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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ethiopian Ministry for Livestock and Fishery to hold the first Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 (ASL2050) Technical Consultation on the 21st and 23rd of February 2017 and the ASL2050 Regional Launch on the 23rd February 2017. Representatives from Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, as well as numerous partner organisations, attended the technical meeting to discuss the future impacts of livestock sector growth on Africa’s environment, public health and livelihoods. In the next 30–40 years, growing demand [...]

This technical report reviews issues related to fertilizers access in Tanzania and identify policy options that would enable smallholder farmers to continue to access fertilizer at reasonable prices, also in the absence of subsidies. Where possible, the options have been assessed against their potential impact on input cost reduction; the implications for the government budget, mostly in qualitative terms; and the time and coordination required for their implementation. The report recommends to consider a balanced package of options to address the aspects currently undermining the effectiveness and efficiency of the fertilizer sector with a view to increase access to and [...]

The Addressing agriculture, forestry and fisheries in National Adaptation Plans – Supplementary guidelines (referred to as the NAP-Ag Guidelines) responds to a call by the Least Developed Group (LEG) of the UNFCCC, inviting international actors to draft sectorial guidelines to the UNFCCC NAP Technical Guidelines.  The NAP-Ag Guidelines aim to support developing countries in: reducing vulnerability of the agriculture sectors to the impacts of climate change by building adaptive capacities and resilience; addressing agriculture in the formulation and implementation of NAPs; and enhancing the integration of adaptation in agricultural development policies, progammes and plans. The NAP-Ag Guidelines outline four elements and related steps for preparing [...]

A solid understanding of domestic political economy helps to promote policies that are better adapted to country realities. The challenges that many governments faced in responding to food price volatility during the 2008 global food crisis re-focused attention on the political economy and implementing effective national policy responses on food security and nutrition. Understanding the political economy behind public policy-making and implementation is crucial to enhancing the effectiveness of policy support to countries and increases the chances of nationally-led reforms that result in better food security and nutrition outcomes. This political economy analysis note is intended to support policy practitioners [...]

The livestock sector is a complex one that touches not only on animal production and agriculture but on environment, health, and land-use rights. Addressing all of these topics within a policy is a delicate task especially where there is a wide range of competing objectives: economic growth, employment, equality, food and nutrition security, environmental conservation and climate change adaptation. In the context of responding to increased demand for edible animal products through mainly industrialized growth, policies should better protect smallholders’ needs and livelihoods. Policies can also help address the scrutiny this sector has faced for its effects on the environment, human [...]

This introductory note provides the background to the FIRST Policy Guidance Notes series and comprises three sections. Section 1 describes the rationale of the guidelines; section 2 introduces the different guidance notes included in the guidelines and describes the step-wise approach adopted; section 3 unpacks the concepts related to food security, nutrition and policy.  See the complete Policy Guidance Series Now also available in Spanish and French.

Cette note s’emploie à évaluer la cohérence des politiques agricoles et alimentaires mises en œuvre au Sénégal entre 2010 et 2015. L’analyse révèle notamment une hausse et un rééquilibrage des dépenses publiques en soutien à la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition. Toutefois, les politiques agricoles et alimentaires du Sénégal continuent de souffrir d’un déficit de cohérence, perceptible à l’échelle du secteur agricole et de ses sous-secteurs. Les cultures végétales jouissent d’une attention prioritaire au détriment de l’élevage et de la pêche, sans pour autant répondre à un objectif politique précis. Les investissements consentis dans les infrastructures de pêche et d’élevage [...]

RuralInvest is a free multilingual methodology and toolkit designed to help with the preparation of sustainable agricultural and rural investment projects and business plans. It is participatory, interactive, bottom-up and decentralized way, involving communities, entrepreneurs, government field technicians, project staff and local financing institutions.  Developed by FAO with the support of national and international development partners, RuralInvest contributes to FAO's Strategic Objective to enable inclusive and efficient agricultural food systems.  Any agency, project, organization or private institution managing funds or mobilizing resources for small- and medium-scale agricultural and rural investment can apply RuralInvest to develop: Income-generating projects in agriculture, livestock, fisheries, fish farming, [...]

The present study is a gender assessment of the dairy value chain in selected sites in Ethiopia: North Shoa Shewa (Degem woreda), East Gojam (Dejen woreda) and Gamu Gofa Arba Minch (Arba Minch Zuria woreda). It relies on evidence gathered through fieldwork complemented by a review of specialized background documentation. The findings confirm that women’s empowerment is vital for sustainable dairy value chain development and that projects supporting dairy production need to increase their efforts to be gender inclusive. The study provides country-specific recommendations for Ethiopia, which also feed into a more general knowledge base on how to develop gender-sensitive dairy value chains.

The smallholder farmers' dataportrait is a comprehensive, systematic and standardized data set on the profile of smallholder farmers across the world.  It generates an image on how small family farmers in developing and emerging countries live their lives. It is about putting in numbers, the constraints they face, and the choices they make so that policies can be informed by evidence to meet the challenge of agricultural development. Currently, the data portrait provides information for fourteen countries.