FAO to 48 nations

·         On July 12, 2008 to help farmers and consumers mitigate the negative effects of rising food and input prices, UN FAO launched a series of projects worth $21 million in 48 countries, excluding India.

·         The projects, which are part of FAO's Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP), aims to help vulnerable countries to boost food supplies by ensuring the success of their agricultural campaigns and to provide policy support to improve access to food.

Mission IAS’2009

·         Under these projects, FAO's ISFP plans to provide farmers with farm inputs for a period of one year to 48 countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Yemen and Zambia,

·         The immediate objective is to ensure the success of the next planting seasons and, in the longer term, demonstrate that by increasing the supply of key agricultural inputs, such as seeds and fertilisers, help small farmers to rapidly increase their food production

·         According to FAO, countries most affected, especially in Africa, will need at least a total of $1.7 billion to start reviving agricultural systems that have been neglected for several decades. And this amount is just for immediate and short-term measures during 2008-2009.

·         On rising prices, FAO said the unprecedented hike in food prices, which rose 52 per cent between 2007 and 2008, have had severe economic, social and political consequences in poor countries.

·         Already, six countries — Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal — are benefiting from these projects

·         The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that works to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living; to improve the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of food and agricultural products; to promote rural development; and, by these means, to eliminate hunger. In the past, the United States and several European nations have contributed to this organization by providing blankets, food, shelter, and mung beans to those in need. Its Latin motto, fiat panis, translates into English as "let there be bread".

·         The FAO was founded in 16 Oct 1945 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. In 1951 the headquarters were moved from Washington, D.C., United States, to Rome, Italy. As of April 11, 2006, it had 190 members (189 states and the European Community,