FAO.org

This brief summarizes the findings of the FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Study No. 16 “Productive public investment in agriculture for economic recovery with rural well-being: an analysis of prospective scenarios for Uganda”. It highlights how, through a series of scenarios, public investments promoting agricultural productivity in Uganda could drive growth in agrifood production, with favourable impacts on the economy, on well-being and on poverty, especially in rural areas. It also provides important information about the priorities of Uganda’s National Development Plan (NDP) III and vision for agriculture, as well as new priorities to be considered for enabling economic recovery [...]

The Digital Innovation Strategy (DIS) of the Regional Office for Africa (RAF) of FAO has been prepared to respond to critical challenges facing inclusive and sustainable agrifood system transformation in sub-Saharan Africa. It is enshrined in the new Strategic framework 2022–2030 that aims to accelerate the "transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind".A stronger infusion of digital technologies across operations and programmes of FAO RAF is vital for the region to successfully implement the Africa Regional Initiatives, RAF's Programmes Priority Areas [...]

Mobility is a vital strategy employed by pastoralists to capitalize on the scarce availability of resources in variable environments, making pastoralism economically feasible and environmentally sustainable. Through mobility, pastoralists can produce animal-sourced products that provide food and income security to populations in the world’s rangelands. Such a practice also provides a range of benefits to the environment while fostering the capacity to adapt to changing social and natural environments.With a few exceptions, policies have largely not kept up with new scholarship and development discourse that acknowledges the importance of mobility to pastoralism. There is a lag in and resistance to [...]

Agriculture accounts for almost one-fourth of all the greenhouse gas emitted by humans, but is also a victim of the changing climate – extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and land degradation are undermining the sector's productivity – putting many livelihoods at risk. Yet, with the right set of policies and investments, agriculture can be a part of the solution. The EX-ACT suite of tools gathers the evidence complementing the information available to decisions makers on the outcomes of their agrifood interventions. It helps them to quantify the amount of greenhouse gas released or sequestered from agricultural production, analyse the outcomes [...]

This report presents the results of a collaboration between FAO and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), at the University of Oxford. The first part of the report proposes a framework for measuring multidimensional poverty in rural areas and describes the motivation for the Rural Multidimensional Poverty Index (R-MPI) proposal, which departs from the established global Multidimensional Poverty Index (global MPI), first designed in 2010 as an international measure of acute poverty covering over 100 developing countries by adding modifications in the dimensions and embedded indicators. The second part of this report presents an empirical test of the [...]

Facilitation has proved crucial for enabling the interaction of Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) actors to address the target and to innovate. This “Guide on training of facilitators of multi-actor agricultural innovation platform” is aimed at serving facilitators when multi-actor agricultural innovation platforms (MAIPs) are organized. Since MAIPs are still an emerging concept, there are not many cases to refer to. This guide mainly summarizes the experiences from the implementation of MAIPs in permission, hazelnuts and honey value chains that FAO organized through the EU-funded project of Development of sustainable and inclusive local food systems in north-west region of Azerbaijan (GCP/AZE/014/EC) [...]

Los efectos de la crisis generada por la pandemia del coronavirus siguen evolucionando y golpeando con fuerza a nuestras sociedades. En el caso de América Latina y El Caribe (ALC), la tenencia de la tierra se encuentra en el corazón de su desarrollo; este tema como ningún otro ha provocado guerras, desplazamientos, conflictos sociales, corrupción, hambre y pobreza. Particularmente, la extrema desigualdad en el acceso y control de la tierra es uno de los grandes problemas sin resolver en ALC; es al mismo tiempo causa y consecuencia de estructuras sociales enormemente polarizadas que han alimentado y siguen alimentando las crisis políticas [...]

The need to urgently transition food systems to net-zero, nature-positive that can nourish all people, leaving no one behind is more critical than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has furthered deepened complex challenges we already face from hunger and nutrition, climate and nature, and societal inequity. Innovation offers a profound opportunity to achieve these transitions and help unlock challenges across food systems. The white paper ‘Transforming Food Systems: Pathways for Country-led Innovation’, published by the World Economic Forum Food Systems Initiative and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), presents an action-oriented roadmap for countries looking to accelerate [...]

Acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 20 countries or situations – hunger hotspots – in the next months. Organized violence or conflict remain the primary drivers, followed by weather extremes and climate variability. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt economies. High food prices and low household purchasing power are major economic concerns for food insecurity rising. The report provides country-specific recommendations on priorities for emergency response and anticipatory action to address existing humanitarian needs and ensure short-term protective interventions before new needs materialize.

The MedBycatch project works on improving knowledge, providing skills, tools and means towards the reduction of incidental catch of vulnerable species in the Mediterranean, with particular focus in Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Italy and Croatia. The on-the-ground activities aim at implementing standardised data collection and testing mitigation measures towards effectively reducing single and multi-taxa bycatch, induced by trawls, longlines, gillnets and purse seines, through a collaboration approach between national fisheries institutes, local NGOs and fishers and fishing associations. The project plans to leverage change within all the coastal Mediterranean countries on the issue of incidental catch of vulnerable species, including through communication [...]