22 January 2017 – Highlighting growing challenges, such as climate change and natural resource scarcity, facing small farmers in developing countries, the head of the United Nations agricultural agency called for information technology tools that can help boost their resilience as well as feed a growing world population.

&#8220Millions of small family farmers need technical and financial assistance to be more resilient and adapt to the impacts of climate change,&#8221 said José Graziano da Silva, the Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

&#8220They must be able to stay on their land, produce their own food and also have access to markets,&#8221 he added.

In his remarks at the G20 agricultural ministers meeting in the German capital, Berlin, Director-General Graziano da Silva noted that rural areas around the world will also be key in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development given that this where poverty and hunger are most concentrated.

At the same time, these increases in agricultural yields in these regions are required to feed a world population set to cross the 9-billion mark by 2050, and these will greatly depend on small family farmers, according to FAO studies.

Turning to the importance of information and communication technologies to build efficiency, resilience and inclusion of poor family farmers, the FAO Director-General spoke about the agency’s digital strategy that aims to support them through knowledge sharing and bottom-up learning.

As part of this strategy, the UN agency is working with Google to make high-resolution satellite data an everyday tool to monitor and manage natural resources, promote sustainable and strengthen food security. It is also engaging with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) &#8211 the UN system’s weather agency ¬&#8211 to improve weather forecasts for farmers, as well as exploring ways to provide small farmers with microclimate forecasts.

Mr. Graziano da Silva said that these efforts would be aimed at countries that do not have national meteorological services established and urged for support so that meteorological data, available at global level, can be translated at a local level to benefit farmers, pastoralists and fisherfolks.

Also in his remarks, the senior UN official hailed the G20 for its continuing focus on the issue of water scarcity and on antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

According to FAO estimates, almost 2.1 billion people live in the dry areas of the world and that some 260 million people, most of them in rural areas, lack access to safe drinking water.

Inviting G20 Members to participate in the Global Framework for Water Scarcity &#8211 launched by FAO and its partners at the recent UN Climate Conference in Marrakech, Morocco &#8211 that seeks to help countries and communities improve the efficiency of their water use and increase their resilience to drought.

On antimicrobial resistance, the head of FAO called on G20 support to the UN agency’s efforts to promote responsible use of antibiotics in the agricultural sector to prevent the spread of resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms (such as bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites) change, developing resistance, as they are exposed to antimicrobial drugs (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarials and anthelmintics) used to treat the infections they cause. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist, become harder to treat and increase the risk of spreading.

PM condoles the loss of lives due to the derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express train

Huang Xingguo, former acting Party chief and mayor of Tianjin Municipality, is under investigation on suspicion of accepting bribes, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) announced on Sunday.

The SPP said Huang has been placed under “coercive measures,” which may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest.

Investigation into his case is currently under way, according to the SPP.

A helicopter that belonged to the PLA Army Aviation Corps crashed on Thursday evening during a night time training flight. The two pilots remain missing as of Friday 20:10, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MOD) confirmed late on Friday.

The MOD statement says that the accident happened around 19:20 on Thursday evening in the rural area of the Quangang District, Quanzhou City in southeast China’s coastal Fujian Province. The MOD did not specify the model of the helicopter nor which military unit it belonged to, adding that the cause of the crash is still being investigated.

The crash also resulted in four damaged village houses and three injured local people with non-life-threatening injuries.

Media have released the news of the helicopter crash in Quanzhou soon after the accident happened, but local authorities said the military authorities will announce the official account of the accident.

Rescuers have found no signs of life of the 10 people missing after a landslide in central China’s Hubei Province on Friday night, indicating the death toll is very likely to stay at 12.

Two people have been confirmed dead.

The Mirage Hotel in Nanzhang County was devastated at around 7:30 p.m. Friday when around 3,000 cubic meters of debris slid down a slope behind the hotel, said the firefighters in charge of the rescue.

Hotel owner He Dahui is among the missing.

A total of 15 people were trapped, and rescuers pulled five survivors from the debris, two of whom died in hospital.

A three-storey building collapsed, trapping hotel workers and guests in the restaurant on the first floor.

Rescue work has been suspended due to risks of a secondary disaster. Rescuers will remove rocks that pose threat to the people on site before the work restarts.