Malawi has the potential to reorient its smallholder agriculture away from being primarily directed towards assuring household subsistence and self-sufficiency to increased commercial production, including of soyabean. This shift would reduce the country’s reliance on tobacco and diversify its agricultural production and exports. As a legume, furthermore, soyabean would also...

As the Coordinator of the H2020 project “Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas” (SIMRA), I am very pleased to share the news that the 1st Workshop of the H2020  SIMRA Social Innovation Think Tank (SITT) that took place on October 26th – 28th 2016 in Bratislava and was endorsed by...

Para conmemorar el Día Internacional de la Mujer, y con el fin de proveer información específica sobre las brechas de género en áreas rurales, la Unidad para el Cambio Rural (UCAR) junto a la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura en Argentina (FAO) lleva adelante en...

El 17 de junio se realizó el Seminario Equidad de Género para el Desarrollo Territorial en la Cineteca del Centro Cultural Palacio la Moneda en el que, frente a más de 100 personas, se presentaron dos documentos: el Informe Latinoamericano sobre Pobreza y Desigualdad 2015: Género y Territorio, elaborado por...

A first required step to improving the integration of refugees and migrants s to increase understanding between host communities and new arrivals. Such approaches aim to ‘change the narrative’ around migration, increasing the likelihood of more positive outcomes for all.

Addressing gender inequalities and the concerns of women is an urgent need in this context. The SSF Guidelines are an important starting point towards this agenda. The next steps would be to take forward the campaign to include provisions of the Guidelines as part of policies for small-scale fisheries, particularly...

Farmer Coumba Ndoffen Sene used to struggle to feed his family, but now he can pay his children’s school fees and buy them new clothes. He has also started a business raising chickens. Sene takes part in the IFAD-funded Agricultural Value Chains Support Project in Senegal. One of the ideas behind...

La insuficiencia de lugares donde la mujer rural pueda desempeñar un trabajo remunerado, la devuelve una y otra vez al cuidado y atención del hogar, en el que se incluyen los cuidados a personas mayores, niños y niñas, etc. Esto hace necesario la continuidad del desarrollo de programas, tanto desde...

Drylands make up about 43 percent of the region’s land surface, account for about 75 percent of the area used for agriculture, and are home to about 50 percent of the population, including many poor. Involving complex interactions among many factors, vulnerability in drylands is rising, jeopardizing the livelihood for...

Opportunities to become economically self-sufficient are crucial to successful integration into society in the medium to long term, as well as to personal dignity. Skills development, work placements and business-development support can all be valuable depending on each individual’s profile. Access to work for new arrivals is key for their...

This anthology explores the future of African food systems and the role that digital solutions can play in overcoming the isolation of smallholder farmers and speeding up rural development. Farming is one of mankind’s oldest endeavors, and digital technology is one of its newest. The contributors to this fascinating volume...

Some 700 vulnerable internally displaced persons in Georgia could soon be earning income by growing fruit, raising rabbits, breeding cattle, beekeeping, horticulture and other agricultural activities. Financed by the European Union, the income diversification initiative is implemented by FAO and the Livelihoods Agency of Georgia’s Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from...

The workshop “Support to family farming and small scale agriculture to achieve rural poverty reduction. Opportunities and priorities to strengthen FAO Regional Initiatives” is aimed at analysing the main trends in family farming and debating the strategy and achievements of the three FAO Regional Initiatives related to family farming and...

By supporting smallholder foresters and farmers through their organizations, the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) continues a long-running collaboration between FAO and AgriCord. Now, together with the International Family Forestry Alliance (IFFA), we have made this compilation of cases that highlight how forest and farm producer organizations (FFPOs) are vital...

Small-scale irrigation is increasingly recognized as a key strategy for enhancing agricultural productivity and food security under growing climate uncertainty in Africa south of the Sahara. Rainfed production dominates the region, but governments and other stakeholders are increasing investments in irrigation. As these efforts are being rolled out, the gender...

This publication addresses the need to strengthen the interface between the scientific community, knowledge-holders and policymakers, and build capacity for and strengthen the use of science and knowledge in policymaking on the topic of ecosystem services. With respect to the ecosystem service of pollination, FAO developed a protocol to identify...

With regard to genderdifferentiated impacts on child-specific outcomes, in Lesotho the programme had a strong positive impact on school enrolment and time spent in school (mainly driven by girls) and on a reduction of farm work (mainly driven by boys) for children aged 13–17. These gendered outcomes were also influenced...

Rural advisory services (RAS) are increasingly recognized as critical to agricultural and rural development. RAS work with farmers and other important stakeholders in rural economies. They provide rural communities with a wide range of skills and knowledge, and facilitate interactions among the different actors to help them access support and...

Desde FAO Argentina trabajamos junto a la Unidad para el Cambio Rural (UCAR) dependiente del Ministerio de Agroindustria de la Nación, para sensibilizar sobre la importancia del empoderamiento de las mujeres rurales y visibilizar sus problemáticas y necesidades. En esta nota entrevistamos a la técnica especialista en género del equipo de la...

Despite the potential of the agricultural sector, many regions of Uganda still suffer from hunger. As everywhere, the serious problem of hunger is linked to climate change, unequal resource allocation, illiteracy, attitude towards farming and poor policy implementation. One of the root causes is also the uneven access of women...