FAO Podcasts

More than 75 percent of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa prepare their lands using only hand tools. It’s a practice that results in poor productivity and repels young people.

Which is why the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, and the African Union have developed a framework to roll out sustainable farm mechanization across the continent.

The aim is to reduce drudgery, increase agricultural efficiency and boost food security. On this episode of TZH, we hear from Her Excellency Josefa Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, and Joseph Mpagalile, an agriculture engineer and expert at FAO.

Interview: Charlotta Lomas, FAO.

There’s renewed optimism for the Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries, thanks to improved scientific data and better management practices. According to a new report, 78 percent of fish stocks in the Mediterranean and Black Sea are overexploited, down from 88 percent in 2014.

Despite some positive signs, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warn that much more needs to be done to ensure the long-term sustainability of fisheries. Miguel Bernal, a fisheries resource officer at GFCM, explains.

The livestock sector is a key contributor to global warming. The world's population is growing, and as a result, we will need to feed more and more people. Can the sector transform from being a part of the problem to being part of the solution? Henning Steinfeld, Chief of Livestock Information, Sector Analysis and Policy Branch, at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) thinks it can.

Interview: Charlotta Lomas

As world leaders gather in Katowice, Poland for the 24th Conference of Parties (COP24) to discuss how countries can curbing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we ask what role the agriculture sector can play in cutting emissions. Alex Jones, director of the Climate and Environment Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), explains.

Interview: Charlotta Lomas, FAO

Target Zero Hunger - Stories from the field

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is rolling out digital innovation technologies in the form of SMS text messages and smart phone applications across the African continent, starting in Senegal and Rwanda.

In this pilot episode of FAO's new Stories From The Field Podcast, we head to Tambacounda, 450 kilometers south-east of Dakar, in Senegal to find out how digital tools are helping to modernize the country’s agriculture sector and boost farmers' livelihoods.

Report: Emmanuelle Landais, Senegal Editor: Charlotta Lomas, FAO

Antibiotics and other antimicrobials are commonly used in food and agriculture production. But their overuse and misuse is resulting in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Christine Czerniak, a communications expert at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), believes farmers have a critical role to play in stemming the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Interview: Charlotta Lomas, FAO

Weather in the Horn of Africa is becoming more and more unpredictable. One drought follows another, leaving communities increasingly vulnerable to hunger and food insecurity. A recent report released by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that early interventions can help avert the worst effects of drought. Dunja Dujanovic and Catherine Jones from the Early Warning Early Action Team at FAO discuss how early interventions effectively reduced the impacts of the 2017 drought in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

There is enough food to feed the entire population. Yet it is estimated that between 691 and 783 million people in the world faced hunger in 2022. Achieving Zero Hunger means meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to ensure food security for everyone across the globe. So how can we achieve Zero Hunger by 2030?

For this year's World Food Day, experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization share their views on how we can have a world without hunger.

FAO experts: Robert Guei, Juan Lubroth, Manuel Barange, Yon Fernandez Larrinoa, Susan Kaaria, Rosa Rolle, Fatima Hachem, Eduardo Mansur, Eva Muller, Ronald Vargas, Dan Leskien, Zitouni Oulddada.

Report: Charlotta Lomas, FAO

The discourse around migration is often framed negatively while the positive aspects are overlooked. A new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, shows that migration can in fact be highly beneficial to rural development and the agriculture sector. Andrea Cattaneo is the lead author of the State of Food and Agriculture report and a senior economist at FAO.

Did you know that about one third of all food in the Middle East and North Africa is lost or wasted? But governments in the region are hoping to change that - they’ve pledged to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2024. In Egypt, an estimated 50 kg of food is lost or wasted per person per year, according to United Nations figures. Most of this food is lost from the farm to the table, rather than wasted at the consumer level.

With assistance from the Italian government, FAO is training farmers and wholesalers to reduce food loss and ensure greater food security for the country.

Producers: Anais Hotin, Annie Tszmei & Charlotta Lomas