The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Headline:
Plant pests destroy up to 40% of agriculture and crops, adding to an increasingly hungry world - FAO
Even though plants provide 98% or more of the oxygen people breathe, and nearly 80% of our daily calorie intake, they are under siege.
“Pests currently destroy up to 40% of agriculture and crops, including food crops- 40% each year. This costs the world about $220 billion- that would be $220 billion annually in global trade losses,” said Dr. Osama El-Lissy, Secretary- General of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) today to the media at the United Nations in Geneva ahead of its annual meeting.
The IPPC, an intergovernmental treaty involving 184 countries, is overseen by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to safeguard agriculture and natural resources against plan pest and to facilitate safe trade.
In an increasingly hungry world, with 828 million people experiencing hunger in 2021 based on the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, this is alarming and set back global efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030.
For example, the most widely traded fruit in the world, worth USD 7.5 billion, is under attack from the devastating banana fusarium (TR4), a fungus that attacks the roots causing bananas to wilt.
“80% of the global banana production is currently under attack from a disease called banana fusarium,” Mr. El-Lissy said. “That is basically a fungus that attacks and kills bananas. And more recently, just two weeks ago, Venezuela actually reached out to us to report the detection of this particular banana fusarium in banana production and declared an emergency”.
Next week, the IPPC’s governing body, the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, will convene in Rome for its 17th annual session to adopt standard and to take stock of the progress in the global protection of plants.
“We are concerned about insecticide resistance and that's why we promote environmentally friendly tools that could be just as effective in controlling some of these pests, including biological control in sterile insect technology and other practices that can really minimize the use of insecticides while at the same time providing the necessary safeguarding against some of these invasive pests,” said Dr. Osama El-Lissy.
He also emphasized that “based on scientific review that the IPPC conducted last year, climate change is increasing the risk of pests spreading in agriculture and forestry areas. And we see this in the distribution of desert locusts, the world's most destructive migratory pests”.
- ends-
STORY: FAO: Plant Pests and Impacts on Food Security
TRT: 2 min 23s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 24 March 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide shot, Briefing room, Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Dr. Osama El-Lissy, Secretary of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), FAO: “Pests currently destroy up to 40% of agriculture and crops, including food crops- 40% each year. This costs the world about $220 billion- that would be $220 billion annually in global trade losses".
- Medium shot, journalists
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr. Osama El-Lissy, Secretary of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), FAO: “ 80% of the global banana production is currently under attack from a disease called banana fusarium. That is basically a fungus that attacks and kills bananas. And more recently, just two weeks ago, Venezuela actually reached out to us to report the detection of this particular banana fusarium in banana production and declared an emergency.”
- Close-up of journalist with monitors in the background
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr. Osama El-Lissy, Secretary of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), FAO: “We are concerned about insecticide resistance and that's why we promote environmentally friendly tools that could be just as effective in controlling some of these pests, including biological control in sterile insect technology and other practices that can really minimize the use of insecticides while at the same time providing the necessary safeguarding against some of these invasive pests.”
- Close up, journalists typing
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Dr. Osama El-Lissy, Secretary of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), FAO: “Based on scientific review that the IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention) conducted last year, climate change is increasing the risk of pests spreading in agriculture and forestry areas. And we see this in the distribution of desert locusts, the world's most destructive migratory pests.”
- Medium shot, Screens with camera in the foreground
- Close up, journalist
- Close up, journalists typing
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Ukraine: Russian attacks on energy terrorize population as winter starts; could trigger major ‘crisis within crisis’
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine expressed concern on Friday about “continuous attacks” on energy production sites and distribution facilities.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Navi Pillay Retires After Decades Defending Human Rights and Pursuing Justice
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OCHA , WMO
‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa hours from landfall in Jamaica as humanitarians rush to save lives
Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners are warning of a “severe” and “immediate” humanitarian threat.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘We need all routes to open’: in Gaza WHO calls for ramp-up of medevacs, easier access for essentials
Two weeks since a ceasefire agreement entered into force in Gaza the World Health Organization (WHO) noted progress on the flow of aid while calling for more evacuations of critical patients and eased entry for essential medicines and supplies.
1
12
1
1
Edited News | WMO , UNITED NATIONS
UN chief urges boost to life-saving weather warning systems, stresses role of climate change science
No country is safe from the devastating impacts of extreme weather — and saving lives means making early-warning systems accessible to all, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday.