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The implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda is just at the onset. Pursuing the wide and ambitious Sustainable Development Objectives (SDGs) poses major challenges at all levels, from the sub-national, to the regional and the international level, and calls for a timely decision of effective policy actions in a quickly-evolving world of scarce resources. In this context, the ability to design sound policies and monitor their outcomes is a key requirement. Measuring progress towards international goals and their national and subnational specifications is of paramount importance. This pocketbook presents, at a glance, selected key indicators on agriculture and food security, [...]

According to Forbes, we generate almost 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. The next generation of agriculture heavily depends on data. The ability to capture, sort, analyze and extract actionable intelligence from large data sets to reveal patterns (human, climate, market) and related trends is an important emerging field.  The increase in the use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices would only add to this data deluge. The Economist rightly called data as the world’s most valuable resource, while some calling data the new oil. Agriculture would be one of the major users of IoTs. How can individuals, organizations and [...]

The following series of flyers highlights the work being carried out by FAO's Strategic Programmes. This flyer is specifically on "Strategic Programme 2: Making agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and more sustainable". The vision of FAO for sustainable food and agriculture, enshrined in the 2030 Agenda, requires a radical rethink of the status quo and of current agricultural policies. Farmers, pastoralists, foresters and fishers are encouraged to produce more while using less in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way. Building more efficient and equitable agriculture and food systems and investing in rural development can accelerate achievement of goals [...]

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 synthesis report for the regional workshop for Africa on "A new approach for mainstreaming Sustainable Food and Agriculture in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals" provides an overview of the presentations, a brief report on the discussions, and summaries of the conclusions. 

Agricultural production more than tripled between 1960 and 2015, owing in part to productivity-enhancing technologies and a significant expansion in the use of land, water, and other natural resources for agricultural purposes. Today, more than ever, agriculture faces multiple and complex challenges. It has to provide sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet boosting demand by a growing and progressively more prosperous population, and ensure food security for all.  Prepared to support the G20 Presidency of Japan and the G20 Agriculture Deputies, these three background notes provide an overview on the following interlinked issues: (i) the policy challenges for strengthening [...]

This policy brief analyses Ecuador’s trade, productive and price policies for maize and their effect on farmers’ level of protection. The minimum support price enacted until 2017, turned out to be a non-operative policy due to a higher market price, which created incentives for speculative investments by traders. To counteract speculative investments the Ministry enacted a price range for maize, the price ceiling is expected to counteract future speculations. Productive and trade policies aiming to protect small farmers seem to achieve their objective. The effective rate of protection increased for all farm production systems from 2016 to 2017 with the [...]

Gender equality is a key to eliminating poverty and hunger, as it has been demonstrated by the FAO throughout its research worldwide. As part of the FAO efforts on generating evidence and knowledge, and in compliance with the FAO Policy on Gender Equality, the purpose of the Country Gender Assessment for Uzbekistan is to contribute to the production of knowledge for better informed, targeted and gender sensitive actions in agriculture and rural development. It has been produced as it is required in the FAO Policy on Gender Equality. This Gender Assessment has served as a resource for the Country Programming [...]