FAO.org

Forests and woodlands in the United Republic of Tanzania play an important role in the economy and in nature conservation, with forests ensuring a beneficial environment for community livelihoods by providing a variety of products and services. However, forest degradation and deforestation are among the challenges faced by the national forest sector. In response to this, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania sought technical and financial support from FAO to support a review of forest policy.

Viet Nam has seen remarkable progress in the reduction of rural poverty in recent decades, with the agriculture sector making a substantial contribution. In 2017, the sector had a growth rate of almost three percent per year, with the livestock sector being one of the fastest growing subsectors. However, the sector is faced by many challenges, including the growing demand for high-quality, safe and consistent livestock products, difficulties related to diseases, and growing environmental pollution caused by livestock waste from intensive livestock production and processing. Efforts to understand and manage changes in the livestock sector as a whole have been [...]

The high cost to Ecuador’s national budget of maintaining a minimum guaranteed producer price for rice led to the introduction of a price bracket system in 2017. The minimum support price policy and a complimentary high import tariff were meant to protect small rice producers from competition from world markets and increase their incomes. However, farmers with greater productive capacity are currently accruing the highest income transfers from the guaranteed minimum rice price. Moreover, the policy has led to distortions throughout the marketing chain, only partially meeting its objective of price stability. The introduction of the price bracket system and [...]

FAO’s Investment Centre provides a wide range of investment support services to developing and transition countries. This second annual review shines a light on the work of the Investment Centre and its partners –the international financing institutions - carried out in 2018 to increase the volume and quality of investments in food security, nutrition, agriculture and rural development. During that year, the Centre supported investment-related policy studies and processes to increase policy dialogue and contributed to the design, technical assistance, supervision or evaluation of investment projects in 116 countries. It increasingly linked both its policy work with investment support to [...]

The Arab region needs a new generation of policies and investments in agricultural water. Agricultural water management has always posed challenges and opportunities in the Arab world. However, unprecedented and accelerating drivers such as climate change, population growth, and land degradation make agricultural water management a more urgent priority than ever before. In addition, as part of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, Arab countries have committed to work towards an ambitious set of development targets, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unless the right policies and investments are put in place, it will be difficult to achieve the SDGs, [...]

This document includes critical information on the policy design and implementation process. Its purpose is to describe the content of the standard, elements of the policy and the main questions arising from different sectors, during the process of drafting the law and legislative procedure, as well as during the policy design and implementation of the standard. Likewise, it aims to present the challenges and the factors that allowed progress in its implementation. The main audience for this paper will be decision-makers, parliamentarians, high-level officials from ministries, and civil society institutions.  Also available in Spanish.

Smoked fish is an important animal protein source in Ghana. However, the traditional method by which the commodity is produced leads to high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH, a food safety hazard) in the commodity. This predisposes consumers to potential health challenges linked to PAH exposure in food. The extent to which that is the case in Ghana was evaluated by screening smoked fish on informal markets in the country for the hazard. Since the FAO-Thiaroye fish processing technique (FTT) has been demonstrated to address the PAH problem, it was further evaluated against traditional kilns in that respect. Consumer [...]

The roots and tubers industry in sub-Saharan Africa has been growing steadily in recent years. Nevertheless, a series of challenges, including lack of access to finance and climate change related events, has prevented the majority of actors in these value chains, who are mainly small farmers and small processors, from taking advantage of such growth. In order to properly assess such challenges, the project “Strengthening linkages between small actors and buyers in the roots and tubers sector in Africa” conducted a series of studies to identify relevant gaps, constraints and opportunities to develop tailored financial products and risk management strategies [...]

The case study explores which skills and training opportunities young people need in order to gain access to decent employment in rural areas. The research was undertaken in order to develop recommendations to support the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and FAO Cambodia in developing appropriate recommendations to support rural young people, especially those of the 15 to 17 age cohort. The study highlights the limited decent employment opportunities that currently exist along various agricultural value chains in rural Cambodia. Poverty and the structural problems of the agricultural sector are the main barriers for youth in accessing decent rural employment. [...]

The monthly bulletin features agricultural trade policy changes in the region. It provides current trade measures, agreements, statistics and articles by experts covering trade-related issues in their respective countries as part of the Agricultural Trade Expert Network (ATEN).  Available in Russian only.