طراحی وب سایت

... water is key to food security 23-08-2011 q&a with fao assistant director-general for natural resources, alexander mueller a farmer in burundi waters her crops ... the vulnerability of rain-dependent food production systems and the people who depend on them has been brought into stark relief by the situation in east africa ... everybody understands that water is crucial for growing food - but often in an abstract way ... while many people in the horn of africa are pastoralists, not crop farmers, the current situation there makes it painfully clear the risks and vulnerability associated with rainfed food production systems, especially as the impacts of a changing climate are now making themselves felt ... over the last 50 years, the earth's population doubled and the global food system responded remarkably to the increase in food demand ... we have not seen the wholesale commitment to modernize irrigated production and marketing into changing local and global markets - even when land and water resources have been available but aren't other world regions running out of water? increasing regions of the world are indeed facing water scarcity and face the risk of progressive breakdown of their productive capacity under a combination of demographic pressure and unsustainable agricultural practices ... toward 2050, rising population and incomes are expected to require 70 percent more food production globally, and up to 100% more in developing countries ... but some regions are coming very close to their potential to intensify food production, which is already leading to tension on access to natural resources, in particular water ... it is estimated that only about 50% of the food that is produced is actually consumed, the rest being lost in storage, distribution and at the level of end users ... that's not just food waste -- it's water waste too if production is irrigated ... the production of 1 calorie of food requires 1 liter of water

... food must be a higher priority for decision-makers around the world to ward off disaster in decades to come, concludes a major report from the uk; and new technologies like gm and cloning should not be ruled out but acceptability weighed against the costs of not using them ... the foresight food and farming futures report is the culmination of a major project involving 400 experts and stakeholders in 35 countries around the world ... led by the john beddington, the uk’s chief scientific adviser, it was commissioned by the government to provide some signposts to policy-makers faced with juggling competing pressures in the food system ... with global population tipped to reach 8 billion by 2030 (from nearly 7 billion today) and possibly 9 billion by 2050, tough questions are being asked about whether the current food system will be able to feed the extra mouths on existing resources – sustainably and equitably ... the report draws attention to the current failings of the food system today, not just as witnessed during the food price spikes of 2007/8: decisive action is needed to tackle hunger and access to macronutrients, which currently affects 925m people worldwide; and to address sustainability issues in many food production systems ... the report concludes that: “the global food system between now and 2050 will face enormous challenges, as great as any that it has confronted in the past”, and gives a “stark warning for both current and future decision-makers on the consequences of inaction” ... “to address the unprecedented challenges that lie ahead the food system needs to change more radically in the coming decades than ever before, including during the industrial and green revolutions ... ” five key challenges prof beddington said we are “at a unique moment in history as diverse factors converge to affect the demand, production and distribution of food over the next 20 to 40 years” ... the report identifies five key challenges for the future, which need to be addressed in a pragmatic way in order to prevent future shocks to food supply – and to anticipate and manage future stresses: balancing future supply and demand to ensure affordability ensuring stability in food supplies, and protecting the most vulnerable from any volatility achieving global access and ending hunger, and recognising the difference between potentially feeding everyone and full food security managing contribution of the food system to mitigating climate change

... the key to long-term food security lies in boosting investment in agriculture, particularly in low-income food-deficit countries, fao director-general jacques diouf said today ... the rapid increase in hunger and malnourishment since the food crisis of 2008 reveals the inadequacy of the present global food system and the urgent need for structural changes, diouf said, addressing the gulf cooporation council (gcc) ministerial forum on agricultural investment in abu dhabi, attended by representatives of bahrain, kuwait, oman, qatar, saudi arabia, and the host country, the united arab emirates (uae) ... "the food price and economic crises have had a severe impact on millions of people in all parts of the world," he said ... the global food import bill could pass the one trillion dollar mark in 2010, a level not seen since food prices peaked at record levels in 2008 ... "these trends — diouf said — can have severe implications for countries like the gulf countries, which depend on commercial imports for a large share of their food consumption needs" ... structural changes a muststructural changes can improve food security, diouf said ... in the short term, this means targeted safety nets and social protection programmes as well as reliable and timely information on food commodity markets ... food-deficit countries must be given the necessary technical and financial solutions and policy tools to enhance their agricultural sectors in terms of productivity and resilience in the face of crises

