On 4 May 2017, the European Committee of the Regions’ Commission (CoR) for Natural Resources (NAT) and the Rurality-Environment-Development (RED) international association held a conference in Brussels entitled “RURAL post-2020: more ambitious, more transversal! A Rural Agenda to re-enchant the European project”. One of the aims of the conference was...

In 2006, the Government of Malawi initiated a Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP), which it called Mtukula Pakhomo (‘Lifting up Families’). Malawi’s SCTP is an unconditional cash transfer programme designed to reduce poverty and hunger, increase school enrolment and attendance and improve the health, nutrition, protection and well-being of children...

The agricultural sector is one of the main contributors to economic growth and sustainable development in ECOWAS member countries. Women are driving forces for agricultural development, food security and nutrition in the region. They represent an important percentage of the agricultural labour force. They are the frontline nutrition care givers...

The present regional review and synthesis for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) provides an overview of major issues and trends in the aquaculture sector between 2004 and 2014 with emphasis on outstanding issues over the last five years. The regional review reflects development in 41countries in SSA for which production was reported...

NATEXPO is organised at the initiative of Natexbio,  the French Federation of the Organic Sector, member of the IFOAM EU network, with the support of its member associations Synadis Bio, Synadiet and Synabio, and the participation of Cosmebio, France Vin Bio and Agence Bio. Natexpo, the international trade show for organic products,...

Indicações Geográficas (IG) identificam um produto como originário de país, cidade, região ou localidade de seu território, quando determinada qualidade, reputação ou outra característica do produto seja essencialmente atribuída a sua origem geográfica. As indicações geográficas surgiram quando produtores, comerciantes e consumidores começaram a identificar que alguns produtos de determinados lugares...

El Espacio tiene como objetivo la institucionalización de una instancia permanente de carácter regional, liderada por la Secretaría Ejecutiva del CAC, para la discusión, el intercambio de experiencias y la construcción de políticas públicas específicas para la agricultura familiar (AF) en Centroamérica y República Dominicana, que en coordinación con las...

This short video explains the basis of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS).

Sustainable agricultural mechanization (SAM) is an essential input for the development of the smallholder farm sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The benefits of SAM range from drudgery reduction to improved timeliness of agricultural operations, increased input use efficiency, facilitating sustainable production intensification, ensuring environmental protection, and contributing to make agriculture...

Those pineapples that still seem exotic on a super market shelf anywhere beyond the equator, are not just gorgeous to look at and luscious to eat or drink but this seemingly omnipresent tropical produce requires a careful and lengthy process of cultivation. In the Pacific island of Vanuatu, where pineapple production...

Climate change poses an alarming threat to food systems and food security in the Pacific islands, warned leaders of nine small island developing states (SIDS), representatives of regional development bodies, New Zealand and Australia at a meeting chaired by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today. The meeting took place ahead...

Small-holder farmers also contribute with school meals, delivering fresh and locally produced foods that improve the academic performance and school permanence of children, while at the same time, strengthen the local economy. The World Food Programme (WFP) in Ecuador is working with the Ministry of Education to complement the National Government’s...

En el marco de la Reunión Extraordinaria de Ministros del Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano-CAC, que se llevó a cabo en San José, Costa Rica, el 28 y 29 de junio de 2017, se adoptaron las Directrices para el Reconocimiento e Identificación de la Agricultura Familiar en el ámbito de la Comisión...

Ce numéro propose une relecture de la place de l’oléiculture dans l’histoire de l’Ouest méditerranéen et plus particulièrement le Maroc. L’olivier y est considéré comme un modèle des relations sociales et environnementales : la distribution de la diversité génétique, les flux de gènes entre oliviers et oléastres, ou l’équilibre entre...

The Committee of the Regions’ (CoR) opinion on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2020, commissioned by European Commission Vice-President Timmermans, will be discussed during the next plenary session of the CoR in July 2017 (see our previous news post from 3 April 2017, “CoR Opinion on the future CAP under...

Croatia imports a large part of the fruits and vegetables it consumes. Yet, with a rich national tradition of fruit and vegetable production – and optimal climate and soil conditions for it – the country has real potential to produce more. It could meet the demand for high-quality produce at...

Niger is a landlocked Sahelian country, two-thirds of which is in the Sahara Desert. Although only one-eighth of the land considered arable, the overwhelming majority of Niger’s households is involved in rain-fed agriculture largely for subsistence. Given erratic rainfall and low soil fertility, most smallholders fail to produce enough food...

El presente documento es producto de un proceso de investigación documental y reflexión colectiva de varios años y tiene como objetivo aportar conceptual y metodológicamente al abordaje de los sistemas alimentarios en la región, desde una mirada más integral que resalte su rol determinante en el fortalecimiento de la seguridad...

ECOWAS is an economic, social and political organization pursuing the vision of an integrated West Africa. The population of this vast economic block is about three hundred million. The demand for meat and milk was estimated at 3.84 million tonnes of meat (12.3 kg per capita) and 19.83 million tonnes...

Los pequeños agricultores también contribuyen con las comidas escolares, incluyendo así alimentos frescos y localmente producidos que mejoran el rendimiento académico de niños y niñas y su permanencia en los centros educativos, al mismo tiempo que fortalecen la economía local. El Programa Mundial de Alimentos en Ecuador (PMA) trabaja, de manera...