FAO.org

Informal forest sector micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are often equated with being “illegal” when their mode of production, source of raw materials, or even their legal existence does not conform with their country’s regulatory requirements. This characterization fails to recognize the complex circumstances many MSMEs faces, especially in countries where the requirements for legality compliance and achieving formal status are not clear. This situation raises a question frequently faced by practitioners who work with forest sector MSMEs – should MSMEs be encouraged to formalize to avoid being labeled as ‘illegal’? Acknowledging that MSMEs have valid reasons to either pursue [...]

To meet global restoration needs and recover degraded forests and landscapes, adequate public and private investments are required to support restoration activities on the ground.The new FAO publication “Local financing mechanisms for forest and landscape restoration: A review of local level investment mechanisms” examines the pathways available to financing restoration for a positive local level impact.The document provides an in-depth study of how financial mechanisms can be coordinated to maximise the leverage of finance and the adoption of practices at scale across the landscape.By examining some of the accessible investment mechanisms and planning strategies, it aims to support discussions, thinking [...]

To support the implementation of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and help achieve its goals, there is a need for a shared vision of ecosystem restoration. A key step in creating a shared vision of ecosystem restoration is to adopt principles that underpin the full set of ecosystem restoration activities. To this end, this brochure presents ten principles for ecosystem restoration including a first principle that orients restoration in the context of the UN Decade, followed by nine best-practice principles. These best-practice principles detail the essential tenets of ecosystem restoration that should be followed to maximize net gain for [...]

To facilitate sustainable management of logged forests in the Caribbean, forest authorities of Belize, Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, jointly with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the University of Hamburg as a scientific partner, implemented the regional project “Ensuring Long-Term Productivity of Lowland Tropical Forests in the Caribbean” financed by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The main objective of the project was to support the sustainable management of logged forests to maintain productivity and prevent further degradation. For this purpose, extensive field studies were conducted in the project countries, which resulted [...]

This brochure presents flagship initiatives and programmes designed by members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to contribute to the common goal formulated by UN Secretary-General António Guterres of “turning the tide on deforestation”. The brochure reaffirms the call by leaders at UNFCCC COP26 for action to accelerate efforts to halt deforestation.The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), made up of 15 international organizations, is accelerating efforts to halt deforestation globally. Turning the tide on deforestation within the next decade is crucial to achieve the 1.5 degree Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement, and to tackle not only the climate crisis, [...]

The complete series of five free courses on rural poverty reduction is now available on FAO’s e-learning Academy as a global public good. The e-learning series is a comprehensive learning path on rural poverty and rural poverty reduction, highlighting key concepts, tools and case studies proven to support efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger in rural areas. Developed by FAO’s Strategic Programme to reduce rural poverty in collaboration with the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, and with the technical support of several technical divisions and external experts, the content was designed using a multi-stakeholder consultative process in 2018. 

Natural hazard‑induced disasters (NHID), such as floods, droughts, severe storms, and animal pests and diseases have significant, widespread and long‑lasting impacts on agricultural sectors around the world. With climate change set to amplify many of these impacts, a “business‑as‑usual” approach to disaster risk management in agriculture cannot continue if we are to meet the challenges of agricultural productivity and sustainability growth, and sustainable development. Drawing from seven case studies – Chile, Italy, Japan, Namibia, New Zealand, Turkey and the United States – this joint OECD‑FAO report argues for a new approach to building resilience to NHID in agriculture. It explores the [...]

Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted unprecedentedly as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. While the primary sector has relatively been the most resilient, the agriculture sector lacks sufficiently strong productive dynamism and has high rates of informal work and low wages. Investing more in the sector's productive infrastructure would help accelerate economic recovery while improving people’s well-being. A public investment policy should be developed on the basis of evidence, such as that provided in this study. In 21 prospective scenarios that simulate the allocation of additional public investment in productive infrastructure across subsectors of agriculture, equivalent to 0.25 percent of [...]

Reducing rural poverty is a key objective of FAO. To achieve this goal, the Organization must reach the poor and the extremely poor in rural areas, analysing their needs and aspirations and providing effective guidance for the design of policies and investments that foster inclusive and sustainable development.This guide was developed to strengthen the Organization’s work on rural poverty reduction and inclusivity over the coming years. It provides key information to measure poverty, characterize rural populations, and identify their constraints to target them more accurately.The guide includes five chapters. Chapter 1 explains the structure, content, and use of the guide, [...]

The FAO-IFPRI study, of which this policy brief is a summary, focuses on the use of tractors because they are among the most versatile farm mechanization tools and are universal power sources for all other driven implements and equipment in agriculture, with significant potential to replace animal draught power and human power, including children’s muscle power. Tractor use is typically also the first type of machine-powered equipment in use at lower levels of agricultural development, the context where most child labour is found.Mechanization is mostly assumed to reduce child labour, as it is expected to be labour saving in general. [...]