En Afrique du Nord, la superficie des oasis est estimée à environ 350.000 ha. Elles représentent un creuset de vie pour les populations locales qui y puisent leurs ressources. Consciente de leur valeur économique et sociale ainsi que de leur contribution à la sécurité alimentaire des communautés oasiennes et la conservation...

The agri-food sector is at the crossroads between huge opportunities and massive pressure. Every single decision needs to be informed by a wide range of factors, where citizen expectations, breakthrough technologies and consumption patterns in developed but also in developing countries are only the tip of the iceberg.  To cope with...

Just one year ago, world leaders committed to working towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) designed to change the course of the 21st century and address challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, education, etc. All these objectives are inextricably linked, and the success of one often depends on...

L’agriculture et le secteur rural jouent un rôle primordial dans le processus de développement des pays à base agricole. Cette fonction ne peut être assurée qu’à l’aide de politiques publiques qui tiennent compte de la diversité et de la complexité des milieux ruraux. Le préalable est donc d’avoir des connaissances...

Supporting dialogic communication and knowledge sharing processes is a powerful means of helping farmer organizations, indigenous peoples, rural communities and civil society organizations to make their voices heard and be part of the development agenda. Rural communication services and policies can translate farmers’ right to communication into fair and transparent...

During the Soviet era, pesticides were habitually overused or misused in efforts to boost food production. Today, large quantities of obsolete and banned pesticides pose a significant threat to people’s health and the environment. Georgia said goodbye to the last of its stocks of old pesticides last month, as a convoy...

On the coffee flavor is actually very Universal Indonesia, he can translate a matter of taste in every country and eventually everyone recognizes that Indonesian coffee is the best.

The official policy of the present Norwegian government is to encourage fewer, bigger farms. With only 3% of the land suitable for farming, Norwegian agricultural production is limited and most of the food comes from abroad. In the fjords, there are big salmon farms largely for export, and Norway still...

Pulse panchayat is an integrated approach in establishing a sustainable production, value addition and marketing system. The initiative implemented by a Farmer Producer Company in Tamil Nadu, is moving towards achieving self-sufficiency in pulse production.

Current situation in European agriculture has to meet new challenges due to volatile agricultural markets and uncertain political situation in neighbouring countries. Past events have shown various bottlenecks in contemporary food production and trade. In order to provide for global food security, it is necessary to intensify agriculture, boost production,...

Forests are vital to achieving the SDGs and the aims of the Paris Agreement. Without action to protect forests, the problems posed by poverty and climate change will only get worse, 

Josef Kienzle speaks about mechanization: What is it, how can it improve small farmers’ livelihoods and how does it bring perspectives to the youth in rural areas? 

For the past half century agricultural innovation has denied a voice to the many groups who work outside the profession of science – farmers, food providers, women and the urban poor. The value of their expertise gained through practical experience must be recognised in the production and validation of knowledge....

Just days before the progressive National Assembly of Venezuela was dissolved, deputies passed a law which lays the foundation for a truly democratic food system. The country has not only banned genetically modified seeds, but set up democratic structures to ensure that seeds cannot be privatized and indigenous knowledge cannot...

This edition of the RAF Newsletter is a special coverage from FAO-RAF that takes into account activities marking the 29th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Africa held in Abidjan. It presents to readers pictorial narratives and captions of the conference with key quotes from key personalities of the...

The fish in the sea are a public resource and provide not only a vital source of protein and nutrients for billions of people globally but also 60 million jobs in the primary sector, 90% of them in small scale fishing and 15% of them women. Closer to home, the European...

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India. It has attained wide success in southern India, especially the southern Indian state of Karnataka where it first evolved.  The movement in Karnataka state was...

The share of uncultivated foods from the forest has gradually declined in the diets of Paharia tribes in Jharkhand. Initiatives like conservation, preservation, processing of uncultivated foods has helped them regain their position and enhance the dietary diversity of the communities, also addressing the issues of hunger and malnutrition.

Organic Agriculture (OA) is a rapidly growing sector in Africa, with strong links to economic and sociocultural development in the continent (Willer and Kilcher, 2012; Auerbach, 2013). OA can also be seen as a relevant tool to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2, 12, 13 and 15 on sustainable...

Twenty-one Asian countries are participating in a roundtable discussion as part of the FAO’s World Programme for the Census for Agriculture 2020 (WCA 2020).  The roundtable discussion was opened by Kundhavi Kadiresan, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific. The census, held once every ten years,...