... the recall of more than half a billion eggs linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak highlights a need for better traceability in the food system, according to the institute of food technologists (ift) ... ift submitted recommendations on food product tracing to the food and drug administration (fda) in march – proposals that it said could help detect the causes of disease outbreaks and contain them more quickly ... some of its recommendations, such as requiring companies to keep more detailed food safety records and allowing fda more access to those records, are included the food safety modernization act, which is currently awaiting consideration in the senate ... ift vice president will fisher said: “product tracing is a critical part of the food safety legislation that is currently under review because it serves to protect and improve the food supply, not only here in the united states but throughout the global food system ... “ the recent salmonella outbreak in eggs highlights a crucial need for an effective product tracing system,” ift said ... ift was contracted by the fda to create a mock trace forward/trace back system focusing on produce, to examine the accessibility of information to public health and regulatory officials, and to consider the cost implications of product tracing

... according to the institute of food technologists (ift), a nonprofit scientific society focusing on the science of food, a product tracing system would make it possible to identify food-borne illness outbreaks earlier as well as contain the outbreak faster ... a report issued earlier this year from the institute of food technologists (ift) to the u ... food and drug administration (fda) recommended guidelines that would establish a comprehensive product tracing system to track the movement of food products effectively from farm to point of sale or service ... “product tracing is a critical part of the food safety legislation that is currently under review because it serves to protect and improve the food supply, not only here in the united states but the throughout the global food system,” said ift vice president will fisher ... the recommendations from ift and the expert panel include: * creation of a standard list of key data or information to be collected * standardization of formats for expressing the information, * identification of the points along the supply chain, internally and between partners, where information needs to be captured * comprehensive record keeping that allows the linking of information both internally and with partners * use of electronic systems for data transfer * inclusion of traceability as a requirement within audits * required training and education on what compliance entails the report concludes that setting clear objectives for those in the food supply chain is the most appropriate approach to effective product tracing ... principally the system should be simple, user friendly and globally accepted, as well as have the ability to leverage existing industry systems ... the fda’s center for food safety and applied nutrition commissioned ift to conduct this study on traceability in the food system ... the study authors, including experts from academia, industry, and government, collected information from 58 food companies involved in produce, packaged consumer goods, processed ingredients, distribution, foodservice, retail, and animal feed

... but, ben cooper writes, while it may not be a major campaigning issue, rising concerns over global food security guarantee it will be a key policy area for the incoming uk administration to address ... vying for attention against other areas of popular concern such as health, education and immigration, food and agriculture unsurprisingly appear some way down the pecking order, both in terms of media and public interest and how much attention they are given by the parties in their manifestos ... however, political attention around food and farming has increased in recent years ... food security may often be viewed as the challenge of feeding growing populations in the developing world in the context of climate change and a transformed energy environment but in recent years politicians in britain have come to realise just how crucial an issue it is to the uk and its own food supply ... the recent mini-crisis caused by the interruption in air freight and the dramatic price spike two years ago illustrate just how exposed the uk is to global food supply fluctuations ... while estimates vary, the uk imports between 30% and 40% of its food needs ... there are concerns that the uk has become too reliant on imported food, and falling consumer appeal for traditional seasonal uk produce represents a danger to domestic agriculture ... activity in the past couple of years from the department for environment, food and rural affairs (defra), notably the food 2030 strategy, underlines a policy shift in food and farming and an acknowledgment of the criticality of the food security issue to the uk ... jules pretty, professor of environment and society at the university of essex, explains that for many years there had been some complacency over agriculture and the food supply ... the 1980s had been more about the problem of ‘food mountains’, now “long gone”, while the massive development of the uk’s food retail infrastructure gives an overriding view to the public of an abundant and utterly reliable supply

