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Consistent with its mandate to pursue a world free from hunger and malnutrition, the following “FAO Policy on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples” has been formulated so as to ensure that FAO will make all due efforts to respect, include and promote indigenous issues in relevant work. In so doing, it joins the international community’s increasing mobilization in favour of the rights and concerns of indigenous peoples, most of whom suffer disproportionately from multiple adversities such as discrimination, poverty, ill health, political under-representation, and environmental and cultural degradation. Although much attention is focused on the challenges that indigenous peoples face, it [...]

Negative and positive drivers affecting forests in the GMS co-exist. Negative drivers result in deforestation and forest degradation, and positive drivers promote sustainable forest management (SFM), forest conservation, afforestation and reforestation. Negative drivers are still more dominant than positive ones. Nevertheless, growing signs of positive drivers are starting to emerge in the GMS countries. Policy makers, forest managers and practitioners need to be aware of these drivers and find ways to enhance the positive ones, while reducing the negative ones. In order to promote SFM and address deforestation and forest degradation, the GMS countries need to foster integrated land-use planning [...]

Water is key to human life. It is key to human food security and nutrition. Safe drinking water and sanitation are fundamental to the good nutrition, health and dignity of all. How can the world ensure food and nutrition security given increasingly scarce water resources, especially in some regions, and the increasing competition for water uses?  This policy-oriented report from the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) presents a synthesis of existing evidence on the multiple relations between water and food security and nutrition, from global levels to household levels. The aim of this report, given the diversity [...]

Drylands cover nearly half of the earth’s land surface and are home to one-third of the global population. They face extraordinary challenges, including those posed by desertification, biodiversity loss, poverty, food insecurity and climate change. Up to 20 percent of the world’s drylands are degraded, and people living there are often locked into a vicious circle of poverty, unsustainable practices and environmental degradation. It is clear that serious efforts are needed to arrest dryland degradation and restore degraded lands, and the simple but urgent aim of these guidelines is to support such efforts. It is the first time that global guidelines on [...]

West African Agriculture is at a turning point. The combination of strong demand growth, sustained economic growth, higher global agricultural prices, and an improved policy environment has generated the most conducive conditions for Agricultural growth in over 30 years. West African countries and their Development Partners now clearly recognize the sector’s vital importance for broad-based growth, food security, improved nutrition and poverty reduction. At the same time, a combination of old and new challenges ranging from climate change to increased price volatility threaten the ability of West Africans to seize these opportunities. In view of the challenges and opportunities facing [...]

This module concerns integrating capacity development into programming and covers the assessment process, engagement with stakeholders and tracking capacity development. Tools are provided. This module is the second in the series designed to improve Capacity Development (CD) approaches in projects and programmes of FAO. It includes examples and tools to support endogenous CD processes in the areas of FAO’s mandate. Practitioners also may draw on the other Learning Modules (see box 1) which cover tools from disciplines such as organization analysis and development, learning event planning, facilitation and instructional science. Learning Module 2 is organized around five major themes: engaging with national/local actors; analysing the context and [...]

The report provides a comprehensive assessment of livestock biodiversity and its management. It sets out the latest available information on: The state of livestock diversity Trends in the livestock sector The state of capacity to manage animal genetic resources The state of the art in animal genetic resources management Gaps and needs in animal genetic resources management By the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

The Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) , co - organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), was held at the Headquarters of FAO in Rome, Italy , from 19 to 21 November 20 14 . The Conference was convened to (i) review progress made since the 1992 International Conference on Nutrition, respond to new challenges and opportunities, and identify policy options for improving nutrition; (ii) bring food, agriculture, he alth and other sectors together and align their sectoral policies to improve nutrition in a sustainable manner; (iii) propose [...]

This 35-minute module addresses the basic terms and concepts relating to food and nutrition, malnutrition, food security and livelihoods. By the end of this module, you will be able to define and differentiate these key concepts and understand the different situations that they encompass. Understanding these concepts is indeed very important in order to be able to assess the nutrition situation, to design and implement programmes, investments and policies that address nutrition problems (also called "nutrition-sensitive"), and to evaluate the nutritional outcomes of programmes, investments and policies.    

This study assesses the impact of medium to large scale natural hazards and disasters on the agriculture sector and subsectors in developing countries between 2003 and 2013, focusing on direct physical damage and indirect economic losses. The findings of the study are expected to support national and international efforts to reduce damage and losses caused by disasters and strengthen the resilience of the agriculture sector, in line with resilience targets set under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement.