Empowering Women in Agriculture

 Women are essential to the success of agriculture, but yet face many boundaries and challenges in agriculture. At the Borlaug Dialogue as part of the World Food Prize last week H.E. Gilbert Houngbo (President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development) shared the following, "If women were to have the same productive resources, in agriculture, as men we would have 150 million less people suffering from malnutrition and hunger." Below is a video that was shared a couple days ago by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations celebrating International Rural Women's Day. We encourage you to watch the video linked below and utilize the discussion points to guide your conversations around the globe. 

Pakistan International Rural Women's Day

Discussion Points

• What did you notice from the video? Could be visual footage or text.
• What is your main takeaway from the video? What surprised you or did not surprise you?
• What role do women play in agriculture in your local area? What are the attitudes towards women in agriculture in your local area? Compare and contrast women's roles in agriculture from different parts of the world.
• It what ways can women in agriculture be empowered locally and globally? 
• As the woman in the video asks, "What do you say?"

Locust Attack

Desert Locusts are swarming parts of Africa. They are causing threats that have not been seen at these magnitudes for years. Below you will find links to a written story and video highlighting the situation. We encourage you to explore both links and utilize the discussion points below to guide conversations around the globe.

Article: Alarm Over Desert Locusts Increases

Video: Alarm Over Desert Locusts Increases in Horn of Africa

Discussion Points

• What is the impact that desert locusts are having in Africa currently? What is the outlook?
• What information shared in the article and/or video is most alarming in your opinion and why?
• The last thirty seconds of the video highlights action items. Of the action items shared which do you feel could have the greatest potential impact to combat the locusts and why?
• How might this locust infestation in Africa impact you in your local region?

Wheat Recovery in Syria

Highlighted below is a video from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on seed multiplication for agriculture recovery of Syria. The video highlights how the FAO is working with farmers in increase yields and recover from conflict. We encourage you to watch the linked video and utilize the discussion points below to guide your conversations around the globe. 

Seed Multiplication for Agriculture Recovery

Discussion Points

• How is the FAO working with farmers to revive agriculture in Syria?
• What did you discover from this video and why did it stick out to you?
• In the second half of the video a Syrian farmer is interviewed about his work with FAO to improve agriculture production. He shares how he was skeptical at first to take their recommendations and many others did not believe he could be successful. Why are so many skeptical to try new practices in agriculture?
• How do we get farmers, producers, and people in general to try new practices? What techniques can be utilized? 

Global Fish

Fish are an important part of diets around the globe. This week we highlight four short videos titled "Voices of the Fish," from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. We encourage you to watch the short series below and utilize the discussion points below to guide conversations around the world!

Voices of the Fish: Overview (1:22)

Voices of the Fish: Strengthening Our Knowledge (1:28)

Voices of the Fish: Safeguarding Ocean Habitats (1:25)

Voices of the Fish: International Measures to Safeguard Fisheries (2:57)

Discussion Points

• At the end of the first video the question is asked, "How do we look after the fish to feed people around the world?" What would your response be to this question?
• Why is it important that we strengthen our knowledge regarding fish?
• What is being done at a global level to protect fish and the fishing industry?
• In your local community how much is fish consumed? When compared to the rest of the world do you think people living in your local area eat more, less, or about the same amount of fish as others around the globe? What impacts fish consumption in your area?

World Cereal Production and the Food Price Index

World cereal production is on pace for an all time high. This is one factor that impacts the Food Price Index put out by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Below we have linked two items. The first is an article regarding a summary of the recent Food Price Index and production trends around the globe. The second link is the latest Food Price Index report from the FAO. We encourage you to look over both links and utilize the discussion points below to guide your conversations in your classrooms, coffee shops, and communities around the world!

Global Cereal Output Heads for New Record

Food Price Index

Discussion Points

• What is the FAO Food Price Index?
• What is the trend with cereal production around the world? Are their trends within certain regions of the world that are different than others?
• Looking at the Food Price Index what trends have you noticed over the past years? What may be causing these fluctuations? 
• Some Food Price Indexes have decreased while other areas have increased or held stable? What are the reasonings for this?
• What specific area increase or decrease in the Food Price Index surprises you the most and why?

Information Technologies Key to Farmers

Many of us have technology at our fingertips via our mobile devices. We can check grain markets, weather, and even the score of last nights basketball game. Recently the FAO Director-General called for information technologies to be developed specifically for farmers in developing countries. We encourage you to read the linked article and use the discussion points below to guide your conversations around the globe.

More Support to Family Farmers Needed

Discussion Points

• Why are information technologies so important to small family farmers in developing countries?
• Why is it so important to give attention to small farmers in developing countries? 
• What technologies are being developed that will help farmers in developing countries?
• Look at agriculture in your community. How is information technology utilized in agriculture?
• Imagine you work for a technology company in development. What technologies and tools would you create for farmers in developing countries and how could they use them to improve agriculture?

Battling Sheep and Goat Plague

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are teaming up to battle Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and eradicate the disease by 2030. PPR is a disease that is ravaging sheep and goat flocks in parts of the world. The linked article provides facts and the plan for this. Along with the article on the right side of the webpage there are additional links to provide better understanding. You are encouraged to read the linked article and watch the linked video below. From there utilize the discussion points to guide conversations in your classrooms and communities around the world!

FAO and OIE Global Campaign to Eradicate PPR

PPR Video

Discussion Points

• What is PPR and why is it such a concern?
• Animal diseases can have negative impacts on human health, but what other areas can they negatively affect? Explain.
• How can farmers protect their flocks from PPR currently?
• What parts of the world are being directly impacted by PPR and why are these areas such a concern?
• How does the FAO and OIE plan to work together to eradicate PPR? Evaluate the plan. What do you like? What would you improve?

Global Commodity Food Prices

This week we feature the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index. The linked website shares what the food price index is and what trends we are seeing. We encourage you to explore the different commodity areas and reasonings for increases and decreases of specific commodity areas and the overall direction of commodity prices. After you analyze this website use the discussion points below to guide your conversations around the world.

FAO Food Price Index

Discussion Points

• Explain what the FAO Food Price Index is and how it works.
• Which index/commodity has seen the greatest increase and decrease recently and why?
• What has the been the trend of the FAO Food Price Index over the past 15 years?
• What do you think the future trend will be of the FAO Food Price Index? Justify your reasoning.
• What factors have an affect on setting the FAO Food Price Index?