FAO Digital Media Hub - FAO in Emergencies

Hide details

Explore More Collections

Conceptually similar

FAO / GLOBAL REPORT ON FOOD CRISES

FAO/ WORLD OCEAN DAY

The Global Report on Food Crises 2020 - New report looks at food crises in the time of COVID-19

Global Report on Food Crises News Video

Global Report on Food Crises 2018: Acute hunger and malnutrition continue to spike

News Video: The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021

International Mountain Day 2020 VNR

SOFI 2022: Chief Economist Interview

FAO / SCIENCE AND INNOVATION FORUM 2023 ADVANCER

VNR World Antibiotic Awareness Week

World Ocean Summit Advancer

STATE OF FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE (SOFIA) 2022 REPORT

New UN report on global food security and malnutrition -VNR

Broll Forests in Costa Rica, Viet Nam, The Gambia

Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 VNR

FAO/ HUMANITARIAN CRISES AND HUNGER DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL INTERVIEW

FAO / AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS SOLUTIONS ARE CLIMATE SOLUTIONS

SUDAN / FOOD INSECURITY

Ethiopia: Drought Response

FAO / ANIMAL FODDER DISTRIBUTION IN GAZA

Add to collection

FAO in Emergencies

The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and conflicts have created significant food security challenges worldwide in the past years. Currently, millions of people around the world need urgent support in over 45 countries. But just providing food aid isn't enough to tackle the growing hunger crisis, explains Rein Paulsen, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) chief of Emergencies.

Country Various Countries - see shotlist

Duration 8m11s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 04/14/2023

File size 1.06 GB

Unique ID UF2HUS

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist STORY: FAO/ FAO IN EMERGENCIES

TRT: 8’:11’’

SOURCE: FAO

RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS

DATELINE: PLEASE CHECK SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS

SHOTLIST

MARCH 2018, COX’S BAZAR, BANGLADESH

1. Wide shot, Rohingya people walking inside camp

2018, HAITI

2. Wide shot, seeds distributions

2021, MAURITANIA

3. Close-up, man tapping dry ground

MAY 2022, SUNAMGANJ DISTRICT, BANGLADESH

4. Wide shot, rain falling on the river

NOVEMBER 2022, SOMALI REGION, ETHIOPIA

5. Wide shot, Rein Paulsen walking in the field

6. Med shot, Paulsen looking at wheat

27 MARCH 2023, ROME, ITALY

7. SOUNDBITE ( English) Rein Paulsen, the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience:

“Probably one of the most visible changes, quite frankly, is the explosion, the mushrooming, the growth in the number of people in need of urgent assistance. The [2023] Global Humanitarian Overview, that's a joint appeal coordinated by the United Nations, together with partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization is part of it, launched at the end of last year an appeal to support some 230 million people. I mean, these numbers, quite frankly, are eye watering and it tells us that we need to do not just more, but we need to do it better.”

APRIL 2017, TEREKEKA COUNTY, SOUTH SUDAN

8. Med shot, distribution of fishing kits

9. Close-up seeds distribution

APRIL 2017, HODAIDAH, YEMEN

10. Cow licking feed blocks in farm

JULY 2016, MERILLE LIVESTOCK TRADE, SOMALIA

11. FAO veterinarian vaccinating a goat

MAY 2021, NANGARHAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

12. Med shot, woman receiving cash

27 MARCH 2023, ROME, ITALY

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience:

“Fundamentally it's about putting resources in the hands of affected farming families. This means, for example, seeds, tools, technical assistance to allow them to plant for a coming season. It means keeping animals alive during a drought period or during a winter. And we do that through provision of emergency animal feed, even medical assistance, veterinary assistance to animals to keep these precious, precious assets alive. Often, it's also about just putting cash in the hands of people. I mean, if you or I are affected by a disaster, you know, we know best how to respond to our immediate needs.”

MAY 2021, NANGARHAR PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

14. Wide shot, wheat farmer harvesting

15. Wide shot, herder pulling a cow

MARCH 2022, KANDAHAR CITY, AFGHANISTAN

16. Med shot, distribution of animal feed to vulnerable herders and livestock owners

17. Wide shot, distribution of animal feed to vulnerable herders and livestock owners

27 MARCH 2023, ROME, ITALY

18. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience:

“So I was just in Afghanistan just over a month ago, and Afghanistan is by necessity one of FAO's largest emergency and resilience programmes. And just last year alone, to give you a sense of the scale, FAO, with some 21 implementing partners directly supported more than 6 million Afghans, 6 million rural Afghans with time sensitive interventions. And these were many of the types of activities that I just mentioned. So we've been keeping animals alive through the winter season. I took part in witness a distribution of emergency animal feed to female headed households in Afghanistan. Very practical activities that keep these precious assets alive through the winter. We provide cash support to female headed households, marginalized families that even don't have access to a lot of land.”

