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2008 2007 2006 2005 2003-4 2002 2001 2000 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993

SOFA 2006:
Food aid for food security?

The State of Food and Agriculture 2006 examines the issues and controversies surrounding international food aid and seeks to find ways to preserve its essential humanitarian role while minimizing the possibility of harmful secondary impacts. Food aid has rightly been credited with saving millions of lives; indeed, it is often the only thing standing between vulnerable people and death. Yet food aid is sharply criticized as a donor-driven response that creates dependency on the part of recipients and undermines local agricultural producers and traders upon whom sustainable food security depends. The economic evidence regarding these issues is surprisingly thin, but it confirms that the timing and targeting of food aid are central to achieving immediate food security objectives while minimizing the potential for harm. Reforms to the international food aid system are necessary but they should be undertaken carefully because lives are at risk.

  > Read the Executive Summary
  > Download the full SOFA publication
  > Order SOFA

>	SOFA 2006 Presentation to the FAO Council by Prabhu Pingali, Director, Agricultural and Development Economics Division, November 2006
>	Scientific Facts on Genetically Modified Crops: SOFA featured as the "leading scientific consensus report" by GreenFacts
>	New FAO report on agricultural trade and poverty Agricultural trade reform offers benefits, but the poor could be left behind...
>	Review of the State of Food and Agriculture Presentation to the FAO Conference by Hartwig de Haen, Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Department, November 2005

The State of Food and Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific 2006

This is the first issue of The State of Food and Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific. Its focus on regional dimensions of food and agriculture makes it a complement to The State of Food and Agriculture published at FAO headquarters in Rome, which focuses on specific issues at a more global level.

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Latin America and the Caribbean

Trends and Challenges in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Latin America and the Caribbean

> Read the Executive Summary
> Download the full publication

2008: Bioenergy: Can it fuel a rural renaissance?

2007: Paying farmers for environmental services

2005: Agricultural trade and poverty: Can trade work for the poor?

2003-4 : Agricultural Biotechnology : Meeting the needs of the poor?

2002 : Agriculture and global public goods ten years after the Earth Summit

2001 : Economic impacts of transboundary plant pests and animal diseases

2000 : World food and agriculture: lessons from the past 50 years

1998 : Rural non-farm income in developing countries

1997 : The agroprocessing industry and economic development

1996 : Food security: some macroeconomic dimensions

1995 : Agricultural trade: entering a new era?

1994 : Forest development and policy dilemmas

1993 : Water policies and agriculture