burundi food aid, worth US$ 6.8 million, diplomatic sources here told PANA, saying that an agreement to that effect was signed Wednesday between the Burundi Minister of Foreign Relations and International Cooperation, Laurent Kavakure, and the Japanese ambassador to Burundi, Takata Toshihisa. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Over the past 10 years, Ireland has made voluntary contributions of over US$ 13 million to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), invested mainly in development and emergency action at national and regional levels and focused on reducing food losses and waste. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - France has given Mauritania, through the World Food Programme (WFP), Euros 1.5 million in food aid, the French Embassy announced Friday. Full text...

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has complained against a UN report that the world organization will take food to the needy population in some areas inside Sudan, even without the prior consent of the government in Khartoum. Full text...

Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - The European Union (EU) and Algeria have launched an agricultural project aimed at setting up an observatory for agricultural and agro-food sectors, according to a statement issued in Brussels on Thursday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Millions of people could escape poverty, hunger and environmental degradation if countries put more effort into promoting agroforestry, an integrated approach combining trees with crop or livestock production, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Tuesday. Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) – The Eduardo dos Santos Foundation (FESA) and the UN Agriculture and Food Organisation (FAO) Thursday in Luanda, the Angolan capital, signed a cooperation accord on farming projects. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF) and the Oakland Institute in the US will convene a day-long summit on 6 February at the India International Centre, New Delhi, bringing together activists resisting land grabs across India and Ethiopia. Full text...

Lomé, Togo (PANA) - Cotton production in Togo, in tatters over the past four years, has increased by 161.3% in 2012, official sources told PANA Wednesday in Lome. Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) - The director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, arrived here Wednesday for a two-day working visit to Angola. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The world risks a repeat of the disastrous 2006 bird flu outbreaks unless surveillance and control of this and other dangerous animal diseases is strengthened globally, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned Tuesday. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Simple actions by consumers and food retailers can dramatically cut the 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted each year and help shape a sustainable future. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The 'bold' reforms of Nigeria's agricultural and allied sectors will create 3.5 million jobs and add 20 million metric tons of food to domestic supply by 2015, according to President Goodluck Jonathan. Full text...

Berlin, Germany (PANA) - The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Germany have called for "a significant increase in responsible investments" in agriculture to eradicate hunger and feed a growing world population. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Nigerian government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has entered into an agreement to scale up financing for the agriculture sector, according to the privately-owned Guardian Newspaper. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Nigerian minister of state for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Bukar Tijani, has said that the West African State is determined to be self sufficient in rice production and end the importation of the commodity by 2015, according to the privately-owned Punch newspaper. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - A new agricultural programme in South Sudan is helping vulnerable farmers to improve their livelihoods by boosting the quality of the seeds used to produce key crops, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a news dispatch Tuesday. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - "Fruit Logistica", the world's leading international trade fair for the fresh fruit and vegetable industry, is set to put on this year's exhibition showcasing fresh, unprocessed fruit and vegetables, fresh convenience products, dried fruits, nuts, herbs and spices, organic products, self-service flowers and potted plants. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) Food Price Index dropped for the third consecutive month in December 2012, edging down 1.1 per cent, the UN agency said on Thursday. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) – The third African rice congress will take place from 21 to 24 October in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital city, a communiqué issued on Tuesday in Cotonou by Africa’s Rice Centre (Africarice) has announced. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - An outbreak of African army worm, which destroys crops, has been announced in Botswana. Full text...