JANUARY 2020, MWINGI, KENYA

19. Aerial shot of desert locust swarm in Mwingi

SEPTEMBER 2020, KENYA

20. Close up using eLocust3 app on a mobile to track desert locusts

JUNE 2020, TURKANA COUNTY, KENYA

21. Man in protective suits, masks and gloves spraying locust hopper bands

27 MARCH 2023, ROME, ITALY

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience:

“So we have a huge example recently that FAO was pivotal in successfully leading in support of a number of governments, which was preventing, responding to and preventing this major desert locust outbreak that hit much of the Horn of Africa, Eastern Africa and indeed beyond. And there the interventions were vital because rather than waiting for these swarms of locusts, that can be literally tens of kilometers long and, you know, ten kilometers wide that are eating everything in their paths. Early detection treatment allows us to respond, allowed us to respond at scale. And just to put this in, you know, financial terms, this was a response over two years that cost US$230 million. It saved at least US$1.8 billion in crop losses. It makes sense. Why wait until the disaster happens before you respond?”

DECEMBER 2022, SALAXLEY, SOMALIA

23. Aerial shot of dry land

JANUARY 2022, GURICADE, BELETWEYNE, SOMALIA

24. Wide shot, dry land

25. Wide shot, two women and a man standing over a dead animal

JULY 2022, BAIDOA, SOMALIA

26. Med shot, Rein Paulsen and other directors talking to displaced

27 MARCH 2023, ROME, ITALY

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience:

“Unfortunately, what we're seeing in the Horn of Africa is an example of early warning analysis and anticipatory action calls going really unheeded. FAO and other partners in the U.N. system back in late 2021 were calling for a scaled-up response because we saw that rains were failing and indeed that communities and vulnerable households were under stress. So even back then, we were saying there needs to be a scaled-up response. We had the tragic experiences of 2017, [20]18 and earlier drought events as well, hard won experiences there that told us that we needed to work differently. Again, Somalia is a really good example of where a time sensitive agricultural intervention would enable a family to have to be able to stay on their land, to not be forced to displace to a camp outside of an urban setting. Our experience in Somalia and elsewhere tells us that if people's animals are still alive, if they have crops in the ground, if they've been able to plant seeds, if there are things to tend more often than not, they will not be forced to flee elsewhere.”

JULY 2016, ETHIOPIA

28. Herder with undernourished cattle on a country road

NOVEMBER 2022, SOMALI REGION, ETHIOPIA

29. Wide shot, cattle at the drying water source

30. Wide shot, wheat field

31. Close-up farmer’s hand inspecting wheat

27 MARCH 2023, ROME, ITALY

32. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience:

“Inside Tigray in a context where there was conflict unfolding, there was armed conflict taking place, people were still able to grow [food]. And with FAO’s support and other partners, at the same time as some 200,000 metric tonnes of international assistance by other agencies was trucked in, and there were concerns about physical access to communities, during that same period of time. Farmers in Tigray with support from FAO and others produce 900,000 metric tonnes of food. So, equivalent to 6 to 7 months of their food requirements [in] that region of the world. So again, the lesson in these places is people have a lot more resilience, a lot more ability to cope, perhaps, [more] than some of the international narrative gives them credit for. And we're also able, with these time- sensitive interventions, to allow people to provide for themselves, even in the most challenging circumstances.”

MARCH 2023, NURDAĞI, GAZIANTEP, TÜRKIYE

33. Pan left, damaged silos

MARCH 2023, SAMANDAĞ, HATAY, TÜRKIYE

34. Various tracking shot of damaged buildings

35. Wide shot, FAO vehicle arriving

MARCH 2023, NURDAĞI, GAZIANTEP, TÜRKIYE

36. Wide shot, FAO staff assessing damages caused by the earthquake

27 MARCH 2023, ROME, ITALY

37. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience:

“So you have a majority of the population relying on farming and a minority of the funding to support agricultural response activities. And this just simply doesn't make sense. We have year-on-year humanitarian responses. We also, as FAO respond after what we call sudden onset events, after, for example, the tragedy that we've seen now of the earthquake in Türkiye that's impacting both Türkiye and Syria. This is also part of what we do and it needs a time-sensitive response.”

NOVEMBER 2022, SOMALI REGION, ETHIOPIA

38. Wide shot, Paulsen and the group in field

39. Med shot, Paulsen and the group in field

Script The COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and conflicts have created significant food security challenges worldwide in the past years.

Currently, millions of people around the world need urgent support in over 45 countries.

But just providing food aid isn't enough to tackle the growing hunger crisis, explained Rein Paulsen, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) chief of Emergencies.

Ahead of a flagship UN hunger report to be launched next month, Paulsen discussed critical concerns within the global humanitarian landscape and highlighted the importance of proactive measures and investments that support local food production and enhance the resilience of agriculture in hunger hotspots.

Paulsen, who has been working in the global emergencies sector for over 25 years, said the humanitarian landscape has changed vastly in the last decades and the number of people who need humanitarian assistance “is mushrooming”.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience, “Probably one of the most visible changes, quite frankly, is the explosion, the mushrooming, the growth in the number of people in need of urgent assistance. The [2023] Global Humanitarian Overview, that's a joint appeal coordinated by the United Nations, together with partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization is part of it, launched at the end of last year an appeal to support some 230 million people. I mean, these numbers, quite frankly, are eye watering. And it tells us that we need to do not just more, but we need to do it better.”

