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Trade Policy Brief No. 32 With agriculture accounting for roughly 70 percent of employment and 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in low-income countries, trade in agricultural products has the potential to significantly affect rural employment, incomes and poverty in these countries. See the complete series: Trade Policy Briefs  

The country fact sheet provides a contribution to organizational outcome by monitoring and analysing recent policy trends related to food and agriculture in the specific country, thus providing evidence on what policies are implemented or not in the country and what could be challenges or policy gaps. Thailand country fact sheet provides a glimpse of the overarching agriculture, food security and nutrition policy frameworks and highlight trends in key national policy decisions affecting producers, consumers and trade in the country. The fact sheet synthesizes policy information that is stored in the online policy database, the FAPDA tool. See all FAPDA country fact sheets.

We need a much better understanding of the causes and effects of agricultural water pollution as well as effective means to prevent and remedy the problem. In the existing literature, information on water pollution from agriculture is highly dispersed. This report is a comprehensive review and covers different agricultural sectors (including crops, livestock and aquaculture), and examines the drivers of water pollution in these sectors as well as the resulting pressures and changes in water bodies, the associated impacts on human health and the environment, and the responses needed to prevent pollution and mitigate its risks.

The report assesses the occurrence and impacts of drought, the current policies underlying drought management as well as the mitigation measures and responses adopted in the Near East and North Africa region, with a focus on the Agriculture Sector. It is the third of a series of similar studies carried out in different regions and countries of the world, with the objective of shedding light on drought effects, sensitizing policy-makers for the much needed paradigm shift to pro-active drought management planning and providing guidance for the development of such policies.  The studies are carried out by FAO, in collaboration with the Water for Food Institute, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA, as a direct [...]

The Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027 is a collaborative effort of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. It brings together the commodity, policy and country expertise of both organisations and input from collaborating member countries to provide an annual assessment of prospects for the coming decade of national, regional and global agricultural commodity markets. This year’s edition contains a special chapter on the prospects and challenges of agriculture and fisheries in the Middle East and North Africa that reviews the prospects and challenges facing the agricultural sector in the Middle East [...]

The following recommendations have been elaborated building upon the main findings of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of CFS (HLPE) report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition. They aim to strengthen the contributions of sustainable management of forests and trees to the achievement of food security and nutrition and contribute to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security in the overall context of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, recognizing the essential role of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food [...]

Many countries in the region have seen positive changes in agricultural development in recent years associated with countries’ reforms during the transition period after the Soviet Union collapse, as well as due to support from international organizations. This report overviews eighteen countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The report examines agriculture sectors and food systems, relevant programmes, it reveals the status of agro-processing sector and value chain development activities, and it covers food loss and waste. In the final analysis it was concluded, that more research and data collection are needed to understand the extent of food loss and waste at regional and national levels. It [...]

Trade Policy Brief No. 30 Certified areas and market share of products compliant with Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSSs) are growing rapidly. VSSs can deliver positive impacts, but also present challenges for small-scale producers. There has been no formal discussions in the WTO on the VSSs, even though calls for impact assessments on standards (public and private) have been made frequently. See the complete series: Trade Policy Briefs

The endorsement of the National School Feeding Programme (Projecto de Alimentação Escolar—PRONAE) by the Mozambican Council of Ministers in 2013 represented a key stage in the institutionalization of school feeding and local food purchases in the country’s education system. This publication presents analysis on the divide between policy change and effective implementation. An FAO project, the Purchase from Africans for Africa (PAA Africa), is assessed regarding its demonstrative effect and contributions to enlarge the knowledge basis for translating policy change in effective purchases of food from smallholders for a diversified food basket at schools. The need for a regulatory framework [...]

This guide includes a glossary of terms in the Key definitions section. Although grounded in official texts, these definitions have been developed strictly for the purposes of the indicator 5.a.2 methodology only and should not be read to provide a comprehensive or official definition of the term referred to. The guide also cites existing legal and policy examples, with the intention of providing concrete guidance to countries reporting under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 5.a.2 as to the type of provisions that reflect the indicator 5.a.2 proxies. These examples reflect versions of the law and policy framework that were available [...]