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With 80 percent of the population living in rural areas, agriculture remains the main source of employment in Cambodia. However, poor and very poor rural households, which include the large majority of female-headed households, generally have little land and livestock, and food insecurity remains a reality. Improving the production techniques of these households in rice and other crops, and boosting commercial linkages between smallholder farmers and buyers both require enhanced agricultural and business support services, an initial capital base, and sustainable access to financial services. Illiteracy, poor financial literacy, the lack of assets and high transaction costs impede the access [...]

Widespread maize monocropping in Malawi exposes farmers to significant livelihood risk in the context of increasing climate variability. 36 percent of rural households grow maize in monocrop. These farmers are often poor and land constrained, and experience low levels of productivity and high production volatility. The effects of crop diversification on farm productivity and income volatility in Malawi varies across cropping systems. Maize in combination with legumes is the only crop system in Malawi that is significantly associated with an increase in productivity and a reduction in crop income volatility. Contrary to expectations, crop systems with 3 or more [...]

Spatial disconnect between cropping system diversification and climate risk. In Zambia, farmers residing in areas with low and medium rainfall risk are more likely to adopt diversified systems than farmers in areas with lower rainfall and greater rainfall variability. Lack of diversification in high risk regions poses a significant threat to livelihood resilience in those regions. Diverse cropping systems improve productivity and resilience. Increased level of diversification is associated to more stable crop income, when compared to maize monocropping. However, farmers facing land fragmentation, weakness of private input and output markets and uncertainty from the public policies are less likely [...]

Farmers in Mozambique are diversified, but subsistence-oriented. Thirty-seven percent of farmers in Mozambique grow a three crop system based on maize, a legume, and an alternative staple, such as cassava or sorghum. This system is an effective adaption strategy, as it reduces crop income volatility compared to less diverse systems, but it is also associated with low levels of productivity, input use, and incomes. Adoption of cash cropping system improves farmers’ welfare. Farmers who adopt cash crops have higher average incomes and higher productivity levels. However, only 19 percent of farmers grow cash crops. Limited household resources and isolation from [...]

The food and agriculture sector of Mongolia lacked the technical capacity required to implement national agricultural and livestock policies and programmes. There was a need for expertise to strengthen capacity in farming technology, practices and local expertise, above all in livestock breeding, animal feed, horticulture and vegetable production, beekeeping, aquaculture, poultry production and honey sectors to improve beneficiaries’ farming technology, production, practice and knowledge. The objective of the project was to support the implementation of the National Programme for Food Security, the National Mongolian Livestock Programme and other agricultural policies aimed at enhancing agricultural production and food security and [...]

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat has embarked on the formulation of an Investment Plan for the effective and coherent implementation of a Regional Agriculture Policy. This will ensure the food and nutrition security of people living in SADC member countries, the sustainable utilization of available natural resources, and the effective protection of the environment. Assistance was required, in terms of both technical and management capacity, to develop the investment plan. Also available in French.  Find more Project Highlights here.

En Tchad, la vulnérabilité aux événements climatiques extrêmes est amplifiée par la faiblesse des structures administratives (ministères, organismes gouvernementaux et administrations locales), par le manque de ressources humaines et financières et le manque d'efficacité des capacités d’adaptation des ménages; les impacts des changements climatiques sont ressentis dans l'agriculture, l'élevage, la pêche, la santé, le logement ainsi que dans d’autres domaines. Compte tenu de ce contexte, renforcer la capacité de résilience de la population à des chocs récurrents tout en gardant à l'esprit l'hétérogénéité régionale est un élément clé qui doit être pris en compte dans les interventions de réduction de [...]

Rwanda is the sixth largest producer of potatoes in Africa, and the Irish potato is one of the most important crop in the country. Small scale farmers and food enterprises though strong contenders for regional and domestic market opportunities, have difficulties entering the value chain. To unleash their potential, the African Roots and Tubers project sought to: (i) increase and intensify sustainable market-led production and (ii) strengthen farmers’ cooperatives; (iii) improve access to climate change risk management tools and access to finance; and (iv) develop business models throughout the value chain in which farmers and enterprises play a key role [...]

The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) is an appraisal system developed by FAO providing estimates of the impact of agriculture and forestry development projects, programmes and policies on the carbon-balance. The carbon-balance is defined as the net balance from all greenhouse gases (GHGs) expressed in CO2 equivalent that were emitted or sequestered due to project implementation as compared to a business-as-usual scenario. EX-ACT is a land-based accounting system, estimating C stock changes (i.e. emissions or sinks of CO2) as well as GHG emissions per unit of land, expressed in equivalent tonnes of CO2 per hectare and year. The tool helps project designers [...]

The Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) database includes over 1400 monthly domestic retail and/or wholesale price series of major foods consumed in 94 countries and weekly/monthly prices for 85 internationally traded foods. The Tool provides easy access to the data, allowing users to quickly browse and analyse trends of single price series, create comparisons among countries/markets/commodities, and download charts, data and basic statistics such as maximum and minimum levels, averages, percentage changes and standard deviations over different time periods. The Tool was developed in 2010 as part of FAO’s initiatives to address the soaring food prices.