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Forests and landscapes in the Asia-Pacific region are under increasing pressure from economic development, climate change, demographic shifts, conflicts over tenure and land use, and other stressors. This, the third Asia-Pacific Forest Sector Outlook Study, presents scenarios and a strategic analysis to help policymakers and other actors understand the implications of these stressors for forests and forestry in the Asia-Pacific region and how best to address the challenges ahead.  The product of outstanding collaboration among institutions, networks and more than 800 individuals across the region, the study examines the drivers of change in the region’s forest sector and explores three scenarios [...]

In recent years, scientists have developed a range of different models to monitor, evaluate and predict the effects of climate change. However, this information is often focused exclusively on one particular region or scientific domain/topic. Moreover, this information often remains confined within academic contexts and is not used effectively by the decision makers of the countries in which the studies are carried out. As part of FAO’s Analysis and Mapping of Impacts under Climate Change for Adaptation and Food Security, implemented in the Philippines and Peru from 2011 to 2015, the project aimed to analyse the impacts of climate change [...]

Climate change issues are among the leading causes of hunger and affect all dimensions of food security in the Upper West region of Ghana, including access to food, availability and stability of supplies and nutrition. To address this situation, the project aimed to increase the productivity of selected crop commodity value chains (maize, cowpea, soya bean, Sorghum and groundnut) and develop information, education and communication materials for training and capacity-building in disaster management. Emphasis was also placed on Good Agricultural Practices to reduce risk and improve natural resource management.

The Government of Nepal prioritized a package of Green Climate Fund (GCF) initiatives to address both immediate and longer-term climate change risks posed to critical ecosystems and the most vulnerable communities in the country.  As part of this package, a Climate-Resilient Agriculture (CRA) proposal and supporting documentation was to be prepared and submitted to the GCF. The development impact of the activities in rural communities in the target geographical regions of the CRA proposal was expected to enhance climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods and the food and nutrition security of vulnerable farming communities, while decreasing emissions and increasing sequestration of carbon in [...]

This guidance entitled Integrating Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in CSA Programs focuses on a set of agricultural practices to be implemented by small-scale food producers in developing countries. The purpose of this document is to provide agriculture development practitioners and policy makers globally, with guidance, tools and examples of successful integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) into climate smart agriculture (CSA) work, by demonstrating the necessity and benefits of incorporating a GEWE approach in CSA work; and presenting tested strategies for enhancing the engagement of women and particularly vulnerable groups in CSA work. With a view towards [...]

The increased frequency and severity of natural hazards and disasters, partly largely caused by climate change and variability, has adverse serious negative impacts on the agriculture sectors, threatening peoples’ lives and livelihoods as well as national economies.  To tackle this challenge, it is important to invest in disaster risk reduction measures that can both increase sustainable agricultural production and boost the resilience of current and future generations. Even in the absence of a disasters event, these investments can yield provide significant benefits, for example by encouraging households to protect existing  assets and build new ones, as well as by promoting entrepreneurship [...]

This report presents the findings of a multi-year FAO study undertaken on over 900 farms in ten different countries that measured, using field data, benefits gained through the use of innovative farming practices designed to boost the resilience of farmers in the face of natural disasters and other shocks. Its findings show that the use of good disaster risk reduction practices offer significant economic gains at the household level, and also that – because they are usually low-cost and easily implemented – they hold significant potential for reducing disaster risks at the national and regional scales as well. These results [...]

This paper is an accompaniment to the FAO study, The Agricultural Sectors in the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs): Analysis. Building on the results of that study, this paper outlines key types of support developing countries will require to effectively implement and report on their agricultural sector commitments, and ultimately scale up ambition in the coming years. 

Widespread maize monocropping in Malawi exposes farmers to significant livelihood risk in the context of increasing climate variability. 36 percent of rural households grow maize in monocrop. These farmers are often poor and land constrained, and experience low levels of productivity and high production volatility. The effects of crop diversification on farm productivity and income volatility in Malawi varies across cropping systems. Maize in combination with legumes is the only crop system in Malawi that is significantly associated with an increase in productivity and a reduction in crop income volatility. Contrary to expectations, crop systems with 3 or more [...]

Spatial disconnect between cropping system diversification and climate risk. In Zambia, farmers residing in areas with low and medium rainfall risk are more likely to adopt diversified systems than farmers in areas with lower rainfall and greater rainfall variability. Lack of diversification in high risk regions poses a significant threat to livelihood resilience in those regions. Diverse cropping systems improve productivity and resilience. Increased level of diversification is associated to more stable crop income, when compared to maize monocropping. However, farmers facing land fragmentation, weakness of private input and output markets and uncertainty from the public policies are less likely [...]