For generations, Ariel Benitez's ancestors, the Ava Guaraní people, one of the Indigenous Peoples living in eastern Paraguay, have been harvesting the green leaves of the yerba mate tree to make the bitter, caffeinated brew beloved in South America and beyond.

Climate crisis and conflicts are becoming increasingly intertwined, feeding into one another to perpetuate hunger and poverty. Urgent action and innovative solutions are required to address global food insecurity, said Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Beth Bechdol on Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council High-Level Open Debate.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has greenlighted 48 FAO-led projects worth about $2.9 billion –$294 million in project financing and $2.6 billion in co-financing– that will play a pivotal role in fostering a sustainable agrifood systems transformation to end hunger and conserve the environment.

They are the dried edible seeds of legumes both cultivated for food and feed. They are pulses, and if you didn’t know already, they have the potential to transform our agrifood systems.

Colourful and flavourful, small yet powerful, pulses include the well-known beans, lentils, chickpeas and peas but there are also the lesser-known kinds like tarwi beans and adzuki beans.  

In a bid to emphasize the transformative potential of agrifood systems in responding to climate change and ensuring good food for today and for tomorrow, the FAO Liaison Offices in New York, Brussels, Geneva and Washington D.C. joined forces with the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment to brief and engage Members, stakeholders and partners on COP28 outcomes and the way forward.

The rate of climate change surged during 2011-2020, undermining food security, national development and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a report launched recently. In The Global Climate 2011-2020: A Decade of Accelerating Climate Change, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals there was record warming of land and oceans, unprecedented glacier loss and an accelerated rise in sea levels over the past decade. The WMO report calls for urgent and “synergistic” action to limit global temperatures to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and achieve the SDGs in tandem. 

A FAO Expert Panel at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture explored tailored solutions offered by the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) Partnership

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has today launched an all-in-one tool to assess the environmental impact of projects and investments in the agriculture, forestry and land use (AFOLU) sector. The FAO Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB) developed the geospatial app, the Adaptation, Biodiversity and Carbon Mapping Tool (ABC-Map), with funding from the French Development Agency (AFD) and the German Ministry of Agriculture (BMEL). 

Agrifood systems solutions are climate solutions and increased collaboration and finance are needed if the world is to achieve the 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today marked International Mountain Day 2023 with a high-level meeting at the UN Climate Conference COP28 in Dubai and the launch of a report that offers recommendations and uplifting examples of successful moun...

Government, civil society, and private sector representatives underscored the important role that private financing and public-private partnerships can play in reducing emissions and building resilience in the world’s agrifood systems...

First launched as an initiative by the COP 27 Presidency, FAST seeks to serve as a connecting bridge between climate-related finance for agriculture priorities and discussions at COPs...

FAO launches new collection of success stories from around the world, Catalyzing Climate Solutions...

Recognizing the multitude of risks that a changing climate is having and will continue to have on the health of all life on earth, the launch took place at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The amount of climate finance flowing to agrifood systems is strikingly low and continues to diminish compared to global climate finance flows, a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warns.

The roadmap envisions transforming agrifood systems from a net emitter to a carbon sink based on the principle of a just transition.

This event, taking place on Nature, Lands, and Oceans Day at the COP 28, addressed the critical importance of a shared vision, standards of practice, and harmonized monitoring tools for achieving the ambitious goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, especially in support of restoring ecosystem health and productivity.

It is imperative to chart pathways to lower the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the world’s livestock systems in the face of a growing global population and a projected 20 percent increase in demand for terrestrial animal products by 2050.

At global celebrations marking World Soil Day 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) underlined the vital link between soil and water in producing our food and the need for integrated management and conservation of these key resources to enable climate change mitigation and adaptation.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu led a delegation during the first high-level segment of the UN Climate Conference COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, carrying the message of agrifood systems as the linchpin to climate solutions...