Forests and agriculture are central to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and have key roles in the Agenda’s overall commitments to reduce global hunger, malnutrition and poverty. The two sectors are also the focus of the 2016 edition of FAO’s flagship publication State of the World’s Forests, which sheds new light on the relationship between them.

SOFO 2016’s new data show that in recent years most of the deforestation occurred in the tropics. Specifically, while there has been a net forest loss of about seven million hectares in tropical countries, there has been a concurrent net gain in agricultural land of six million hectares, clearly indicating that deforestation is taking place to gain more land for agriculture.

But this doesn’t need to be so. SOFO’s analysis also shows that, in the past 25 years, more than 20 countries have managed to maintain or actually increase their forest cover while, at the same time, making major progress towards food security. The focus of future action should therefore foster greater synergies between the agriculture and forest sectors to reduce deforestation and improve food security, SOFO 2016 proposes.

Read more in the FAO news article and related website on the State of the World’s Forests 2016 – Forests and Agriculture: Land-use Challenges and Opportunities.

Forestry’s contributions to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their 169 targets are wide-ranging and significant. Without them, the SDGs will not be achieved.

As countries embark on translating the world’s most ambitious development agenda into sustainable progress on the ground, forestry, aligned with the agriculture and fisheries sectors, needs to act now to instigate transformative change. The challenge is to adopt new, integrated approaches that bring about measurable and sustainable reductions in hunger, malnutrition and poverty, while conserving biodiversity and meeting the provisions of climate change agreements.

With its strong global comparative advantages, FAO is well placed to support the three agricultural sectors in increasing their multiple contributions to the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

An expression of solidarity between more than 20 African countries and a coalition of local and international partners, Africa's Great Green Wall (GGW) is a mosaic of sustainable and integrated land-management interventions, and the continent’s most ambitious attempt to reverse land degradation, desertification and food and livelihood insecurity across the Sahara and the Sahel, and to combat climate change.

The GGW puts local communities at the heart of its efforts, promoting local knowledge and capacities. This needs to be urgently matched with investments by development actors and policymakers, in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of Africa's drylands and of local people's livelihoods. 

• The Great Green Wall offers hope and solidarity to the people of Africa's drylands.
  José Graziano da Silva
• The Great Green wall is one of the most audacious efforts in human history.
  Mahamat Bachir, Minister for Environment, Water & Fisheries, Chad, on behalf of the African Union

Read more about the 18 July WFW 5 event, The Great Green Wall: Africa's response to climate change and zero hunger.