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In developing countries, further progress of irrigation is essential for increasing food security and farmers’ income. However, developing small-scale schemes remains a challenge due to multiple factors that must be taken into consideration, such as diversity of small-scale schemes, a large number of water users, social disharmony over the water use, varying water demands of multi-cropping systems, heterogeneity of equipment over the scheme. Furthermore, on-farm irrigation development has a major role in enhancing Agricultural Water Management (AWM). The previous development methods considered the improvement of single-factor productivity, but agriculture is undergoing a global shift from the single objective of outputs [...]

The European Union Land Governance Programme funds 18 individual country-level projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, all of which address tenure issues, and are implemented alongside various partners, among which are government agencies, civil society organizations, bilateral and multilateral organizations and private contractors. All project activities are carried out within the framework of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and, in the African context, the African Union Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa (AU Declaration) and its Framework and Guidelines on [...]

This tool is intended to help countries evaluate their forest tenure systems, particularly those that facilitate participation of non-state actors in forestry, including co-management regimes, community forestry, smallholder forestry, large holder forestry, or company concessions granted on State lands. It uses the internationally endorsed Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) as its basis. Forest tenure review may be conducted in the context of policy or legal reform, to inform Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) policy formulation, to improve understanding of a specific tenure system that is under-performing, or to [...]

This fact sheet describes the course that explains the importance to take into account gender and social issues when dealing with land tenure, and what actions must be adopted so that women and men from different social groups can equally participate in and benefit from land tenure governance processes.

This fact sheet describes the course that introduces the main concepts and principles of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT). It aims to help people understand the guidelines and to apply the principles to practical situations in their countries, as well as to raise the general awareness of responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests.

This fact sheet describes the course that provides guidance on some of the main issues to consider when implementing a monitoring activity: how to select the most appropriate approach or to identify the best data sources for monitoring, how to effectively communicate the results of the monitoring activity to maximize its effect on policy change.

The initial direct impact of COVID-19 is on health, in terms of morbidity and mortality, with quickly overburdened health care services. The containment measures taken to curb the impact of COVID-19 have indirectly been socially and economically devastating and will significantly set back efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda, including SDGs 1, 2 and 10 on poverty, food security and inequality. Inequality between countries and within countries is strongly conditioning the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and these inequalities will likely worsen due to COVID-19. However, rising inequality is not inevitable; national institutions, politics and policy can [...]

This policy brief reviews on going challenges and proposes recommendations on integrated water resources management approach that embraces the value of water in all its forms and recognizes the intrinsic role of water in protecting human, animal and ecosystem health. This multi-sectoral approach to integrated water resources management under the One Water One Health concept of water recognizes that decisions regarding land and water use have real implications for health. Less-resilient ecosystems, shifts in patterns of disease emergence and spreading, manifest themselves when we fail to recognize this relationship.

Georgia has been a Member of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) since 1995. In 2004, FAO strengthened its presence there by making the FAO Subregional Representative for Central and Eastern Europe the FAO Representative in Georgia and establishing a fully-fledged representation in Tbilisi. FAO is supporting national development priorities to create and implement an institutional, legal and regulatory environment, as well as lending technical assistance on key projects at the Government’s request. It is working to strengthen Georgia’s institutional disaster-management capacity and helping to align Government policies with European structures and standards, so as to [...]

The FIRST Programme is a strategic partnership between FAO and the European Union (EU), acting as a broker between those who want change –the Governments–, those who are willing to support those efforts with additional funding –like the EU– and those who can provide their expertise and technical assistance, like FAO. Through the services it provides to governments in setting the conditions for investments to achieve impact, FIRST adds value to every euro invested. From Ethiopia to the Pakistan and from Fiji to Niger, FIRST supports governments in identifying national priorities and addressing context-specific bottlenecks, so that the conditions are [...]