Copa-Cogeca, representing European farmers and European agri-cooperatives has taken the opportunity of the International Year of Biodiversity to showcase the commitment of the agricultural sector to preserve biodiversity, herein by presenting concrete examples of how the interests of farmers can be aligned with biodiversity goals. Real life examples from all over Europe provided by Copa-Cogeca’s member organisations have been assembled in this brochure. They show how agriculture creates biodiversity and reveal: a) that our cultural landscape and in particular many of the most valuable habitats rely on agriculture; b) that efficient and productive agricultural land use, ensuring a sufficient income for farmers, can be brought in line with nature conservation objectives; c) that farmers are prepared to adapt their farming methods to enhance biodiversity and that ecoinnovation can contribute to this; d) that farmers need financial as well as non-material support to better align their economic interests with biodiversity targets.

The "State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008" represents FAO’s ninth progress report on world hunger since the 1996 World Food Summit (WFS). In previous editions, FAO has expressed deep concern over the lack of progress in reducing the number of hungry people in the world, which has remained persistently high. This year’s report focuses on high food prices, which are having a serious impact on the poorest populations in the world, drastically reducing their already low purchasing power. High food prices have increased levels of food deprivation, while placing tremendous pressure on achieving internationally agreed goals on hunger by 2015. This report also examines how high food prices present an opportunity to relaunch smallholder agriculture in the developing world. As discussed in the report, FAO’s undernourishment estimates for the period 1990–92 to 2003–05 have been revised on the basis of new standards for human energy requirements established by the United Nations (UN) and 2006 revisions of UN population data.

This paper, the first of two African Centre for Biosafety publications on new foreign claims over African sorghum (the second being in progress), begins by providing some background information on the tremendous contribution made by sorghum developed by African farmers, to the sorghum industry in the United States. It then explains the problem of aluminium toxicity in acid soils, how the Tanzanian gene may help overcome this problem in sorghum and other crops, and commercial interest in using the gene in sorghum and GE crops and trees. In conclusion it discusses issues of equity and biopiracy raised by the patent claims.

Fact sheet issued on the occasion of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 4), held in Bonn, Germany, from 12 to 16 May 2008. It focus on agricultural and agrobiodiversity topics, presenting a number of considerations on climate change, agricultural investment and innovations, biofuels and governance.