Silk manufacturing is as an ancient tradition in Azerbaijan, and spring is silkworm season. The Otharashvili family in Gakh region have a long, enclosed porch that they dedicate to the care and feeding of these distinctive white larvae. Care means maintaining the right temperature and humidity in the room. Feeding...

“Invest more in smallholder agriculture”. That's the message a group of farmers and villagers from Kasama, Zambia – a landlocked country in Southern Africa – set out to tell the world when they created an investment report like no other. Carved into the very land that farmers use to feed...

The profile features farmers in New Zealand who came to the idea of regenerative agriculture due to an awareness of the ecological limits being breached by New Zealand agriculture. They believe that while farming is responsible for many of the environmental problems faced by their country, they also believe that better...

Aujourd’hui, le changement climatique est une menace qui vient exacerber la vulnérabilité des ménages déjà mis à l’épreuve par une conjoncture économique difficile. Les bouleversements environnementaux n’arrêtent donc pas d’être des facteurs décisifs dans l’émigration des Sénégalais car continuant de représenter des déclencheurs et/ou des accélérateurs des migrations. Cependant, par leurs...

El Plan Estratégico Institucional 2015-2030 del Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (PEI 2015-2030), establece los lineamientos que regirán las actividades de nuestra Institución en los próximos quince años en el marco de las políticas públicas del Gobierno Nacional. La expansión y los cambios en la demanda mundial de alimentos, el cambio...

Gender equality is a key to eliminating poverty and hunger, as it has been demonstrated by the FAO throughout its research worldwide. As part of the FAO efforts on generating evidence and knowledge, and in compliance with the FAO Policy on Gender Equality, the purpose of the Country Gender Assessment...

“NATURAL WATER RETENTION MEASURES (NWRMs) are multi-functional measures that aim to protect water resources and address water-related challenges by restoring or maintaining ecosystems as well as natural features and characteristics of water bodies using natural means and processes. The main focus of applying NWRM is to enhance the retention capacity...

Despite the central position occupied by smallholder agriculture in the current development debate, a general and operational definition of smallholders still does not exist. The question “what is a small farm?” keeps receiving different answers depending on the context in which is posed. Alternative ways of defining smallholders reflect heterogeneous...

A sigla PANC significa Plantas Alimentícias Não Convencionais. Em outras palavras, quer dizer “todas as plantas que poderíamos consumir, mas não consumimos”. Imagine todas as plantas comestíveis que existem. Uma pequena parcela delas nós conhecemos, produzimos e comemos no dia a dia, sendo chamadas de plantas alimentícias convencionais. As que...

This report provides a brief summary of the proceedings and recommendations of the "Use of Treated Wastewater in Agricultural Production in the Arab World: Current Status and Future Prospective" conference , held in Dubai during January 2014 under the patronage of H. H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy...

A garantia da procedência atestada pelo Selo Quilombos do Brasil vai agregar valor e aumentar a competitividade dos produtos da agricultura familiar. A expectativa é que sejam geradas novas oportunidades de negócios e renda, fortalecendo assim a cultura e as tradições das comunidades tradicionais quilombolas do Norte do estado do...

La Asociación Nacional de Empresas Comercializadoras de Productores del Campo (ANEC) was founded in 1995 in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). ANEC  offers member farmers, a diverse array of small and medium commercial grain farmers from 17 different Mexican states. Initially, ANEC assisted in the...

The objective of ‘Guidelines on Gender Mainstreaming and a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA)’ is to provide a concise and compact guide for FAO REU / SEC staff to use at different stages of the project cycle. By bringing together the key elements of gender mainstreaming and HRBA found within the...

Small towns are an essential but often-neglected element of rural landscapes and food systems. They perform a number of essential functions, from market nodes to providers of services and goods and non-farm employment to their own population as well as that of the wider surrounding region.  In demographic terms, they...

What is the optimal size and composition of rural financial cooperatives (RFCs)? With this broad question in mind, we characterize alternative formations of RFCs and the implications of each in improving the access of rural households to financial services, including savings, credit, and insurance services. We find that some features...

Soils are a non-renewable resource on which 95% of our food supply depends. Short-sighted chemical fertilizer applications in conventional farming are depleting soils at an alarming rate. Instead of using potent chemicals that degrade soil, organic farmers continuously give back to the soil, maintaining soil health and fertility for future...

Farmers in Kazakhstan have been increasing the land area devoted to growing oilseed and pulse crops – and it makes good sense from several viewpoints. An FAO-organized seminar on “Pulses and oilseeds: prospects for development” was held here today, one of many forward-looking events on offer this year at Astana...

Rural businesses can develop in very diverse sectors of activity. The local opportunities will usually depend on the specific characteristics of the territory. Targeted investments in areas of local opportunity can create jobs, increase spending power and create sustainable economic growth in rural areas. One growth area in recent years...

These proceedings report the result of a sub-regional consultation on the existence and effectiveness of environmental monitoring systems for fisheries and aquaculture in the Lower Mekong basin. The document also includes a baseline assessment of environmental monitoring systems in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, and the report of a regional workshop...

A global drive to reduce food losses and waste all along the value chain has arrived in Ukraine, where this week the fisheries and aquaculture sector tackles the issue. Experts from FAO’s Fisheries Division in Rome, Italy are conducting a training course in Kyiv for representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Ecology...