This paper summarizes the deliberations at a meeting convened by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation held in Beijing in October 2015. Farm power and mechanization are agricultural production inputs that will be essential to raise the labor and land productivity required if Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2 (ending...

FAO Permanent Representatives of Australia, Chile, Kuwait, Japan, Libya, Russian Federation, USA, and the European Union are on a field visit to of Albania and Serbia this week. By visiting FAO project sites and talking with farmers, national officials, FAO partners, other UN agencies and FAO teams on the ground,...

In the Mediterranean, the diversity of production systems and value chains is seen as an asset for sustainability. More than anywhere else, the Mediterranean zone boasts a wide range of sheep and goat farming situations, products and natural resources. This diversity of production systems has provided many different products, shaped...

Acting as a facilitator to enable debates and foster collaboration among a variety of actors in order to advance science, knowledge, public policies, programmes and experiences, FAO organized the International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition in September 2014 in Rome, Italy. The Symposium was followed by three...

Although rice is highly nutritious, a lot of the quality is lost during processing. This results in poor-quality rice on the market, so consumers turn to imported rice. In this video you can learn about parboiling, a way to improve the quality of rice by treating the paddy with warm...

Cork, a picturesque city in South-West Ireland might not ring a bell to many people, and the event taking place there this week even less: the Cork European Conference on Rural Development. Unless, of course, you’re somehow involved – for better or for worse – in the European Union’s agricultural...

La crianza de cerdos a campo es la forma más difundida en nuestro país, entre otros factores, por la escasa ianversión necesaria y porque esta fase de la producción está predominantemente a cargo de pequeños productores de carácter familiar, los cuales son la mayoría. La cría a campo puede implicar...

Presented in Rome the 5th of December during the FAO Council 155th Session, the 2016 UNFAO-CIHEAM Joint edition of Mediterra  offers an innovative and prospective approach on the issues of TRIPLE WASTE reduction including agricultural losses, waste of natural resources and waste of knowledge and knowhow. This Report features a collection of shared expertise and local experiences...

The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific organized a Multi-Stakeholder Consultation on Agroecology during the 24-26 November, 2016, in Bangkok. Following FAO's Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition in September 2014, FAO acted as a facilitator to enable debates and foster collaborations among a variety of...

La gouvernance du pastoralisme est un défi majeur pour les pouvoirs publics. Plusieurs tentatives ont vu le jour avec des résultats mitigés. Dans la zone sylvopastorale, l’expérimentation de l’Unité pastorale a eu un impact réel sur le quotidien des pasteurs. Cet article évoque l’impact d’un tel mécanisme de gestion de...

On 21 February 2016, at Sighişoara, Fundaţia ADEPT repeated for the 6th consecutive year, its popular annual event dedicated to Family Farmers and Small-scale Producers from the Târnava Mare area, bringing together around 200 local farmers with the specialists who have contributed to the survival and prosperity of their landscapes....

There are three major poverty divides in Ghana: rural-urban, northsouth, and between women and men. To meet these challenges, IFAD, the African Development Bank and the Government of Ghana are investing in rural northern Ghana to create viable economic opportunities – particularly for women – while improving market linkages with...

Farmers in northern Nigeria are changing the way they intercrop their sorghum and millet with cowpea. By planting both crops at higher densities and in separate rows, and by applying some organic and mineral fertilizer, they harvest more and reduce damage by the parasitic weed striga. It is one of...

Scientific assessment and observations from small-scale fisheries highlight the poor state of sea bass stocks, and raise major concerns about the survival of the resources and of the fishers who depend on them.

Le palmier raphia est un matériel naturel disponible en Afrique centrale et en Afrique de l’Ouest pouvant être utilisé pour fabriquer tout type de ruche là où il est présent. Cette fiche explique étape par étape comment construire deux modèles de ruches à barrettes en bois et en palmier raphia....

Report on the International Assistance for agriculture, food and rural development 2015 to Bosnia and Herzegovina was adopted by the Council of the Ministers on 18 May 2016. It contains data which enable stakeholders a better insight into activities of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and activities of the...

There has been a change in the structure of food markets in developing countries. Food supply chains have shifted from local and fragmented chains to geographically much longer ones. Some segments have declined, with a reduction of the importance of traditional village traders and an increased importance of others, like...

Various agro-ecological practices have existed in the region, primarily as an alternative to conventional chemical-intensive farming based on Green Revolution prescriptions. These alternatives are often directed at enhancing soil fertility, through organic matter management and water conservation. Throughout Asia and the Pacific, different terms are used for specific practices including:...

La agricultura familiar en Colombia está representada por campesinos, indígenas, afrocolombianos, pescadores, agricultores urbanos y neo-rurales que viven, en general, en condiciones de pobreza y abandono. Las políticas y programas rurales del país la subordinan y no existen criterios de política diferencial que reconozcan sus particularidades y potencien sus capacidades;...

Given that the population of the Sahel depends largely on rain-fed agriculture and transhumant livestock rearing, there is a growing concern about the future climate of the region as global warming may alter the availability of water resources. The lack of consensus on climate projections for West Africa results partly...