Publications
AREA OF WORK: Investments for sustainable markets, agribusiness and rural transformation
Divide in the fields – A study of global agricultural land inequality
10/2026
This study introduces the Global Database of Land Distribution and Inequality (LINEQ), which integrates agricultural census, survey data, and Earth Observation-based proxies for land quality to provide a more nuanced and cross-country comparable measurement of land inequality.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
How unequal is the global distribution of agricultural land?
10/2026
This brief draws on the Global Database of Land Distribution and Inequality (LINEQ) – a new harmonized dataset covering 177 countries across all decadal rounds of the FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture – to assess the levels, patterns, and drivers of agricultural land inequality globally and across regions.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Briefs
Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT) handbook – Guiding sustainable investments
07/2026
This handbook provides technical guidance on using the greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting component of the Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT) online app to assess environmental externalities in agrifood system interventions.
Integrating permanence into greenhouse gas accounting for agrifood systems – Application of the Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT)
05/2026
Assessing permanence is a critical consideration in project-level greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting to ensure that reported mitigation outcomes are durable and continue to deliver climate benefits over time. In agrifood systems, permanence encompasses both the stability of carbon stocks and the sustained implementation of emission-reducing practices.
Investment modeling for scalable agricultural learning
05/2026
Reeves, N.P., Pietrelli, R., Brooks, I., Celi, R., Narendra, K., Ngabitsinze, J.C., Cullen, M.T., Lutomia, A.N., Medendorp, J.W., Bello-Bravo, J.M., & Pittendrigh, B.R. 2026. Investment modeling for scalable agricultural learning. PLOS ONE, 21(3), e0343613. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0343613
Anticipating shocks through social protection – Emerging evidence on socioeconomic outcome
04/2026
This literature review synthesizes recent empirical evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of anticipatory social protection interventions, particularly forecast-based cash transfers, implemented in response to climate-related shocks.
Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT) – User guide
03/2026
This user guide provides practical guidance for operating the Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT) online app for assessing environmental externalities in agrifood system interventions.
Fiscal policy repurposing as a tool to enable healthy diets – A review of available evidence
03/2026
This report reviews how fiscal policy repurposing – through taxes and subsidies – can be used as a lever to promote healthier diets and advance global nutrition and non-communicable diseases targets.
Additionality and ex ante greenhouse gas project level accounting – Application of the Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT)
02/2026
This report reviews the concept of additionality and how it is treated in major climate finance frameworks, to identify relevant practices for project-level greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting in agriculture. It proposes a practical approach to integrating ex ante additionality assessment into the Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT), including guidance on credible baselines, realistic adoption rates of climate-smart practices and uncertainty management.
Breaking down wage inequalities – A youth and gender perspective in agrifood systems using decomposition
12/2025
The modernization of agrifood systems (AFS) is transforming labour markets and generating new employment opportunities. However, are these emerging opportunities enabling youth to take up more waged employment – often associated with higher incomes and social benefits? And are these opportunities being equitably distributed between men and women?
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
Land, livelihoods and poverty – Exploring income diversification among agricultural households in developing economies
11/2025
Smallholder farmers remain central to rural economies across developing countries, yet small landholdings and limited non-farm opportunities constrain their ability to achieve a living income. Using harmonized household survey data from 37 countries and panel data from Ethiopia, Nigeria, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Uganda, this paper examines the link between farm size, livelihood strategies, and income.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT) – Checklist for EX-ACT implementation
10/2025
The Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT) checklist guides the collection of essential data for the greenhouse gas (GHG) assessments of projects. It covers project-level details, land-based activities, livestock, fisheries, wetlands, downstream energy use, and inputs to ensure a comprehensive climate mitigation evaluation.
Expanding greenhouse gas accounting in the fisheries sector using the Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT) – Review of the "Coastal and Marine Fisheries Management" module of EX‐ACT
08/2025
This methodological note presents the updated approach for estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fisheries using the Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT). It reviews the limitations of previous versions of EX-ACT and outlines the improvements implemented in the online EX-ACT application, in-cluding the introduction of dedicated modules for small-scale and large-scale fisheries.
Implementation of an indicator-based framework for farm sustainability assessment in Ecuador
07/2025
Cocoa is one of Ecuador’s most emblematic and traditional export products. The cocoa sector is vital to the country's economy and is an essential source of livelihood for many households in rural areas. Cocoa production has grown significantly in the last decade. However, it faces intricate socioeconomic and environmental problems, including poverty, inequality and deforestation, that threaten the sustainability of the cocoa value chain.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Studies
Uneven transmission of international cereal price shocks to domestic markets – Domestic cereal prices during a time of rising international prices
05/2025
This study examines the evolution of domestic cereal prices in the low- and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs) from 2017 to mid-2023, covering the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Using monthly retail price data adjusted by the consumer price index (CPI), we analyse cross-country and regional trends.
Insights into the rural livestock farming sector of the Comoros
04/2025
The Union of Comoros, hereafter the Comoros, is an Indian Ocean archipelago which faces significant challenges such as limited arable land, vulnerability to climate change, external economic shocks, and natural disasters, making it vulnerable to food insecurity. Despite being a net food importer, agriculture significantly contributes to the gross domestic product (GDP), accounting for 30.6 percent in 2015, with 64 percent of employment in the sector.
Can’t hold me down? Farming households’ access to productive assets and inputs – A cross-country approach
03/2025
This study provides country-level estimates of productive inputs and assets utilized by farming households, including land, fertilizers, agrochemicals, water management technologies, improved seeds, and mechanization in 19 countries across the world covering the period 2014–2020, using the latest nationally representative survey.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
Measuring agricultural land inequality – Conceptual and methodological issues
03/2025
Measures of agricultural land inequality have primarily relied on the distribution of farm size, using information from agricultural census data. In this paper, we use an expanded approach, recognizing the complexity and the multiple dimensions that involve the concept of land inequality.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
Greenhouse gas accounting in the forestry sector – Refining the approach for forest management activities in EX-ACT
03/2025
This report aims to illustrate the methodological improvements for estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals from forest management practices and disturbances implemented in the FAO's Environmental eXternalities ACcounting Tool (EX-ACT), an online accounting app that estimates and tracks the outcomes of agricultural interventions on environmental externalities, including GHG emissions.
Unveiling the agricultural landscape of the Comoros – An analysis of agricultural production and yields
12/2024
The Comoros, a small island developing state (SIDS) ranking among the poorest nations in Africa, faces many challenges that make it particularly vulnerable to food insecurity: as an isolated, net food-importing country with a small landmass, limited agricultural land and high exposure to natural disasters, the Comoros' food security is particularly vulnerable to external shocks.
