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On top of a decade of exacerbated disaster loss, exceptional global heat, retreating ice and rising sea levels, humanity and our food security face a range of new and unprecedented hazards, such as megafires, extreme weather events, desert locust swarms of magnitudes previously unseen, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Agriculture underpins the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people – most of them in low-income developing countries – and remains a key driver of development. At no other point in history has agriculture been faced with such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks, interacting in a hyperconnected world and a precipitously [...]

Globally, and with only a few exceptions, rural and indigenous women fare worse than rural men and urban women and men on every indicator for which data are available. Although they share challenges in the form of rural location and genderbased discrimination, rural women and girls are not a homogeneous group. The opportunities and constraints they face differ across their lifetimes, contexts and circumstances; they are influenced by location and socio-economic statusand social identities associated with other forms of marginalization, such as indigenous origin and ethnicity, age, disability, migrant or refugee status. The complex experiences of rural and indigenous women [...]

This strategy specifically targets the different types of the private sector from large national and multinational corporations, to financial institutions, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), industry and trade organizations and consortia which represent private sector interests, farmers and farmers’ organizations, producers’ organizations and cooperatives and philanthropic foundations.At the same time, it also targets FAO Membership, as well as the general public who wish to learn more about FAO's strategy and ways of engaging with the private sector.

This brief reviews some of the main land use contraints to reducing agriculture-led forest loss in Viet Nam. We find that agricultural land use constraints increase agriculture-driven pressure on forests. Farmers producing high-value crops have more incentives to deforest, and this increase when operating in areas with land use constrains. Removing land use constraints, repurposing agricultural support and reinforcing environmental regulations would improve agricultural productivity, sustainability and climate resilience, while reducing pressure on forests. The findings in this brief have been adapted from the FAO Agrifood Economics project “Guiding policies and investments to reduce agriculture-led deforestation in Viet Nam”.

This action sheet is part of a series of action sheets developed under the seven key priority areas of the FAO COVID-19 Response and Recovery program, the FAO umbrella program designed to proactively and sustainably address the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic. Each action sheet includes a project proposal in support of countries most in need for which FAO is leveraging high-level political, financial, and technical expertise. All action sheets are gathered on the Food Coalition web hub, where members of the Coalition - a multi-stakeholder global alliance for unified global action in response to COVID-19 -  can easily access [...]

This action sheet is part of a series of action sheets developed under the seven key priority areas of the FAO COVID-19 Response and Recovery programme, the FAO umbrella programme designed to proactively and sustainably address the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic. Each action sheet includes a project proposal in support of countries most in need for which FAO is leveraging high-level political, financial and technical expertise. All action sheets are gathered on the Food Coalition web hub, where members of the Coalition - a multi-stakeholder global alliance for a unified global action in response to COVID-19 - can easily [...]

The African agricultural and food market is expanding quickly as indicated by World Bank projections that show that the value of Africa’s agriculture and agribusiness industry is expected to more than triple to reach USD 1 trillion by 2030, compared to 2010 (World Bank, 2013).This provides an opportunity to not only boost trade in food and non-food agricultural commodities and services within the continent but also enhance food security in Africa. Regional integration is also gaining momentum as evidenced by progress in the creation of customs unions and the initial steps in setting up a common external tariff at the [...]

Progressively more countries are reportedly incorporating school-based food and nutrition education (SFNE) into their education, nutrition and school feeding policies, acknowledging its role in impacting children’s food outlooks and practices, and that of their parents, families and the community. Despite this increasing interest and global recognition, there is no clear picture of SFNE implementation at school level, which makes it challenging to identify gaps, take corrective measures, make reforms or introduce new policy initiatives.Framed under FAO’s school food and nutrition work, the aim of the survey was to determine the current role, approach, scope and linkages of government run SFNE [...]

In 2020, the corona virus spread around the globe, and its containment measures resulted in unprecedented socio-economic impacts. ASEAN region’s economy is estimated to experience a decline between 3.5 and 4.7 per cent for 2020. The restrictions to contain the virus spread, although necessary, hit many households income, particularly of the most vulnerable. Yet other disasters have continued to hit the region. Convergence of the impacts of compounded shocks from multiple hazards, can push vulnerable households into deeper or prolonged deprivation and poverty.Social protection is a core part of the efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, facilitate speedy recovery [...]

This short version of the Regional Overview adresses the region's latest progress in meeting zero hunger and the regional trends related to hunger, food insecurity and the triple burden of malnutrition. It describes the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, putting an emphasis on lagging territories; it also presents a diagnosis and the main trends in recent days. Finally it analyzes the main public policies that the countries of the region are developing to secure food security and nutrition for laggard territories. Also available in Spanish and Portuguese