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As part of RAP’s efforts to raise visibility to a wider audience of the good work its specialists undertake for member countries in the region, this two-page brochure summarizes our priority areas of work and explains the value they add to our member countries in the region. This regional sectoral snapshot (fisheries and aquaculture) is a first of its kind in at least the last five years.

This publication provides an in-depth analysis of the applications of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies in the agriculture sector. It aims to facilitate a better understanding of the opportunities and benefits of blockchain in agriculture, as well as the technical and institutional barriers to its adoption. The paper analyses how blockchain and smart contracts can increase efficiency, transparency and traceability in agricultural supply chains and improve rural development interventions; as well as be an impetus to achieve the SDGs. Blockchain-based technologies have the potential to promote more sustainable agriculture supply chains, better facilitate trade and provide a more inclusive trading [...]

Le Bénin est parmi les 20 premiers pays producteurs du manioc dans le monde et au quatrième rang pour la production d’igname. La culture du manioc a connu un développement très important de même que les techniques de sa transformation en gari et autres produits dérivés («importation» des habitudes alimentaires brésiliennes - farinha). L’importance de l’igname dans l’alimentation réside également dans les multiples types de transformation. Cependant, les acteurs impliqués dans ces filières sont confrontés aux problèmes d’organisation, de faible productivité, d’accès aux financements et aux incertitudes face au changement climatique. Afin d’améliorer les conditions de vie de ces acteurs, [...]

Cassava is both a subsistence and commercial crop in Ghana. Due to the growing demand for cassava and its products, the Government has identified cassava as a priority crop. Nevertheless, cassava farmers and small processors faces challenges such as difficulty in marketing, lack of business management orientation and transportation issues that hinder the development of the sector. In order to improve the livelihood of those involved in the cassava value chain, the project aims at the following results: (i) existing national and regional strategies are aligned with initiatives supporting the development of improved regional market integration for the roots and [...]

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.

This publication contributes directly to SO1 and under Regional Initiative on Zero Hunger Challenge. Eradication of hunger and malnutrition is a major challenge in Asia. Dietary and production diversity are recognized factors in strategies to improve food security and nutrition. Currently, agriculture has an over-reliance on a handful of major staple crops. Agrobiodiversity offers huge potentials in addressing malnutrition and agricultural sustainability. Future Smart Food (FSF), often referred to as Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS), are rich in Asia. They represent a promising abundance of food resources and constitute the bedrock of the food system diversity. FSF have enormous benefits [...]

In December 2017, FAO and Bioversity International entered into an agreement to contribute to the overall food systems and climate change adaptation debate through analytical and field activities on indigenous food systems. Thanks to this agreement, and through a task force thatincluded, FAO and Bioversity, the Centre  for  International  Forestry  Research  (CIFOR),  the  Indigenous  Partnership  for  Agrobiodiversity  and Food  Sovereignty,  the  French  National  Research  Institute  for  Sustainable  Development  (IRD)  and  local indigenous organizations, different food systems across the world were profiled. To  present  the first  results  of  these  studies  and  to  identify strategies  to  safeguard  the  preservation  and transmission  of  ancestral  [...]

There is growing interest in water accounting, why it is needed, what benefits it brings, and equally important, how it can be put into practice. Water accounting is about quantifying water resources and uses of water, much like financial accounts provide information on income and expenditure. Interest in water accounting is based on the premise that ‘We cannot plan and manage what we do not measure’ – a statement that few would disagree with.Society needs more accurate information and answers to the key questions about water supply and demand. More data are needed but simply doing water measurements and assessments [...]

This brochure presents FAO ’s work on agricultural innovation. FAO advocates a shift from interventions focusing on single components of agricultural innovation towards a system-approach aimed at strengthening institutions and stakeholders’ networks that better respond to the needs of smallholder farmers. Agricultural innovation is the process whereby individuals or organizations bring new or existing products, processes or ways of organization into use for the first time in a specific context in order to increase effectiveness, competitiveness, resilience to shocks or environmental sustainability and thereby contribute to food security and nutrition, economic development or sustainable natural resource management. Innovation is central to [...]