ROME (FAO)* – Global food prices rose in May at their fastest monthly rate in more than a decade, even as world cereal production is on course to reach a new record high, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 3 June 2021 reported.
Maize growing in North Macedonia.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 127.1 points in May, 4.8 percent higher than in April and 39.7 percent higher than in May 2020.
Pests destroy up to 40 percent of global crops and cost $220 billion of losses
Maize damaged by fall armyworm.
Rome (FAO)* – Due to the impact of climate change, plant pests that ravage economically important crops are becoming more destructive and posing an increasing threat to food security and the environment, finds a scientific review released on 2 June 2021.
Nairobi/Rome, 3 June 2021 (UNEP)* – Facing the triple threat of climate change, loss of nature and pollution, the world must deliver on its commitment to restore at least one billion degraded hectares of land in the next decade – an area about the size of China.
Countries also need to add similar commitments for oceans, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), launched as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 gets underway.
(UN News)* — The world must harness “clear, transformative and actionable solutions” to address the ocean crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly on 1 June 2021 said, opening a meeting to generate momentum towards the 2022 UN Ocean Conference, when public health safety measures allow.
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UNCTAD | Coastal and marine ecosystems provide food, livelihoods, and coastal protection to more than a billion people worldwide.
May 2021 (Wall Street International)* — The notion of political parties in the non-United States existing along a neat and orderly linear continuum from left to right (or right to left depending on your predilection I suppose) is yet another American fantasy about ourselves, outdated at best and madly simplistic at worst.
31 May 2021 (United Nations)* — Since the 1980s, the important role of the family has increasingly come to the attention of the international community. The General Assembly adopted a number of resolutions and proclaimed the International Year of the Family and the International Day of Families.
Emphasizing the critical role of parents in the rearing of children, the Global Day of Parents recognizes that the family has the primary responsibility for the nurturing and protection of children.
31 May 2021 (WHO)* — Tobacco causes 8 million deaths every year. When evidence was released this year that smokers were more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19 compared to non-smokers, it triggered millions of smokers to want to quit tobacco.
Quitting can be challenging, especially with the added social and economic stress that have come as a result of the pandemic, but there are a lot of reasons to quit.
The benefits of quitting tobacco are almost immediate:
After just 20 minutes of quitting smoking, your heart rate drops.
Within 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
Within 2-12 weeks, your circulation improves and lung function increases.
Within 1-9 months, coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
Within 5-15 years, your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker.
Home secretary Priti Patel seems set on returning public opinion on migration to pre-2016 levels
Priti Patel has accused those who disagree with her stance on immigration of ‘seeking to sow dissent’ | PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
28 May 2021 (openDemocracy)* — On Monday 24 May, home secretary Priti Patel laid out the next steps in her department’s plan to ‘overhaul’ the UK immigration system. It followed proposals earlier this year to rip up the UK’s refugee protection principles.
US foreign policy is increasingly promoted by billionaire funded foundations. The neoliberal era has created individuals with incredible wealth and through “philanthropy”, they flex their influence and feel good at the same time.
While these philanthropists can be liberal on some issues, they universally support U.S. foreign policy and the “free market”.
29 May 2021 (UN News)* — A renewed focus on boosting the production of millets and highlighting their benefits, is critical to reducing over-reliance on more commonly grown crops, boosting diverse diets, and food security.
ICRISAT/Agathe Diama | Women carrying pearl millet harvest home in Mali
That’s especially true during periods of natural disaster when food becomes scarce, according to Dr Nancy Aburto, an agriculture expert at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
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She spoke to UN News earlier this year, saying that following the UN General Assembly’s recent adoption of a resolution proclaiming 2023 as the International Year of Millets in March 2021, efforts are afoot to promote cultivation as a solution to climate and global food security challenges.
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 