Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said Saturday that it had given out loans totalling 133.65 billion naira (about US$ 891 million) from the 200 billion naira (US$ 1.3 billion) Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) earmarked for farmers across the country, according local media reports which quoted CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, on Friday called on South Africa to build a food economy that is inclusive and benefits all segments of the population, especially the millions who are poor and food insecure. Full text...

Praia, Cape Verde (PANA) – The Government of Cape Verde has concluded agreements with American businessmen in the fisheries sector that would make it possible, in the short term, to export fresh and frozen fish to the United States. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - A newly-published report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said reforming forest tenure systems and securing forest ownership rights can significantly improve peoples' livelihoods and enable them to gain income from forest products. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) – France is concerned about the deteriorating food situation in Somalia following a drought after poor rains, the spokesman of the French ministry of foreign affairs, Bernard Valero, said on Tuesday in Paris. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The coming years will be crucial to Africa's food security, with the continent's population rising steadily, the outgoing Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Jacques Diouf, announced Sunday in Bamako, after meeting with President Amadou Toumani Toure. Full text...

Juba, South Sudan (PANA) - As South Sudan celebrates its independence Saturday, 9 July, the world’s newest nation faces many challenges in building a strong and stable economy that supports the food security and livelihoods of its population. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - From mega-emergencies such as the earthquake in Haiti or the floods in Pakistan, to headline-grabbing humanitarian crises such as the conflicts in Cote d'Ivoire or Libya, the international community has stepped up to help those impacted by disaster and tragedy over the last few years. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed Senegalese national, Abdou Dieng, the new Country Director for Ethiopia, to lead the UN organisation’s largest relief programme. Full text...

Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - Egypt has denied being the source of an E.Coli outbreak which caused the death of 48 people in Germany and one in Sweden out of a total of 4,178 individuals infected in Europe. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Rice farming stakeholders have said the lack of mechanisation is seriously undermining the productivity and competitiveness of the produce in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a statement from Africa Rice Centre, made available to PANA here Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – A non-governmental organization (NGO) in Senegal is calling for land reforms in favour of women. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Christian Aid, an international non-governmental body working to end global poverty, has launched an emergency humanitarian appeal to help people across the East and Horn of Africa, following two failed rainy seasons that have left ten million on the brink of starvation. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) Wednesday confirmed that two Ethiopian staff members who went missing after a deadly incident in mid-May have returned safely. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Ms. Josette Sheeran, on Wednesday expressed concern over the plight of nearly ten million people facing severe food shortages as a result of a prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday declared that the world has completely eradicated a cattle disease that has killed millions of bovines for millennia. Full text...

Washington, D.C., US (PANA) - A new report by the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute has outlined measures that could help to reduce food waste as a means of meeting the needs of a growing human population, alleviating hunger and conserving resources. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - A Pan-African high-level meeting on the future of African cotton is being held in Cotonou, under the aegis of UNCTAD, to define the outline of a road map for the sector over the next ten years. Full text...

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) – The World Food Programme (WFP) has developed a tool to fight hunger in DR Congo called "food vouchers", a WFP communiqué reaching PANA on Monday said. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The European Commission (EC), FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP), here Monday signed a new Strategic Framework of Cooperation to increase the capacity of the international community to deliver effective, coordinated, timely and sustainable support to food security and nutrition. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Outgoing Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Jacques Diouf, has thanked Angola for its support during his years in charge of the UN Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who chairs the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, has warned that the current food security crisis that has left almost one billion people hungry could turn into a permanent disaster, endangering millions of lives as well as international cooperation. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Member nations of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Sunday elected José Graziano da Silva of Brazil as its new Director-General. Full text...

