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The initiative to develop the Global Strategy to improve agricultural and rural statistics (GSARS) came as a response to address developing countries’ lack of capacity to provide reliable statistical data on food and agriculture and to provide a blueprint for long-term sustainable agricultural statistical systems.

Each round of agricultural censuses covers a ten-year period. The present round (WCA 2020) covers agricultural censuses to be undertaken between 2016 and 2025. The census of agriculture continues to play a key role in the collection of structural data on the agriculture sector. The WCA 2020 will ensure that data collected are comparable at the international level while also addressing emerging information needs of the 21st century.

Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) is experience-based measures of household or individual food security. The FIES Survey Module (FIES-SM) consists of eight questions regarding people's access to adequate food, and can be easily integrated into various types of population surveys The FIES-SM questions refer to the experiences of the individual respondent or of the respondent’s household as a whole. The questions focus on self-reported food-related behaviors and experiences associated with increasing difficulties in accessing food due to resource constraints.  During the last 12 months, was there a time when, because of lack of money or other resources: You were worried you would not have [...]

In many countries, pastoralism has historically been practiced in areas that are now partitioned by international boundaries. This is a major barrier to sustainable resource management and to pastoral development. However, there are examples from around the world of efforts to facilitate transboundary movements and transboundary ecosystem management by pastoralists. This report examines how pastoral mobility has been impacted by the creation of unnatural boundaries within their landscapes and how societies cope with these constraints through legal or informal arrangements. Also available in French.

Livestock are terrestrial, domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide traction or produce commodities such as meat, milk, eggs and hides. They contribute to diverse agri-food systems globally, playing many roles for different groups of people. From the perspective of the sustainability of the global livestock sector, there are four important and interrelated aspects: food and nutrition security; livelihoods and growth; health and animal welfare; and climate and natural resource use. Sustainable livestock are at the interface of these four topics, which provide the structure of the breakout sessions in the 10th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture. This [...]

The report “Transforming the livestock sector through the sustainable development goals”  examines the sector’s interaction with each of the SDGs, as well as the potential synergies, trade-offs, and complex interlinkages involved. The publication is intended to serve as a reference framework for Member States as they move forward to realize livestock’s potentially major contribution to the Agenda 2030. 

The critical role of forests in climate change mitigation and adaptation is now widely recognized. Forests contribute significantly to climate change mitigation through their carbon sink and carbon storage functions. They play an essential role in reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing adaptation of people and ecosystems to climate change and climate variability, the negative impacts of which are becoming increasingly evident in many parts of the world.  In many countries climate change issues have not been fully addressed in national forest policies, forestry mitigation and adaptation needs at national level have not been thoroughly considered in national climate change strategies, and cross-sectoral [...]

The FAO Blue Growth Initiative (BGI) can contribute to resilient communities to maintain and preserve cultural heritage through sustainable fisheries and aquaculture management for Indigenous Peoples. The Blue Growth Initiative seeks to balance the sustainable management of aquatic resources with economic and social benefits for local communities through traditional knowledge and practices, capacity development and knowledge sharing, food security and nutritional benefits, and an increased voice in resource management and policymaking. Blue Growth will support Indigenous Peoples in achieving the 2030 Agenda across multiple SDGs and targets. This infographic will highlight targetted regional facts on Indigenous management and benefits derived [...]

Fisheries and aquaculture support the livelihoods of millions of people around the world. In rural and coastal communities they often play a key role for a society’s culture and identity. As these communities know well, fish is also a healthy and nutritious food, with the potential to feed our growing planet. But as the population grows, the demand for fish increases, and our natural resources are increasingly stressed. Sustainable management and development is crucial to preserving these resources for future generations.  Like the Green Economy principles that preceded it, FAO’s Blue Growth Initiative emphasizes the three pillars of sustainable development – [...]

A repository of national and thematic food composition tables, completed by an online library of methodological guidelines and user guides. It was first compiled in 1988 and most recently updated in 2018.