Digital innovation and policy reforms offer the greatest prospects for transforming the smallholder farming sector, SACAU president Dr Theo de Jager and CEO Mr Ishmael Sunga told delegates while presenting at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Smart Farming convening recently which was also attended by philanthropist Bill Gates.  The SACAU leadership...

“Adotta una mucca”, (“Adopt a cow” in English) is an Italian initiative from the Valsugana Valley in the Trentino province. Its objective is to introduce tourists, children and families to mountain life and culture. Adopters can visit various Alpine huts, learn how mountain products are made faithfully following old recipes...

During the event, participants will explore the richness and the dynamism of mountainous territories, and their innovative initiatives for building sustainable food systems.

In the Aveyron river basin (France), the low-lying, fertile lands are usually used for monocultures, and the higher, less fertile areas for livestock. Recently, a research project has led to the construction of a scenario in which crop farmers would introduce alfalfa into their rotations, in response to more frequently...

While the world’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals are clear in their targets, accurately measuring progress to reach them is proving to be more of a challenge, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said today. An FAO survey in the Asia-Pacific region found considerable gaps in progress toward implementing internationally accepted norms...

FAO is about to complete one of the largest seed distribution campaigns in the history of ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, aimed at helping farmers get ready for the next planting season. The FAO team continues to deliver humanitarian aid in conflict-affected eastern Ukraine, with a focus on rural people living...

In the rural areas where there is an economic potential clearly defined by the agricultural or commercial activities, tourism is the business key within reach. Under the circumstances, the socio-economic reflex takes the form of developing projects for tourist services, especially in the places with tourist potential. Further, the local economy, at...

This guide will serve as a significant tool for practitioners in Lebanon and the Arab countries who are attending to the issue of child labour in agriculture. Moreover, it represents a pillar for present and continuous collaborative efforts between two sister UN agencies (the ILO and FAO) and their national...

FAO helps countries achieve SDG1 (No poverty) and SDG2 (Zero hunger) by improving the livelihoods of poor and extreme poor rural people, including smallholders and family farmers.

A year ago this week, I adopted an olive tree. I called it Carmen, after my grandmother. Whenever I want to know about my tree I just need to open an app that I have installed on my mobile phone. I can see pictures of it and whether it has...

Due to the growth of agricultural production, FAO estimated that emissions from agriculture, forestry and fisheries have almost doubled over the past fifty years and could increase by 18% by 2030 and 30% by 2050 . Since the years 2000, this increase has mainly occurred in developing countries. Between 2001...

The development of the Fisheries sector in Samoa received a boost with the launching of four major initiatives.   Speaking at the launch which took place in July, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr Leuatea Schmidt highlighted the challenges that face the industry. “The challenges include increasing monitoring in an effort...

Los principales cambios en la agricultura y la ruralidad durante los últimos dos años en América Latina y el Caribe y las perspectivas regionales para el 2018,  son los principales temas que aborda la nueva edición del libro Perspectivas de la agricultura y del desarrollo rural en las Américas, lanzado en...

This policy brief describes how stronger rural-urban linkages can create decent rural employment opportunities for rural youth. It argues that many of these decent jobs can be created in both in-farm and off-farm activities along inclusive agri-food value chains. To achieve this, it is necessary to promote integrated approaches to...

En el marco del proyecto "De la granja al plato" buscan desarrollar y fortalecer todos los eslabones de la cadena productiva. La próxima semana quedará conformado oficialmente el Grupo "Suroeste" de productores de cerdos. El novel colectivo reúne -en principio- a unos 30 productores, y tiene por cometido continuar con el...

The Forest and Protected Area Management project (FPAM) is assisting the Fiji Ministry for Forestry Fiji through the Forestry Training Centre (FTC) with the development of a new tailored short term courses for Biodiversity Conservation and Protected Area Management.   The Fiji Forestry Training Centre, which is part of the Ministry of...

Mujeres que enfrentaron los efectos de la industrialización del cacao en Bolivia y mujeres que sembraron palmas en los territorios recuperados por la paz en Colombia, son las dos historias que ganaron el concurso de relatos y fotografías organizado por la FAO para dar a conocer las experiencias de vida...

In order to face this development challenge, IFAD’s Livestock and Horticulture Development Project, focusing mainly on women (who are the main producers and managers of rice, vegetables and small ruminants) and the youth, aims to help small-scale rural producers to increase their incomes by improving the yield and quality of...

Many African countries rely on sporadic land transfers from customary to statutory domains to attract investment and improve agricultural performance. Data from 15,000 smallholders and 800 estates in Malawi allow exploring the long-term effects of such a strategy. The results suggest that (i) most estates are less productive than smallholders;...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is stepping up support for the legal timber trade in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic with the official launch of two new projects that will strengthen the roles of civil society and the private sector in improving forest law enforcement,...