The Mediterranean fruit fly is considered among the most devastating insect pests worldwide. An outbreak can lead to strict trade restrictions with enormous socio-economic consequences. Despite having been eradicated in Mexico in the 1980s, Mediterranean fruit flies were recently detected in the ...

After years of soil degradation in western Uzbekistan, smallholder farmers like Adyl have turned to climate-smart techniques to tackle the impacts of drought. 

Soils are where our food begins. Without healthy soils, growing nutritious food would be next to impossible. Problems like soil erosion can cause up to 50 percent in crop yield losses, impacting farmers’ livelihoods, our environment, agriculture and food. Soil health affects us all. 

Dramatic environmental changes are affecting the availability and abundance of species, forcing artisanal fishers and small-scale fish farmers along Chile’s vast coastline to modify their livelihoods. 

Sargassum has been washing up in growing numbers on the shores of the Caribbean Sea for more than a decade. Easily identified by its brown colour and a powerful stench, this algae in such increased volumes is seriously damaging tourism in island communities, catches in fishing industries and econ...

In 2022, the Republic of Moldova faced an extreme drought that led to 50 - 60 percent losses in some of their crops. With this loss of income and increased prices of agricultural inputs, families with livestock couldn’t buy the feed necessary for their animals.

Maasai Indigenous Peoples are pastoralists who traditionally relied on natural pastures, but the prolonged droughts and poor quality, purchased silage have led the pastoralists to adopt other approaches, like growing their own fodder. 

In the snowy peaks of Kyrgyzstan’s Tien-Shan mountains, a group of people hike to a remote area, checking and relocating camera traps that monitor wildlife, like the elusive snow leopard – the “ghost of the mountains”. Formerly hunters and fishers, these locals now work as community rangers, patr...

The 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference, including the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), will be held in Cali, Colombia from 21 October to 1 November 2024.

Director-General announces FAO will host the  Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan, convened a regional workshop on “Enhancing climate action in agriculture in Europe and Central Asia” to support national governments in the region to prepare for the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that will be held in November this year. 

A unique  carp pond farming system in Austria, an agroforestry system cultivating salak, or snake fruit in Bali, Indonesia and the Cocoa Agroforestry System of Sao Tome and Principe, have become the latest additions to Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).

The new ‘Enhanced Transparency Framework on Climate change’ website, launched today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), supports country efforts to accurately track and report on climate impacts and action.  

Studies have shown we are breathing microplastics, eating microplastics, drinking microplastics, and picking them up through skin contact. Evidence is mounting that they can pose a potential threat to food safety and human health.

The SCALA programme , co-led by FAO and UNDP, recently convened with three Costa Rican experts —Sylvia Chaves Acuña (Gender Specialist, FAO), Rafaella Sánchez Mora (Senior Specialist in Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, UNDP), and Katherine Fernández Rojas (Gender Equality Associate, UNDP)— to get their insights on how to advance gender equality and climate resilience in agriculture in Costa Rica and beyond. Their perspectives highlight how targeted interventions, such as those under the SCALA programme, and collaborative efforts are driving sustainable development and elevating women’s roles in the livestock sector.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are highly dependent on importing and exporting commodities. Imports into SIDS are often used to complement narrow local resource bases with fuel, food, and bottled water; while exports tend to be concentrated in a limited number of agrifood commodities such as cane sugar, bananas, tropical beverages and forest- and fisheries-based products. 

The “Facility for Action for Climate Empowerment to Achieve Nationally Determined Contributions (FACE-NDC)” has made some steady progress in preparing the ground for a radical reform of formal climate change education in Zambia - from early childhood to tertiary levels, including non-formal education interventions.

On a remote Chilean island at the centre of Lake Ranco south of the Andes, native trees are making a comeback thanks to the restoration efforts of Indigenous Peoples, like Anita Neguimán Antillanca. Like other Mapuche Huilliche Indigenous Peoples on Huapi Island, she’s been planting fruit-bearing Chilean hazel and other native trees ...

Agrometeorological advisory services help farmers make informed decisions on water and fertilizer management, pest and disease control, sowing and harvesting schedules, and other on-farm practices. Included in these advisory services is weather forecasting – from nowcasting to seasonal prediction, which, when combined with monitoring of farm conditions, can help produce and communicate practical farming advice to actors across the agrifood system. 

The Bioeconomy Talks series features interviews with experts on bioeconomy themes that are linked to agrifood systems transformation.