HUGE AMOUNTS OF AVOIDABLE POST-HARVEST LOSSES WORSENS HUNGER FOR POOR – UN

New York, Nov 2 2009 6:10PM
The plight of the hungry in developing countries is needlessly aggravated by farmers losing up to half of their crops after gathering the harvest, the United Nations agricultural agency said today, stressing that adequate investment and training could drastically cut the losses.

The Food and Agricultural Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/36844/icode/">FAO) said that excessive rainfall, droughts, extreme temperatures, contamination by micro-organisms, and premature harvesting are among the causes of these post-harvest losses, which estimates put at anywhere from 15 to 50 per cent of what is produced.

Crops also lose value through damage because of spillage, harm from inappropriate tools, chemical contamination or rough handling – including heat build-up – during harvesting, loading, packing or transportation.

The removal of so much of the food supply from the market results in high prices, as well as avoidable damage to the environment as land, water, human labour and non-renewable resources such as fertilizer and energy are used to produce, process, handle and transport food that no one eats.

With the right kind of training, much of the food lost through poor transport and packaging practices can be saved, according to a news release issued by FAO.

Inadequate and insecure storage facilities in many developing countries is another major problem where the FAO in collaboration with donors can make a difference, as seen in an Afghan project that provided household metallic silos to around 18,000 homes.

Post-harvest losses were slashed by improving storage facilities and helping local tinsmiths to manufacture hermetically-sealed silos, which protected food stored pests, rodents, birds and fungi and allowed produce to be kept for long periods without loss of quality.

FAO said that participating farmers used the silos to store cereal grains and grain legumes, reporting higher incomes and longer storage possibilities, with losses falling to less than one or two per cent. In addition, the technical training to tinsmiths meant an additional 4,500 silos were put together locally and sold to other farmers.

In many developing countries the materials needed to build the silos are unaffordable for poor farmers. FAO has consequently set up a financing scheme to help more smallholders obtain better storage containers.

Post-harvest losses also present a problem in Western supermarkets, where if a fruit and vegetable is bruised, wilted, unripe, misshapen, of incorrect size or generally unsightly, it will not be put on the shelves. With an absence of alternative markets for such produce, it is thrown away.

 [ send green star]

STOCK EXCHANGES CAN PROMOTE STABLE, SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL ECONOMY – BAN

New York, Nov 2 2009 5:10PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged leaders of stock exchanges and financial institutions to better manage and integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their business practices.

In a video <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=4203">message to a gathering at United Nations Headquarters of more than 60 top executives from around the world, Mr. Ban said that these so-called “ESG” issues are critical in creating a world economy that is more stable, inclusive and sustainable.

“Stock exchanges and other financial bodies and institutions have a key role to play,” he told the group, which is meeting to explore ways in which stock exchanges can promote sustainable business practices and long-term approaches to investment.

He welcomed the steps already undertaken by participants to incorporate ESG considerations into new stock indexes, listing rules and regulatory frameworks, and said he hoped the meeting will inspire even further efforts.

The Secretary-General also highlighted the “unprecedented” partnerships forged between the UN and the business and financial communities in recent years.

Among them is the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability and responsibility initiative, which currently involves over 5,000 companies across 130 countries.

Another is the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment – a set of voluntary actions for incorporating ESG issues into mainstream investment decision-making and ownership practices that today includes more than 600 institutional investors with assets of over $18 trillion.

A report released in July by the UN Environment Programme (<"http://www.unep.org/">UNEP) and a powerful group of asset managers controlling some $2 trillion in assets argued that if investment consultants and others do not incorporate ESG considerations into their services, they face “a very real risk that they will be sued for negligence.”

It also stressed the central role that the world’s largest institutional investors – including pensions funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds and mutual funds – have in easing the transition to a low-carbon and resource-efficient green economy.

Today’s meeting is co-hosted by the Global Compact, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (<"http://www.unctad.org/Templates/StartPage.asp?intItemID=2068">UNCTAD) and the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment.

 [ send green star]

FIVE NATIONS SIGN UP TO UN INITIATIVE TO TACKLE DEFORESTATION

New York, Nov 2 2009 3:10PM
Five countries today <"http://www.un-redd.org/NewsCentre/tabid/969/language/en-US/Default.aspx">joined the United Nations initiative aimed at combating climate change by creating incentives for poorer countries to reverse the trend of deforestation and invest in more sustainable forms of development.

Argentina, Cambodia, Ecuador, Nepal and Sri Lanka each asked to participate in the initiative, known as <"http://www.un-redd.org/">UN-REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries), adding to the initial nine member countries.

The five countries said they wanted to benefit from the expertise generated by
UN-REDD and its activities, particularly concerning improved consultations with indigenous peoples and civil society, according to a press release issued by the programme today in Nairobi.

UN-REDD, which is a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO), the UN Development Programme (<"http://www.undp.org/">UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (<"http://www.unep.org/">UNEP), hopes to eventually generate up to $30 billion a year of financial flows from rich countries to poor nations to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The initiative targets deforestation and forest degradation as related activities such as agricultural expansion, the conversion of forests to pasture land, infrastructure development, destructive logging and fires account for almost 20 per cent of global emissions of greenhouse gases.

In its first year of operations UN-REDD has approved more than $37 million in funding for the national anti-deforestation programmes of countries, including Panama, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Viet Nam. The programme says another 20 countries have voiced interest in joining.

Denmark also announced today that it is become the second country donor to the programme after Norway.

 [ send green star]