The principal function of the Regional Office for Africa is the overall identification, planning and implementation of FAO's priority activities in the Region. It ensures a multi disciplinary approach to programmes; identify priority areas of action for the Organization in the Region and, in collaboration with departments and divisions at headquarters, advise on the incorporation of such priorities into the Organization's Programme of Work and Budget; implement approved programmes in the Region; and monitor the level of programme implementation and draw attention to any deficiencies.

“Forests play a critical role in climate change,” FAO said today during the opening day of the first-ever joint meetings between the Near East Forestry Commission and the Africa Forestry and Wildlife Commission. Jan Heino, FAO Assistant Director-General for Forestry, said, “The Forestry sector, mainly deforestation in tropical areas, causes 17 percent of global emissions of greenhouse gases. Sustainable forest management is a necessary component of a global strategy to combat climate change.”

The top veterinary officials of four West African countries are to join forces to battle the possible spread of avian influenza in the region.

Closing a two-day ground-breaking meeting June 5 in Sunyani, a regional capital close to the Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire border, the chief veterinary officers of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo issued a statement calling for better communication and information exchange among countries of the region to control outbreaks of avian influenza.

Although women play key roles in forest protection and conservation, policies and laws are biased in favor of men, said the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today at the opening of a gender workshop for forestry in Africa.

“Why are forests especially important in the lives of women? Far more women than men, in the developing world, are farmers, cutters and users of woodfuel, collectors and traders of minor forest products, and tenders of livestock,” remarked Esther Obeng Dapaah, Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines of Ghana in her keynote address.

Immediate control interventions crucial for stopping the spread of the virus

A five-day Regional Training Workshop on Information Exchange and International Exchange and Phytosanitary Portal has ended in Accra.

The havoc being caused by Pests to Agricultural produce and measures to stem them
was central to two presentations made by Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture,
Mr Ernest Debrah, and Mr Oloche Anebi Edache, Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Africa.

Opening the four-day workshop for the Review of Draft International Standards for Phytosanitary
Measures (ISPM) in Accra, Mr Debrah pointed out that the standards are important if the fight against pest introduction is to gain any grounds.

The FAO Sub-regional office for Eastern and Southern Africa and Consumers International Africa Office (CI-ROAF), two prominent organisations tackling food safety implementation, have teamed up to work on the issue of street vended foods in Africa, particularly in East and Southern Africa.

A national IMARK/AGRIS training workshop for Kenya was held from 18th to 22nd April 2005. The objectives of the workshop, which was organized by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institutes (KARI) in collaboration with the Regional Agricultural Information Network (RAIN) of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), the were to:

1. Introduce participants to modern trends and initiatives in agricultural information management;