Praia, Cap Verde (PANA) – Cape Verde will back the candidature of Brazilian José Graziano for the post of managing director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in an election due to take place on Sunday in Rome, official sources said in Praia on Friday. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The West and Central African Council for Research and Development (WECARD), Thursday in Cotonou, launched a research and development project on ticks in West and Central Africa. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Flanked by heads of state, international dignitaries and entertainers, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf will unveil a plaque to celebrate global freedom from rinderpest or cattle plague, one of the deadliest animal diseases and a longtime threat to human livelihoods and food security. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) - Foreigners are dominating the race for the acquisition of agricultural lands in Mali with some 450,000 hectares of land waiting to be allocated to them, a source close to the government told PANA here Thursday. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing food vouchers to 7,500 households in 26 districts of the town of Ziguinchor, southern Senegal, through the implementation of a pilot project launched in April, according to an official statement received Wednesday by PANA. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Ms. Josette Sheeran, on Wednesday congratulated the former presidents of Ghana and Brazil, John Kufuor and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who have been honoured for their contributions to improving the quality, quantity and availability of food in the world. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) – The Malian Meteorological Service has forecast a "normal or even above normal" rainy season this year, assuring farmers of enough water for their cropping season, PANA learnt here from the Ministry of Agriculture. Full text...

Paris, France (PANA) – About 290,000 hectares of agricultural lands have been "withdrawn" from inefficient foreign investors by the Malian government, sources close to the Malian government told PANA on Tuesday. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - The President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Tuesday in Rosso (south), launched the 2011-2012 crop year, PANA learnt from official sources here. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - A current buildup of locust populations in southwestern Madagascar could turn into a plague and seriously endanger the livelihoods of 13 million people unless a new campaign is launched to contain the crop-devouring insects, FAO said Tuesday in a news release. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - Representatives of member nations of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will meet from 25 June - 2 July for the 37th biennial Conference, the highest governing body of the Organization, to, among other things, elect a new Director-General. Full text...

Lomé, Togo (PANA) – Participants from ECOWAS member countries, rose from a regional workshop on national agricultural programmes, saying women should be made part and parcel of the national agricultural policies of member nations. Full text...

Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - Africa's Rice Centre has launched a project to improve the quality and marketing of rice produced in eight African countries, said a statement released Monday by the centre, which is based in Abomey-Calavi, Benin. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - High price of food will persist for the next 10 years in Nigeria and other countries of the world, a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), obtained by PANA here Saturday, has said. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday said that food assistance has reached more 26,500 people fleeing fighting in Sudan’s South Kordofan state. Full text...

Washington D.C., US (PANA) - As people move from rural to urban settings in search of economic opportunities, urban agriculture has become an important provider of both food and employment, according to researchers with the Worldwatch Institute. Full text...

Morogoro, Tanzania (PANA) - Tanzania will not achieve its ambition of being ranked as a competitive middle-income economy unless urgent efforts are made to advance its agriculture to a middle income sector, Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Minister Jumanne Maghembe, said here Thursday. Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is prepared to support the agricultural programme, called "Nigeriens Nourish Nigeriens (3N)", initiated in Niger by President Mahamadou Issoufou, FAO Director General Jacques Diouf said after a two-day visit to the country. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – Mauritania and the European Union (EU) on Tuesday began negotiations in Nouakchott to renew the fishing agreement between them, which expires on 31 July 2011. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The number of people facing severe food shortages is set to increase as the impact of drought, along with high food and fuel prices, continues to grip the Horn of Africa region, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned Tuesday. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Determined to achieve food security, Nigeria is exploring its bilateral relations with China to develop the agricultural sector of the economy. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday launched a new initiative to grow more food to feed the world’s growing population in an environmentally sustainable way. Full text...

Conakry, Guinea (PANA) – The recent launch of the 2011-2012 agricultural campaign in the 33 Guinean prefectures, where ministers were sent to kick-start the process, buttresses the resolve of the government to attain food self-sufficiency in three years. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - An urban horticulture programme, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the five main cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has taken a bite out of chronic malnutrition levels in urban areas and created a surplus with a market value of over US$ 400 million. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The government of Congo is to spend four billion CFA francs in 2011 for the rehabilitation of 17 rural roads in eight of the 12 departments covered by the Agricultural Development and Rural roads Rehabilitation project (PDARP), PANA reported. Full text...