Due to beneficial characteristics of cassava such as robustness and versatility for multiple uses, it can have a major role in contributing to local food security. The objective of this study was to find out whether and how the cultivation of cassava benefits smallholder farmers in the regions of Dodoma...

Due to the challenging couple years for Malawian farmers, government and other stakeholders have started teaching local farmers on the climate change resilience farming methods that are making a difference in securing small farmers' livelihoods. 

The first issue of the Eastern Africa Field Schools' Newsletter focuses on the launch of the Eastern Africa Field Schools Support, training on managing the Fall Army Worm and farmer’s testimonies on Field Schools.

Table ronde organisée à l’occasion des 40 ans d’AVSF sous le haut patronage de Madame Aminata MBENGUE NDIAYE, Ministre de l’Élevage et des Productions Animales Au Sénégal, comme dans toute l’Afrique de l’Ouest et dans le monde entier, la cohabitation de différents systèmes agricoles et d’élevage est un fait : au Sénégal,...

This website from the Oakland Insitute collects thirty-three case studies on the success of agroecological agriculture in Africa.While agroecology promotes low use of external inputs, it is a very knowledge-intensive system. Transmission of this knowledge, adaptation to local contexts, and appropriation by farmers and government technicians, are essential steps for...

Le Projet CALAO - Capitalisation d’expériences d’acteurs pour le développement de techniques agroécologiques résilientes en Afrique de l’Ouest - a été mis en œuvre au cours de l’année 2017 dans le cadre du Projet d’Appui à la Sécurité Alimentaire en Afrique de l’Ouest (PASANAO), financé par l’AFD et dont la...

This brief 3-minute video reportage highlights the International Treaty’s first field visit with a high-level donor representative, the Norwegian Deputy Minister of Agriculture & Food, into rural Northern Malawi to visit a Benefit-sharing Fund project. It explains the problem and how the FAO International Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund is supporting farmers...

Farmers play a crucial role in the preservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity. In fact, the diversity of species that support our current agricultural production systems has been carefully managed and shaped by farming communities, over the course of the history of humankind. Farmers act as custodian of the Earth’s...

The Central African Republic (CAR) has a total land area of 623,000 km2 of which close to 23 million hectares, i.e. 37%, is composed of forested lands. In the southwestern part of the country all forest operations are industrial. At present there are 11 logging companies, with an average annual...

In semi-arid areas in Kenya, FAO is supporting smallholder farmers to increase yield of high-value grain like sorghum and to market their produce as group. Purity Njeru has seen firsthand how this program has improved lives and livelihoods.

FAO launched a comprehensive guide on the integrated pest management of Fall Armyworm on maize. Designed for Farmers Field Schools, the guide will help smallholder farmers and frontline agricultural staff to manage FAW more effectively amidst fears that FAW may push more people into hunger. Central and Southern Africa are...

The country gender profile analyses the gender gaps, good practices and way forward in empowering women in agriculture, value chains and food and nutrition security. It provides a baseline for monitoring the implementation of the SDGs, Malabo Declaration and National Agricultural Investment Plans. It will inform advocacy, research, and capacity...

The successful approach of FAO’s Action Against Desertification programme to large-scale restoration is making degraded drylands productive again for small-scale farming, and providing economic opportunities in the Sahel region where migration has become a tradition. Key elements of the approach include consultation with village communities for their selection of species...

FAO, IFAD and national governments are supporting family farmers from West and Central Africa to adapt small-scale irrigation systems to climate change to be more resilient. A survey was carried out among 691 households in 21 sites in this region, to assess how farmers are coping with climate change. Watch...

With a population expected to double by 2050 from 1.2 billion to around 2.5 billion predominantly young people, the African continent will need to foster job creation and economic growth through sustainable development. The agricultural sector can play a key role in this, having the capacity to provide jobs and growth...

On the occasion of the conference "Youth employment in agriculture as a solid solution to ending hunger and poverty in Africa" (Kigali, Rwanda, 20−21 August 2018), FAO showcased a digital service portfolio, consisting of 10 innovation projects. This factsheet presents four new apps bring agricultural services closer to farmers, providing...

Climate change is projected to have severe implications for smallholder agriculture in Africa, with increased temperatures, increased drought and flooding occurrence, and increased rainfall variability. Given these projections, there is a need to identify effective strategies to help rural communities adapt to climatic risks. Yet, relatively little research has examined...

The factsheet gives some highlights of the impact of FFF support in Kenya, as well as some achievements by the numbers, and some lessons learnt. Summary of the impact in Kenya: •46 percent to 65 percent jump in average incomes for hundreds of thousands of forest and farm producers through strengthened Forest and Farm...

The Smallholder Farmers’ Data portrait is a comprehensive, systematic and standardized data set on the profile of smallholder farmers across the world. This Factsheet generates an overview on how small family farmers in Ethiopia live their lives by using the Data Portrait, putting an emphasis on the constraints they face, the...

More and more farmers in some of the poorest areas of southern and central Kenya are working their land and selling their produce as a group, based on agreements with buyers. This way of farming gives poor farmers more negotiating and market power, and helps them better plan what and...