Matching the logistics of a farmers' cooperative with consumers' needs can be a real challenge. The Jarina farmers’ cooperative has found and tested several solutions over the past 12 years.  It first started as an initiative to improve quality of life in the municipality of Litija, by promoting local agribusiness...

Addressing gender inequalities and the concerns of women is an urgent need in this context. The SSF Guidelines are an important starting point towards this agenda. The next steps would be to take forward the campaign to include provisions of the Guidelines as part of policies for small-scale fisheries, particularly...

Farmer Coumba Ndoffen Sene used to struggle to feed his family, but now he can pay his children’s school fees and buy them new clothes. He has also started a business raising chickens. Sene takes part in the IFAD-funded Agricultural Value Chains Support Project in Senegal. One of the ideas behind...

As farmers increasingly plant modern varieties of wheat, traditional wheat landraces are in decline. Yet the genetic diversity found in these hardy traditional varieties could be crucial for the future of wheat production. A new series of publications from FAO introduces wheat landraces in the Central Asia sub region, starting with...

Le Malawi est un des pays les plus pauvres et les plus densément peuplés d’Afrique subsaharienne. Les faibles moyens économiques du pays ont fait de l’agriculture familiale le pilier principal de l’économie malawienne. En effet, plusieurs études ont été faites dans le but d’évaluer l’impact des faibles moyens économiques sur...

La insuficiencia de lugares donde la mujer rural pueda desempeñar un trabajo remunerado, la devuelve una y otra vez al cuidado y atención del hogar, en el que se incluyen los cuidados a personas mayores, niños y niñas, etc. Esto hace necesario la continuidad del desarrollo de programas, tanto desde...

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La Plataforma de Territorios Inteligentes es una iniciativa del Centro de Inversiones de la FAO en cooperación con el Banco Mundial, que tiene como objetivo facilitarun espacio de contenidos e intercambio de conocimientos y experiencias sobre el modelo de desarrollo territorial en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) y en la Unión Europea (UE). El objetivo principal de la Plataforma...

Scarcity of both land and water – and the degradation of those natural resources – are a big issue for Armenia. Conservation agriculture offers solutions, and FAO and the European Union are responding to this priority need. FAO convened national and international experts earlier this month to discuss the country’s development...

This is the reference document of the Workshop on the "Effects of the structural changes on EU farming: How to better support the European model of agriculture of the 21st century with the CAP" of 14th March 2016, organised by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) and the...

One year ago from these same pages, EU Commissioner Phil Hogan said that “more than ever, innovation is key for the agricultural sector” considering the global challenges ahead. This is still true today, and the European Commission has invested even more in research and innovation. Great importance is given to...

From 3 to 5 October 2016, around 260 mountain actors (researchers, farmers, environmentalists, elected representatives from local and regional authorities, representatives of chambers of commerce and development agencies) met in Bragança, Portugal during the X European Mountain Convention organized by Euromontana. This X European Mountain Convention presented a state-of-the-art of the...

Hay is at the base of almost all traditional meat & dairy farm products – even to the farmyard chickens eating grasshoppers brought into the yard with the new hay crop.   Hay – especially cut with a scythe, has shaped Romania’s rural cultural landscape and resulted in enormous biodiversity of...

Two key partnership programmes between FAO and the Government of Turkey – focused broadly on food security, rural poverty and forestry – were ratified recently by the Turkish Parliament and published last week in the Official Gazette in Ankara.  With a total US$ 20 million financial contribution from Turkey, the agreements will help...

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Zagazig University, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted a high level Traveling Workshop 60 kilometers north of Cairo in the Sharkia Governorate April 11, 2016. The workshop intended...

Drylands make up about 43 percent of the region’s land surface, account for about 75 percent of the area used for agriculture, and are home to about 50 percent of the population, including many poor. Involving complex interactions among many factors, vulnerability in drylands is rising, jeopardizing the livelihood for...

La empresa pública Unidad Nacional de Almacenamiento (UNA EP) forma parte de la Red Regional de Sistemas Públicos de Abastecimiento y Comercialización de Alimentos (SPAA) de América Latina y Caribe, en representación de Ecuador. Junto a ella participan sus similares de Brasil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Chile, Guatemala, Panamá, Paraguay, Venezuela...

Opportunities to become economically self-sufficient are crucial to successful integration into society in the medium to long term, as well as to personal dignity. Skills development, work placements and business-development support can all be valuable depending on each individual’s profile. Access to work for new arrivals is key for their...

When farmers’ position in the food supply chain is relatively weak, they can benefit from organising themselves better so as to improve revenue opportunities. One route to doing so lies in local markets and short-supply chains. Risk management tools are needed to help farmers cope better with the uncertainty created...

Fruit and vegetables are a major source of income for rural households in mountainous Tajikistan – and essential for healthy diets. Fresh produce such as sweet cherries, onions and table grapes make up an important share of the country’s agricultural exports. The potential to supply domestic retail and export markets remains...