What's New

The latest editions of the FAO Food Price Index and AMIS Market Monitor were both released on October 6. The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of five food commodity groups, while the AMIS Market Monitor covers the international markets for wheat, rice, maize, and soy and provides an overview of the market situation and outlook for each of these crops.

From September 26-27, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held its Fourth Ministerial Meeting on Food Security in Piura, Peru. Participants included Ministers and Heads of Delegation from all 21 APEC economies, as well as representatives from FAO, IFPRI, and the International Potato Center (CIP).

FAO’s third 2016 Crop Prospects and Food Situation Report was recently released. The report is published four times a year and provides a review of the food situation by geographic region and includes a section dedicated to the Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDC) and a list of countries requiring external assistance for food.

The agricultural sector employs 60 percent of women in Oceania, Southern Asia, and Africa south of the Sahara and 80 percent of women in Least Developed Countries. Despite women’s large role in agriculture, however, there remains a global gender gap in access to resources and agricultural productivity. As a result of this gender gap, male and female farmers in developing countries have different abilities to adapt to climate change, climate variability, and weather-related shocks.

Africa’s population is expected to continue to grow rapidly, reaching 2 billion by 2050. In order to combat the region’s already high levels of malnutrition and meet future food demand, Africa’s agricultural production and productivity (which is low by global standards and further threatened by climate change) will need to grow significantly. In addition to these challenges, Africa is also experiencing an economic slowdown, partly caused by a decrease in global prices for African export commodities. This is hampering efforts to meet food security and poverty reduction targets.