... global food prices are on the ascent again with the fao food price index - a food basket composed of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar - registering four straight monthly rises ... fortunately, market conditions are different from those that triggered the food price crisis that started two years ago, the un’s food and agriculture organization (fao) said in its december food outlook report published overnight (australian time) ... “as the price strengthening accelerated, several other factors emerged to reinforce the upheaval; most importantly, government export restrictions, a weakening united states dollar and a growing appetite by speculators and index funds for wider commodity portfolio investments on the back of enormous global excess liquidity ... “although supply and demand fundamentals will continue to shape commodity markets, the now entrenched susceptibility of the global food system to external non-food economy events requires continuous vigilance,” fao said ... global cassava production is expected to reach new highs in 2009, largely due to initiatives to sustain food security and demand from the ethanol sector where cassava has emerged as a key feedstock ... lower global imports are expected to depress world trade in all various meat categories in 2009 but a modest recovery is expected in 2010 ... 2009 was a challenging year for fish and fishery products because of the global downturn that hit demand

... global food prices are on the ascent again with the fao food price index – a food basket composed of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar – registering four straight monthly rises ... however market conditions are different from those that triggered the food price crisis that started two years ago, fao said in its december food outlook report published today ... “as the price strengthening accelerated, several other factors emerged to reinforce the upheaval; most importantly, government export restrictions, a weakening united states dollar and a growing appetite by speculators and index funds for wider commodity portfolio investments on the back of enormous global excess liquidity ... “although supply and demand fundamentals will continue to shape commodity markets, the now entrenched susceptibility of the global food system to external non-food economy events requires continuous vigilance,” fao said ... global cassava production is expected to reach new highs in 2009, largely due to initiatives to sustain food security and demand from the ethanol sector where cassava has emerged as a key feedstock ... lower global imports are expected to depress world trade in all various meat categories in 2009 but a modest recovery is expected in 2010 ... 2009 was a challenging year for fish and fishery products because of the global downturn that hit demand

... global food prices are on the rise again, the fao warns, but a repeat of the 2007/08 spike does not look likely without the same disastrous confluence of factors ... food prices reached a peak in june 2008, causing serious food security concerns and rioting in some parts of the world ... for the food industry, higher ingredient costs were passed along the food chain and had an impact on the bottom line of many businesses – not to mention end consumers’ grocery bills ... today the un’s food and agriculture organization (fao) has warned of the fourth consecutive rise in its monthly food price index, a ‘food basket’ made up of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar ... however the organisation says the “now entrenched susceptibility of the global food system to external non-food economy events requires continuous vigilance” ... as for fish, the global downturn has affected demand, and moderate price increases have been observed for several months

... a major new inquiry is seeking evidence on fairness in the global food system and will deliver a set of recommendations for food producers, retailers and governments on ethical practices ... food security and sustainability top government and business agendas ... helen browning, chair of the food ethics council, which is running the inquiry, said there has been much focus on the environment – stopping climate change and the amount of food the land can produce ... “this inquiry reminds us that sustainability and food security are at root social issues, and fairness is central to achieving either,” she said ... the inquiry’s committee is asking for opinions and experiences on how fair the global food system is ... it wants to uncover the reasons why some people eat healthily and others do not; whether food workers and farmers have a fair deal; and whether consumers have enough say about what goes into the food they eat ... “we have an idea of the sort of issues that need to come up, but there will be other unusual and unpredictable ideas,” tom macmillan, executive director of the food ethics council told foodnavigator ... global view the approach recognises that food fairness issues are global, and is “alert to ways government and food business work across international boundaries and consider impact beyond their back yard,” macmillan said ... he added that food companies need to see the progressive impact they make through their purchases, supply chains and foreign policy ... one case study that illustrates the global-to-local connection particularly well is fair trade, which has created a context for global production-consumption relations ... the 16 committee members count food and drink federation chief executive melanie leech amongst their number, as well as andrew opie, food policy director of the british retail consortium, and paul whitehouse, chair of the gangmasters licensing authority ... the first hearing, on 16th september, will tackle food poverty and malnutrition