Organic agriculture is practised in 188 countries, and more than 96 million hectares of agricultural land are managed organically by at least 4.5 million farmers. Global sales of organic food and drink reached almost 135 billion euros in 2022. The 25th edition of "The World of Organic Agriculture", published by the...

Climate-Smart Cocoa (CSC), a strategic offshoot of the wider Climate-Smart Agriculture, is gaining ground in Ghana, a cocoa export-dependent country. CSC is imperative, given the rapidly declining forests, prolonged periods of drought, pest and disease infestations, and fluctuating cocoa yields attributed to climate variability and change. Although many interventions are...

The natural forest in southwest Ethiopia is progressively modified to coffee agroforest. To this effect forest composition and diversity is simplified to local preferred coffee shade trees. Woody plant species that are less managed require the conservation priority in coffee agroforest. The study aims at assessing diversity of plant species, investigating...

Developing policies to foster inclusive rural transformation processes requires better evidence on how climate change is affecting the livelihoods and economic behaviours of vulnerable rural people, including women, youths and people living in poverty. In particular, there is little comparative, multi-country and multi-region evidence to understand how exposure to weather...

The Women’s Empowerment Livestock Index (WELI) is tailored for areas where livestock farming is prominent, aiming to assess the impact of livestock interventions on women's empowerment. By identifying effective interventions, the index seeks to improve empowerment opportunities for women in the sector, thereby enhancing household livelihoods, nutrition, and gender equity....

El programa Mesoamérica sin Hambre AMEXCID-FAO ha concentrado importantes esfuerzos en apoyar al Gobierno dominicano en el desarrollo y la validación de herramientas metodológicas e instrumentos de planificación y coordinación que contribuyan al fortalecimiento de las capacidades institucionales para atender las necesidades de la agricultura familiar y la formulación e...

La mise au point d’une méthode automatique d’estimation des surfaces irriguées par les petits exploitants agricoles en Afrique aux abords des cours d’eau, à partir d’outils libres et de données satellitaires gratuites, reste un défi majeur à cause de la diversité des cultures qui y sont pratiquées, de l’étroitesse des...

En Afrique de l’Ouest, face à la croissance rapide des villes et à une demande accrue de la part des consommateurs urbains et ruraux, les systèmes alimentaires fondés sur l’agriculture familiale renforcent déjà dans nombre d’endroits la capacité d’un pays ou d’une région à nourrir ses populations par la production...

Many countries have integrated agroforestry into their sustain-able development policies, particularly in Southeast Asia. In Timor-Leste, the national strategy to promote agroforestry has adopted a modern, technique-oriented approach focused on crop rotation, intercropping and agro-silvo-pasture. In so doing, it has largely overlooked the pre-existence, diversity and perfor-mance of traditional agroforestry...

Over the last three decades organic food and farming has been growing year by year across the EU and continues doing so. The EU’s organic market is very dynamic with growth rates varying between countries. Policies can positively impact this growth – both production and consumption. In 2022, the EU’s total...

Over the past two decades, the Mekong region has experienced significant transformation of its agricultural sector from subsistence farming to export crops driven by the expansion of agricultural land and of irrigation, plus intensification thanks to mechanization and the use of chemical inputs. In the context of agrarian transition, maintaining...

The United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019-28 (UNDFF) aims at promoting integrated actions and cross-sectoral policies to advance family farming. It recognizes Rural Communication Services as key factors and assets to be developed and promoted as part of family farming and sustainable food systems.This two-page flyer offers access to...

Yemaya No. 66, dated March 2023, features articles on IYAFA Asia workshop, National level women in fisheries workshop in Chennai, India, article on gender and marine plastic pollution, report of a panel discussion during the 8th global symposium  on gender in aquaculture and fisheries. Kyoko Kusakabe write that gender responsive fisheries require not only...

The FAO's Global Agroforestry Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA) revealed persistent challenges which are hindering widespread adoption of agroforestry despite its recognised benefits. Three primary action areas were identified: transforming agroforestry into an economically viable production system; strengthening enabling environments through agroforestry policies and strategies; and improving agroforestry extension for more...

Chocolate production faces nutritional, environmental and socio-economic challenges present in the conventional cocoa value chain. Here we developed an approach that addresses these challenges by repurposing the often-discarded pectin-rich cocoa pod endocarp and converting it into a gel. This is done using cocoa pulp juice concentrate to replace traditional sugar...

Topic outlineThe course explores effective practices for coping with soil salinity in the Asia-Pacific Region. Some practical examples and case studies of successful salinity management practices are introduced and analysed, to identify implementation features, benefits, challenges and applicability to similar contexts. You will learn about Irrigation and drainage practices for soil salinity...

Wild fish used as aquafeeds could be redirected towards human consumption to support sustainable marine resource use. Here we use mass-balance fish-in/fish-out ratio approaches to assess nutrient retention in salmon farming and identify scenarios that provide more nutrient-rich food to people. Using data on Norway’s salmon farms, our study revealed...

Farming externalities are believed to co-vary negatively, yet trade-offs have rarely been quantified systematically. Here we present data from UK and Brazilian pig production systems representative of most commercial systems across the world ranging from ‘intensive’ indoor systems through to extensive free range, Organic and woodland systems to explore co-variation...

The workshop “Promoting Water Tenure for Food Security, Climate Resilience, and Equity” was implemented by FAO and adelphi on 18 and 29 June in Berlin, Germany, with the support of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), and the German Corporation...

Mexico’s contemporary cultivation of pineapple, the king of tropical fruits, depends on intensive monoculture which negatively impacts the environment and human health. This represents a regression in history, as pineapple was traditionally cultivated in agroforests, which preserve the structural characteristics and ecological processes and functions of natural ecosystems. Some of...