The vast majority of people who are farmers and fisherfolks and in need of humanitarian assistance are to be found in rural areas. Paulsen said beyond immediate needs, agricultural aid to these people means “putting resources in the hands of affected farming families” to help rebuild their livelihood.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience, “Fundamentally it's about putting resources in the hands of affected farming families. This means, for example, seeds, tools, technical assistance to allow them to plant for a coming season. It means keeping animals alive during a drought period or during a winter. And we do that through provision of emergency animal feed, even medical assistance, veterinary assistance to animals to keep these precious, precious assets alive. Often, it's also about just putting cash in the hands of people. I mean, if you or I are affected by a disaster, you know, we know best how to respond to our immediate needs.”

The time sensitive agricultural support provided by FAO and partners supported more than 6 million rural Afghans who are facing acute food insecurity last year, said the FAO emergencies chief who visited the country last month.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience,” So I was just in Afghanistan just over a month ago, and Afghanistan is by necessity one of FAO's largest emergency and resilience programmes. And just last year alone, to give you a sense of the scale, FAO, with some 21 implementing partners directly supported more than 6 million Afghans, 6 million rural Afghans with time sensitive interventions. And these were many of the types of activities that I just mentioned. So we've been keeping animals alive through the winter season. I took part in witness to a distribution of emergency animal feed to female headed households in Afghanistan. Very practical activities that keep these precious assets alive. Through the winter, we provide cash support to female headed households, marginalized families that even don't have access to a lot of land.”

Paulsen said potential emergency food crisis situations could be avoided through a proactive approach. FAO’s operation in combating the Desert Locust outbreak in the Horn of Africa between 2020-2021 showcased how anticipatory actions successfully mitigated the impact of the crisis on people’s livelihood, said Paulsen.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience, “So we have a huge example recently that FAO was pivotal in successfully leading in support of a number of governments, which was preventing, responding to and preventing this major desert locust outbreak that hit much of the Horn of Africa, Eastern Africa and indeed beyond. And there the interventions were vital because rather than waiting for these swarms of locusts, that can be literally tens of kilometers long and, you know, ten kilometers wide that are eating everything in their paths. Early detection treatment allows us to respond, allowed us to respond at scale. And just to put this in, you know, financial terms, this was a response over two years that cost US$230 million. It saved at least US$1.8 billion in crop losses. It makes sense. Why wait until the disaster happens before you respond?”

A recent U.N. study says that some 43,000 people might have died last year in 2022 in Somalia. Paulsen said Somalia is another example where anticipatory actions could have prevented massive losses of lives and livelihoods if agricultural support were to have been provided on time.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience, “Unfortunately, what we're seeing in the Horn of Africa is an example of early warning analysis and anticipatory action calls going really unheeded. FAO and other partners in the U.N. system back in late 2021 were calling for a scaled-up response because we saw that rains were failing and indeed that communities and vulnerable households were under stress. So even back then, we were saying there needs to be a scaled-up response. We had the tragic experiences of 2017, [20]18 and earlier drought events as well. Hard won experiences there that told us that we needed to work differently. Again, Somalia is a really good example of where a time-sensitive agricultural intervention would enable a family to be able to stay on their land, to not be forced to displace to a camp outside of an urban setting. Our experience in Somalia and elsewhere tells us that if people's animals are still alive, if they have crops in the ground, if they've been able to plant seeds, if there are things to tend more often than not, they will not be forced to flee elsewhere.”

In conflict-related emergencies, the way FAO, as a technical agency with a unique mandate within the UN system, works in conflict settings is grounded in the Organization’s “technical expertise”, Paulsen explained.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience,” Inside Tigray in a context where there was conflict unfolding, there was armed conflict taking place, people were still able to grow [food]. And with FAO's support and other partners, at the same time as some 200,000 metric tonnes of international assistance by other agencies was trucked in, and there were concerns about physical access to communities, during that same period of time. Farmers in Tigray with support from FAO and others produced 900,000 metric tonnes of food. So, equivalent to 6 to 7 months of their food requirements [in] that region of the world. So again, you know, the lesson in these places is people have a lot more resilience, a lot more ability to cope, perhaps, [more] than some of the international narrative gives them credit for. And we're also able, with these time sensitive interventions, to allow people to provide for themselves, even in the most challenging circumstances.”

In a food crisis context, more than 70 per cent of affected people live in rural communities and rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. However, only 4 per cent of all the humanitarian response funding that goes into those protracted emergency settings supports agriculture, said Rein Paulsen.

Paulsen calls for more funding for time sensitive agricultural assistance in emergencies.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience, “So you have a majority of the population relying on farming and a minority of the funding to support agricultural response activities. And this just simply doesn't make sense. We have year-on-year humanitarian responses. We also, as FAO respond after what we call sudden onset events, after, for example, the tragedy that we've seen now of the earthquake in Türkiye that's impacting both Türkiye and Syria. This is also part of what we do and it needs at time sensitive response.”