Vietnam’s largest deltaic region, the Mekong Delta offers great potential for rice production and aquaculture. With an area of 747,000 hectares in 2022, it is the country’s largest shrimp-producing area. The shrimp-rice area covers nearly 190,000 hectares, accounting for 26.8 per cent of the total shrimp farming area in the...

Youth networks and organizations of young farmers, producers and entrepreneurs play a central role as partners in development initiatives that target youth in rural and agrifood spaces. By understanding and applying gender‑transformative and socially inclusive approaches, youth organizations can become more equitable, accessible, impactful and pluralistic platforms that legitimately represent...

This report showcases gender equality and women’s empowerment highlights in 2022 and 2023 and is divided into global and regional highlights. Its overall objective is to share major achievements, good practices and lessons learned in 2022–2023 and to guide FAO’s upcoming work to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. Gender...

This report is based on the high level forum and capacity development for parliamentarians held in Sierra Leone in November 2020 organized by FAO,IISD, OXFAM and WILDAF/AMNet, in partnership with the Sierra Leone Parliament. The forum provided a unique opportunity to facilitate dialogue at national level between parliamentarians and other...

This blog post is part of a special series on the global and regional food security implications of high food and fertilizer prices originally stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and now exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war. 

This study explores how livelihood assets, strategies for accessing the assets, and enabling and discouraging factors in the value chain shapes the inclusion of women and youth in on-farm, off-farm and non-farm activities. It is based on the Safeguarding Sahelian Wetlands for Food Security (SaWeL) program that aims to make...

The Secretariat of the World Banana Forum (WBF), a multi-stakeholder network coordinated by the Markets and Trade Division (EST) of FAO, is delighted to extend an invitation to Members to the Fourth Global Conference of the World Banana Forum, to be held at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy on Tuesday, 12...

"Unleashing the potential of women livestock keepers" explores how enhancing women's roles in livestock production can significantly contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 5, which aims at achieving gender equality and empowering women. In developing countries, women constitute a large part of the agricultural labor force, particularly in small-scale livestock farming,...

SDG 5 calls for achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. Women spend far more time on unpaid and domestic work than men, on average an additional 2.4 hours a day. One in five girls get married before the age of 18. Climate change threatens to worsen these...

The last of the series of IYAFA workshops was convened by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) in collaboration with Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) and Mulleres Salgadas (MuS). The regional workshop for Europe was held on November 13-16, 2023, in Galicia, Spain. With its participatory and...

My name is Amelie Bonner. I am 15 years old. I love art, film, reading and music. I speak French, English and Irish. I am from Arranmore Island off the coast of Ireland. It is a beautiful island and is currently home to around 500 people. The community is small....

Since 2013, IFAD has recognized projects from every corner of the world that go the extra mile for gender equality. Acknowledging that sustainable development is impossible without rural women. Their empowerment is crucial to transforming food systems, building thriving rural communities and creating lasting prosperity for all. Let’s visit the five inspiring...

During the interview, Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), shed light on the pressing challenges facing family farming, particularly in the context of climate change. Lario underscored the essential role of small-scale farmers in global food security, highlighting their contributions to feeding billions of people...

Around the world, the agricultural sector relies heavily on women, especially in developing countries, but women’s restricted access to essential resources, hinders their agricultural productivity, resulting in increased poverty. A promising solution to this is agroforestry, a climate-smart agricultural practice which increases land productivity, providing socioeconomic and ecological benefits. Women’s...

This issue brief explores the women-led interventions to transform water security, stewardship, and management underway around the world to better understand the link between water security and gender equality and identify fruitful pathways to achieving both goals. Our analysis demonstrates the costs associated with undervaluing women’s expertise in water management,...

In this self-paced online course, you will learn the fundamentals of gender and social inclusion in forest landscapes restoration (FLR). The course focuses on gender inequalities, gender-differentiated impacts and opportunities to address inequalities for more equitable and sustainable FLR, to build the abilities and understanding of diverse stakeholders on the...

In an NSP initiative, three captivating videos on the theme "Women and Agroecology" have been produced. These compelling videos shine a spotlight on the pivotal role of women in shaping sustainable agricultural practices, highlighting their knowledge, organizational leadership, and rich cultural heritage in the agricultural sector. The third instalment of...

In 1992 the United Nations committed to promoting a gender perspective in all environmental and development programs and to establishing mechanisms for assessing the impact of environmental policies on women. However, 30 years later most countries acknowledge that they have not integrated that perspective into policy assessments. This paper provides...

This brochure contains the challenges and recommendations from the eight countrie’s case studies on ‘Social Development and Sustainable Fisheries’ conducted by ICSF in Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Ghana, The Philippines, Bangladesh, Brazil, Thailand and India (Kerala/Tamil Nadu and West Bengal). The ICSF’s studies uses the parameters of social development, within...

The agricultural and rural development policy seeks to facilitate the transition towards environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral agricultural practices, with a focus on human capital, knowledge, and innovation. Gender equality can play a significant role in promoting environmentally sustainable practices in the agricultural sector, particularly through the adoption and implementation of...