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Efforts to preserve and update knowledge on date palms have created an unique system that combines production and sustainability, safeguards biodiversity, and helps to improve the livelihoods of those who till the land. Since 1965, FAO is proud to be part of the efforts to promote date palms and recognizes that the United Arab Emirates are at the forefront...

New York, 10 July 2014- Observing the International Day of Cooperatives (IDC) 2014, with the theme “Cooperative Enterprises Achieve Sustainable Development for All” at UN Headquarters, New York, representatives from governments, the UN System, the cooperative movement, the private sector and civil society organizations heralded the achievements of the cooperatives and the contribution they have made to the empowerment of people. Coming at a time when the international community is seized with devising a new development agenda – the so called Post 2015 development goals - the message was resoundingly clear –...

Message of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations On the 20th UN International Day of Co-operatives  5th July 2014   Worldwide, the important contributions of agricultural cooperatives to poverty reduction and the achievement of food security are becoming increasingly recognized. As autonomous businesses that are jointly-owned and democratically controlled by their members, cooperatives...

A new programme worth €33 million to improve land governance and help improve the food and nutrition security of family farmers and vulnerable communities in Sub Saharan Africa, was announced today by the European Union’s Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs. This will be done, among other things, through the application, at country level, of some Voluntary Guidelines set up by the international community in 2012 to improve land governance.  Roughly 1.2 billion people worldwide live without permanent homes, land access or formal property rights, a reason which is often used for their land to be attributed to large scale land investors. Therefore,...

Secure and equitable access to natural resources is key for sustainable development, and good governance of tenure is crucial in determining how people and communities acquire access and rights to control land, fisheries and forests.  An agreement signed  by FAO and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) aims to foster dialogues, promote South-South knowledge exchange, and inform policies in order to enhance the responsible governance of tenure of land and natural resources, and therefore boost food security in developing countries.  “This partnership with CATIE will build the capacities of current and future leaders to create innovative strategies for the...