FAO.org

This course provides guidance on managing competition over the use of land, fisheries and forests. It introduces a process for analyzing the underlying causes of disputes and conflicts. It also illustrates a range of dispute resolution mechanisms and options for policy and legal reforms to prevent disputes and reduce vulnerability to conflict. Whote is the course for? The curriculum primarily addresses “change agents” - i.e. people who can have a direct impact by introducing changes in how tenure is governed. They include national policy makers and administrators, surveyors, trainers, legal support providers, civil society and non-governmental organizations, advocacy, control and monitoring professionals.  Language: English, French and Spanish See all [...]

This guidance document will be produced to assist countries in finding synergies between two important realms of international agreements: sound chemicals management and biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. We suggest that it can be used as countries are revising any of their strategies or policies related to these two realms, but in particular is oriented toward country revision, or to assist implementation, of their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), to help them attain a number of relevant Aichi Targets. It is intended to indicate where important synergies can be harvested, but is not meant to be prescriptive. The [...]

This Technical Guidance Document addresses the need for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services into agriculture, at the national level. More specifically, it is aimed to assist countries in developing and implementing their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSA Ps), to consider ecosystem services – and opportunities for their management – in agricultural production systems. Through an EU-funded project on “Capacity-building related to multilateral agreements (MEAs) in ACP countries (Phase 2)”, this document focuses on the East Africa region, and provides concrete examples and cases primarily from Kenya. The intention is that this document provides practical guidance to countries for building [...]

The E-agriculture strategy guide is an attempt to provide countries with a framework to develop their national e-agriculture strategies. E-agriculture strategies will help to rationalize both financial and human resources, and address ICT opportunities for the agricultural sector in a more holistic and efficient manner. This will help improve the livelihoods of rural communities and stakeholders involved in agriculture and rural development. See the e-agriculture policy briefs

The Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) approach, which is still in its nascent stages of development, is rapidly gaining attention as a more appropriate way to restore both degraded forests as well as the surrounding degraded landscape. The great value of this approach is that it integrates forest restoration actions with the desirable objectives of the landscape, and it is undertaken with the full participation of the people who will have a role in the management of the restored areas over the longer term. So, FLR brings together social, environmental and economic considerations in restoring the forests and lands, converse to [...]

Trade agreements are at the heart of the trade and food security debate as they set out the rules for national trade and agricultural policies, which play a key role in determining food security outcomes. The relationship between trade rules and food security has become an increasingly central element in this round of negotiations. The contribution that trade can make to a country’s food security is partly determined by the disciplines that apply to other countries’ policies, but also by the “policy space” that the country itself is granted under WTO rules.   This brief looks at the role of the multilateral trading system in [...]

Eradicating hunger and malnutrition is at the center of FAO’s efforts. In order to achieve this, all stakeholders must be involved. This includes Parliamentarians and non-State actors such as Civil Society and the Private Sector. Evidence has shown that the improvement in food and nutrition security is principally due to policies, programs and frameworks that are anchored in legislation. Parliamentarians are fundamental custodians of political commitments on food security and nutrition; therefore critical partners in achieving food and nutrition security. FAO, through its Partnerships, Advocacy and Capacity Development Division (OPC), seeks partnerships and closer collaboration with Parliamentarians, as we work towards meeting our [...]

Worldwide small-scale fishers, boat crew members, fish-processors, fish traders and fish processing workers face serious labour related challenges specifically linked to the nature of the sector, including prevailing informality, seasonality, remoteness and hazardous nature of work. Inadequate knowledge and skills make many fishers dependent on unpaid family labour including those of women and children. Where labour regulation exist are of difficult application. The study explores wide-ranging decent work concerns in fisheries and aquaculture sector with the objective to inform and guide FAO programming and partnering with governments, civil society organizations, private sector and other UN organizations in promoting decent working conditions along [...]

Increasing global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a major threat to human and animal health. It endangers modern human and veterinary medicine and undermines the safety of our food and environment.  The commitment of FAO Members to work on AMR was confirmed by the adoption of Resolution 4/2015 at the Thirty-ninth Session of the FAO Conference in June 2015. This resolution is a call to action to both FAO Members and the Organization itself to address the multifaceted aspects of mitigating both the impact on, and the contribution of, the food and agriculture sectors to the threat posed by Antimicrobial Resistance. This document outlines the FAO Action Plan [...]

This note focuses on the topic of access to land and land governance in protracetd crises, providing some possible solutions illustrated by case studies from FAO interventions in such contexts. Protracted crisis do represent a signal of alert on the fact that approaches proposed so far where not enough to deal with such a complexity. Not enough cross-sectorial, not enough inclusive and not enough able to create a sense of ownership by the concerned stakeholders. This is why a renewed thinking is needed, based on the concrete observations of local dynamics, making an effort to understand the positions and interests of [...]