The Global Overview collates information from a range of sources and displays it in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.

The Global Overview collates information from a range of sources and displays it in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.

HIGHLIGHTS

• FAO’s first forecast for world wheat production in 2013 stands at 690 million tonnes, about 28 million tonnes up from 2012 and the second largest crop on record. The increase is expected mostly in Europe, driven by an expansion in area in response to high prices, and in some countries due to an expected recovery in yields from last year’s below-average levels.

• The international cereal prices in recent months have followed mixed trends with rice prices rising and wheat declining, while maize prices remaining generally steady.

The Global Overview is a weekly update that provides a snapshot of current humanitarian priorities and recent events. The Global Overview collates information from a wide range of sources, including Reliefweb and media sources, and displays this information in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.

Women are main guardians of crucial livestock diversity

New study argues that to succeed, breed conservation efforts must empower women

Women livestock keepers worldwide must be recognized as the major actors in efforts to arrest the decline of indigenous breeds, crucial for rural food security and animal genetics, a new FAO study argues.

Yet women's contribution to indigenous livestock breeding and conservation is poorly documented and undervalued, the study Invisible Guardians: Women manage livestock diversity says.

This week, renewed violence between Arakan Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims took place in Rahkin state in Myanmar, affecting an estimated 28,000 people. Sectarian violence between the two communities in June already left more than 75,000 people displaced. Despite a four-day truce that was supposed to come into effect on Friday 26 October, fighting has continued in Damascus province, Aleppo, Idlib, Daara and Deir Ezzor in Syria. The number of flood-affected people in Chad has risen to 700,000, up from 445,000 in September, with 16 of the country’s 22 regions affected.

Snapshot, 8 to 15 October

This week, flooding caused by heavy rains affected more than 1.3 million people in Nigeria. Flooding also affected more than five million people in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab in Pakistan and around 226,000 in Bogra State in Bangladesh. A heavy tropical cyclone hit the south-west coast of Bangladesh on 11th October 2012 displacing 20,000 people and affecting more than 100,000. Armed violence continued to escalate in Syria with heavy fighting occurring in Homs, Daraa, Deir Ezzor, Idlib, Latakia, Aleppo and Damascus.

La hausse des prix alimentaires menace des millions de vies

Des millions de gens parmi les plus pauvres seront confrontés à de graves problèmes en raison de la forte hausse des prix alimentaires.

En effet, le système alimentaire mondial présente de sérieux problèmes que les décideurs politiques n'ont pas le courage de prendre en main, préférant miser sur les ressources bon marché qu'ils ont tenues pour acquises pendant 30 ans. Mais cette époque est désormais révolue.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today expressed its appreciation of the United States Government’s early and strategic response to 2012’s greatest humanitarian crises and hunger hotspots.

In facing today’s increasingly complex emergencies, the flexible and timely support from the U.S. has strengthened WFP’s ability to employ the right mix of tools at the right time and pre-position lifesaving assistance before the peak of crises.