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The daily food and incomes of billions of people, particularly the rural poor, are determined by their access to land, fisheries and forests. Societies decide and regulate access to these resources through systems of tenure. Paul Munro-Faure, Deputy Director and Francesco Romano, Land Tenure Officer of the FAO Partnership, Advocacy and Capacity Development Division explain how supporting responsible governance of tenure is critical to achieving food security and allowing families to invest in sustainable production. They describe the FAO policy work, including key policy messages. See all videos in the Policy and Governance series :  AR  CH  EN   FR  RU  SP [...]

Governance work seeks to clarify and address the underlying political dynamics of decision making processes in order to arrive at workable solutions. Klaus Urban, Senior Officer (Governance and Institutions) of the FAO Economic and Social Development Department together with Dubravka Bojic, Programme Officer (Governance and Policy) explain how FAO works at all levels of governance—national, regional and global—to improve capacities for effective collective action and to solve problems as diverse as ending hunger, malnutrition and poverty; minimizing climate change; enabling transition to sustainable agriculture and sustainable use of natural resources; ensuring the health and safety of food and agriculture systems; and [...]

This Technical Guide on Governing Tenure Rights to Commons aims to support states, community-based organizations and civil society organizations, the private sector and other relevant actors to take proactive measures to implement the standards and recommendations of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests. This Technical Guide is now also available in Chinese, French and Spanish. 

This publication sheds light on the inherent challenges pastoralists face, the shortcomings of governments in securing pastoral tenure, and the emerging examples of success and progress from around the world.  Also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese and Russian

The LEAP (Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance) Partnership is a multi-stakeholder initiative that is committed to improving the environmental performance of livestock supply chains, whilst ensuring its economic and social viability.  Farmers, consumers and other livestock stakeholders are increasingly in need of more information about the environmental performance and the sustainability of livestock supply chains. Although a wide range of environmental assessment methods have been developed, there is a need for comparative and standardized indicators in order to switch focus of dialogue with stakeholders from methodological issues to improvement measures.  LEAP develops comprehensive guidance and methodology for understanding the environmental performance of [...]

Enhancing groundwater management Groundwater provides a large portion of the increasing demand for water in all sectors. It also constitutes the main source of water in water-scarce regions, acts as a buffer against climatic extremes, and sustains crucial ecosystems services. The objective of the project was to embed a process of improved groundwater governance, to halt the current trend of resource depletion and degradation, and lead to positive environmental, social and economic benefits. In so doing, the project aimed to accelerate the adoption of improved groundwater resource governance, from resource management institutions, to millions of individual users. Duration: 01/01/2011  - 31/12/2016

This document containing the FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on agro-environmental policies is mainly directed at people in charge of making and implementing policies on agriculture, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture in Latin America and the Caribbean. The guidelines are the result of an extensive consultation process and debates carried out through the project “Strengthening Agroenvironmental policies in Latin America and the Caribbean Through Dialogue and Exchange of National Experiences,” implemented by Brazil between 2012 and 2015 in the framework of South-South Cooperation, with the collaboration of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Nicaragua in the fi rst stage, and Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama and Paraguay in the second [...]

The publication will contain the following contents: 1. INTRODUCTION 2. CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE GOVERNANCE OF FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SAFETY 3. KEY FACTORS FOR GOVERNANCE PROCESSES IN THE REGION. Critical general analysis on the key factors of SAN governance in LA: Legal and regulatory frameworks; National systems and local spaces for SAN governance, processes; Territorial scope; Participation of civil society and Regional Governance Instances. 4. CASE ANALYSIS: Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru ,. Ecuador and Brazil. 5. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. Policy recommendations, with the aim of improving the governance spaces of multisectoral SANs. 6. REFERENCES 

This policy brief demonstrates that Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) can enhance agricultural productivity, support food security and rural development, and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. NAMAs can function as a mechanism for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of a number of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The SSF Guidelines are based on internationally accepted human rights standards and are to be interpreted and implemented in accordance with those standards. Their objectives are to be met through the promotion of a human rights-based approach (HRBA). This approach seeks to ensure the participation of small-scale fishing communities in nondiscriminatory, transparent and accountable decision-making processes by putting particular emphasis on the needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups and developing countries. While the HRBA has been recognized by FAO as a principle that informs the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects, there is still limited experience in its practical application in the context of small-scale [...]