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	UN agriculture agency warns of threat to food security from overuse of antibiotics by United Nations News   Feb. 2016   The overuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents is impacting rural livelihoods and food security, and requires globally coordinated efforts, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.   Speaking to European ministers of health and agriculture at a conference on antimicrobial resistance in Amsterdam, FAO Deputy Director-General Helena Semedo emphasized that antimicrobial agents foster increasing resistance among the very microbes that cause the infections and disease they were designed to quell, thereby threatening to reverse a century of progress in human and animal health.   “Antimicrobial resistance is a global threat that in this inter-connected world cannot be solved in Europe alone,” Ms. Semedo said. “We have to help save live-saving drugs,” she added.   Aside from the human health considerations, Ms. Semedo underscored that the emergence of microbes resistant to antibiotics and other pharmaceutical agents puts animal health at risk and consequently has an impact on rural livelihoods and food security.   While resistance develops as part of natural adaptation, it is exacerbated by inappropriate use of pharmaceuticals, and the prevalence of resistance in the agricultural sector is generally higher in animal species reared under intensive production systems.   Although FAO favours prudent regulations and measures to control the influx of medicines and reduce their use, Ms. Semedo said that many rural smallholders and pastoralists often face difficult economic choices and that counterfeit drugs are rampant.   “How can we eliminate hunger or improve sustainability when we cannot cure sick animals? How can we reduce rural poverty when the drugs given to ill farm workers and their families no longer have effect?” she asked.   While hailing the Netherlands in particular for reducing the amount of drugs used in its livestock sector by almost 60 per cent in recent years, Ms. Semedo noted that the real challenge is to translate such efforts to countries in need with poor resources. The risk of antimicrobial resistance appears to be particularly high in countries where legislation, surveillance, prevention and monitoring are weak or inadequate, she stressed.   Broad improvements in hygiene, disease prevention, veterinary oversight and accurate and affordable diagnostics, as well as ensuring quality nutrition to improve the overall health of livestock and fish through safe feed and suitable breeds, are critical in reducing the overuse of antibiotics, she said.   Considering that seven out of every 10 newly discovered human diseases are of animal origin, she also highlighted the centrality of farming practices and food systems in the effort to contain antimicrobial resistance. Visit the related web page
	Rural development plays a fundamental role in stabilizing communities by International Fund for Agricultural Development   February 2016   Final day of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)- 39th Governing Council.   Recognizing that rural development plays a fundamental role in stabilizing communities and reducing migration and conflict, IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze told leaders that “by working together to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – starting with zero poverty and zero hunger – we can break the chain of desperation” that leads to emergencies and humanitarian disaster.   Urgent calls for action in support of increased investment in smallholder agricultural to ensure food security, climate change adaptation, equitable prosperity and ultimately to remove the root causes that lead to conflict and migration, were heard throughout the conference, held annually in Rome for senior government officials representing IFAD’s 176 member states.   Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Italian Republic, brought attention to the increasing number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria and called on leaders of all nations to get involved.   "Saving human lives and reaching out to those fleeing war or misery is a moral duty, a duty for any society that defines itself as free, democratic and truly respectful of human rights," he said.   Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, a globally recognized entrepreneur and founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, delivered this year’s IFAD Lecture. Ibrahim took African governments to task for not living up to their commitments to invest in agriculture and rural development. He said it is essential that they create opportunities for young people in agriculture so that they are able to resist the dangerous call of extremism.   “No jobs, no hope,” he said, adding that Africa has more hungry, malnourished people than anywhere else in the world. “We are by far the least productive region in the agriculture sector but because we have more uncultivated, arable land than anywhere else, it presents opportunities.”   A private-sector panel highlighted the need for bold initiatives to better link smallholder farmers to markets. Panel participants emphasized that everyone – government, the private sector, financing institutions such as IFAD, small- and medium-sized enterprises and smallholders farmers – have a role to play.   A second panel discussion, focused on innovative agricultural solutions to many of the global challenges, including IFAD investments in farming technologies, approaches to empower women and youth, and the use of new technology to enhance rural development.   Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Director General of the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture, said that the world is at a crossroad in terms of its overuse of natural resources, and that the Middle East and North Africa region already has some of the highest water scarcity in the world.   "Climate change impacts the poor and marginalized most of all,” she said. “We have huge challenges ahead, and we need to act now."   Among the outcomes from the Farmers’ Forum, a meeting held in conjunction with IFAD’s Governing Council, organizers announced a plan to make the platform for dialogue more inclusive, inviting pastoralists and livestock breeders to take part, and more decentralization creating stronger links to smallholders and family farmers on the ground.   * IFAD invests in rural people, working to empower them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, IFAD has provided grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached about 459 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agriculture hub. Visit the related web page
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