25 November 2011 Business-as-usual scenarios of population growth and food consumption patterns indicate that agricultural production will need to increase by 70 percent by 2050 to meet global demand for food. The impacts of climate change will reduce productivity and lead to greater instability in production in the agricultural sector (crop and livestock production, fisheries and forestry) in communities that already have high levels of food insecurity and environmental degradation and limited options for coping with adverse weather conditions. [more...]

13 October 2011 This publication provides guidelines for all FAO units (headquarters departments and offices, as well as decentralized offices) to undertake environmental impact assessments (EIA) of field projects. The use of these guidelines apply to all FAO field projects and activities, as further specified in the sections below, requiring implications to be fully considered early in the planning process (and all the more so prior to taking financial decisions) so as to avoid significant negative impacts of environmental or associated social nature. [more...]

30 July 2011 This volume, Climate Change and Food Systems Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa, demonstrates the possibility of harmonizing agricultural production with the wellbeing of the biosphere and that this can be achieved in Africa, our biosphere's least developed continent, and the continent which is likely to suffer most from climate change. [more...]

10 June 2011 This publication aims to create awareness and prompt action amongst policy-makers and practitioners to address the impact of climate change (notably changes in temperature and rainfall) to the countrys food security. It serves as a good example of how the ongoing FAO and Government of Lesotho project activities Environment, are complementing identified by the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) on climate change. [more...]

10 June 2011 The main purpose of this review is to support least-developed countries (LDC), development partners and donors in planning and implementing climate change adaptation actions for the fisheries and aquaculture sector. In particular, it is aimed at the LDCs eligible for support from the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) (operated by the Global Environment Facility [GEF]), the GEF and its Agencies and the United Nations [more...]

3 May 2011 This paper analyses the current context in which carbon balance and greenhouse gas (GHG) indicators face growing interest in agriculture development. It highlights the multi-objective significance of carbon balance and multi benefits of improved carbon soil in terms of mitigation, adaptation, cropping systems and local community resilience building. It proposes that Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) be used as the Agri-Environmental indicator in agriculture policy monitoring for developing countries and carbon balance as performance indicator in policy analysis. It also presents EX-ACT as the specific tool to allow for a quick appraisal of the potential mitigation impacts of agricultural investment projects, available to donors and planning officers, project designers and decision makers within agriculture and forestry sectors in developing countries. [more...]

21 March 2011

This publication contains national briefs analysing natural disasters occurred in the past 10 to 15 years and the land tenure lessons learned in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Philippines, Ecuador and Honduras. For the analysis the briefs describe the land tenure context in the country as well as the socioeconomic conditions of the people affected by the natural disaster. Finally the briefs identify lessons learned which can be very useful to consider when dealing with natural disasters management, prevention and mitigation programmes in the concerning countries. The publication is the result of a joint initiative between FAO, UN-HABITAT, Early Recovery Cluster of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee working on emergency operations, and the Global Land Tools Network.

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16 March 2011 The performance of agriculture should ensure food security and provide a strong economic base. Towards this aim, improved seeds have been widely recognized as a key ingredient for enhancing farm productivity and overall crop production and thereby attaining the goal of food security. However, medium to large private companies, so far, do not effectively produce and distribute seeds of most major non-hybrid food security crops in developing countries. Case studies undertaken in Africa, Asia and Latin America indicate that smallholder seed enterprises could provide a valid alternative if supported. This publication aims at raising the awareness of decision makers and provides guidelines of best practices and policy options for promoting and supporting the growth and development of smallholder seed enterprises. [more...]