• FAO released Food outlook that contained forecasts of production, trade, utilisation and stock levels across the world’s major basic foodstuffs.
  • It is a biannual report.
  • It estimates that the global food bill will rise to $1.98 trillion in 2023, up 1.5 percent from 2022. It rose by 11 percent in 2022 and 18 percent in 2021.
  • The import bill for the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is predicted to decline by 1.5 % this year and that for net food-importing developing countries (NFIDCs) to decline by 4.9%.

ABOUT FAO

• It was founded in 1945, a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• Members: 194 countries (including India) and European Union.
• Objectives-
  • Eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition;
  • Elimination of poverty and driving forward of economic and social progress for all; and
  • Sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including land, water, air, climate and genetic resources.
• Its sister bodies are the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
• Other major reports published by the FAO-
  • The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO),
  • The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA),
  • The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO),
  • The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI)

The three GIAHS in India are- Koraput Traditional Agriculture, Odisha Kuttanad Below Sea Level Farming System, Kerala Pampore Saffron Heritage, Jammu & Kashmir

SOME INITIATIVES OF THE FAO

• The Codex Alimentarius Commission is in charge of overseeing the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
• Monitors the status of Desert Locusts all over the world.
• The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the Thirty-First Session of the Conference of the FAO in 2001.
• Agricultural Heritage Systems of Global Importance (GIAHS).