FAO.org

This series of e-learning courses assists professionals from all food and agriculture fields in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of nutrition-sensitive programmes, policies and investments. The courses use a scenario-based and experiential learning approach and cover all forms of malnutrition and a diversity of contexts.

Supporting smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change is essential for achieving Sustainable Development Goals 1 (No poverty) and 2 (Zero hunger). This will require policies and programs that enable farmers with few resources to adopt farm practices and technologies that reduce sensitivity to rising temperatures, the spread of new pests and diseases, and increasingly erratic rainfall. This brief consolidates evidence and stylized facts to guide policy discussions on climate adaptation in smallholder agriculture, based on work carried out by the FAO Economic and Policy Analysis of Climate Change (EPIC) team.

This course aims to equip project designers and managers with the concepts, principles and tools they need to leverage value chain approaches to improve nutrition through agriculture and food systems. The concept of Sustainable Food Value Chains for Nutrition (SFVCN) was first presented in 2016 at the 43rd session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and is the framework adopted by the Rome Based Agencies (RBAs). An SFVCN approach considers how development of a sustainable food value chain can contribute to improving nutrition of a target population. System RequirementsThe online version of this course runs on the latest versions [...]

The development of sustainable food systems is a key component of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This course discussed why eliminating gender inequalities is pivotal to achieving the necessary transformations. It proposes FAO’s gender-sensitive value chain framework as an approach for the analysis of value chains, and for guiding interventions to address gender-based constraints. Released May 2020.1 h 30 m of learning System RequirementsThe online version of this course runs on the latest versions of Chrome and Safari. In order to access this course on Internet Explorer or Firefox, you must install and enable Adobe Flash player.The downloadable version only runs [...]

The FIRST Programme aims to support the governments of targeted countries to strengthen the enabling policy and institutional environment for food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA). The programme is designed as a demand-based “policy assistance” facility which has its roots in the long-term partnership between FAO and the European Union and aims to add value to both partners’ actions at the country level.The programme approach of embedding a policy officer within partner country administrations, constitutes the best option for building trusted relationships to support improved policy processes. FIRST has created a high level of trust with government partners [...]

The FAO strategy on mainstreaming biodiversity was approved at the FAO Conference in 2019, in view of preparations for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. The Strategy aims to mainstream biodiversity across agricultural sectors at national, regional and international levels in a structured and coherent manner, taking into account national priorities, needs, regulations and policies and country programming frameworks. The expected result of the application of the Strategy would be to reduce the negative impacts of agricultural practices on biodiversity, to promote sustainable agricultural practices and to conserve, enhance, preserve and restore biodiversity as a whole. Full meeting document FAO Conference Sessions 163 (CL [...]

Many studies have provided global and regional overviews of the state of social protection policies and their importance to poverty reduction, food security and nutrition. However, little is known about how such policies are designed and implemented in rural areas, or how they complement and link to agricultural support programmes, which may cover the same geographical areas and reach similar types of beneficiaries. Both social protection and agricultural policies are needed for poverty reduction in poor rural populations. Yet coordination between the two sectors is generally limited and, until recently, little attention has been paid to their complementarities and how these [...]

This document summarizes the online discussion The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement and agricultural development: challenges and prospects held on the FAO Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition in Africa (FSN Forum Africa) from 5 May to 2 June 2020. The discussion was facilitated by Jean Senahoun from FAO’s Regional Office for Africa in Accra, Ghana. This online discussion aimed to exchange ideas on the challenges to and prospects for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement in Africa’s agricultural sector and its implications for food security and nutrition. Participants shared ideas on the Trade [...]

For almost four decades, the partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) has generated advanced knowledge and expertise in support of achieving food security, sustainable agriculture, and rural development in the Mediterranean. Driven by these shared goals, FAO and CIHEAM have jointly contributed to policy dialogue, the implementation of programs and projects, awareness-raising, and the capacity development of different actors in the region. FAO- CIHEAM collaboration has helped to build important knowledge resources and technical networks, strengthen the focus on gender and youth in agriculture, and [...]

This report describes: (i) policy measures enacted by the Government of Solomon Islands to contain the spread of the virus; (ii) policies and measures to stabilize the functioning of agri-food systems; (iii) potential effects of policies on agri-food systems and vulnerable groups. Finally, the profile also assesses longer-term options for agri-food system policies and investments in Solomon Islands so as to make them more resilient.  See here more COVID-19-related resources