If you're 35 or under and passionate about food systems, YPARD wants to hear from you – your voice will help shape the Youth Strategy for the GEF-8 Food Systems Integrated Program (FSIP).

“I’ve saved 20% on farming costs in the first year alone,” says Issa Ramadhan, a farmer in Southern Iraq. “Traditional tillage is expensive with all the ploughing, fertilizers, and water required. With Conservation Agriculture practices, I’ve reduced these costs significantly, and the results speak for themselves. I’ve been able to reinvest that money into improving my farm.”

The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund approves its first-ever project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Community-Based Conservation for Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Context of Climate Change project channels USD $5.8 million to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems, and...

The Solomon Islands is highly vulnerable to climate change due to rising seas, extreme weather, and reliance on agriculture and fisheries. The project funded by the Least Developed Countries Fund and led by FAO will build climate-resilience through sustainable farming, stronger policies and governance, and improved climate information, enhancing 36,000 hectares, training 60,000 people, and directly benefiting over 75,000.

Accelerated by land-based nutrient runoff, Marine Hypoxia is creating dead zones in the oceans, which have grown by 4.5 million km² in the last 50 years, threatening fish stocks, coastal livelihoods, and diets. The FAO-led GEF-8 Clean and Healthy Oceans Integrated Program (CHOIP) is tackling this phenomenon by curbing nutrient pollution at its source to benefit 10 major large marine ecosystems.

Five Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – are supporting the development of the Central Asia Water-Land Nexus (CAWLN) programme to strengthen water security, improve agricultural land health, reduce deforestation, and promote rural economies. 

Integrated pest management is a holistic and environmentally friendly approach to pest control that balances effective pest management with the protection of human health, beneficial organisms and natural ecosystems.

Latin America and the Caribbean are home to some of the planet’s greatest biodiversity, but it is decreasing worldwide due to unsustainable human activity and changes in climate. Recognizing the importance of biodiversity, particularly within agrifood systems, FAO and GEF work with partners to bolster conservation efforts throughout Latin America. Here are three GEF-funded, FAO projects conserving and restoring ecosystems across Brazil, Chile and Venezuela.

Bees play a vital role as pollinators across a wide range of ecosystems, including forest landscapes and food crops worldwide. Nearly 90 percent of wild flowering plants depend on bees and other pollinators to sprout future generations, and 75 percent of the world’s food crops depend on it in part. By pollinating both wild and cultivated plants, bees and other pollinators play an important role in maintaining ecosystem services and biodiversity, while also supporting global food security and nutrition.

The workshop led to the development of a strategic roadmap for increased mobilization of GEF and GCF resources, while strengthening the capacities of FAO country offices in environmental governance and sustainable natural resource management. 

When the UN General Assembly adopted May 2 as World Tuna Day less than a decade ago, around 75 percent of tuna production came from sustainably fished stocks. Today, 90 to 95 percent of tuna landed at ports comes from stocks that are not overfished.

As wildfires escalate in Namibia’s Kavango East Region, one woman’s dedication is helping to protect forests, livelihoods and future generations.

“When I was younger, forest fires were rare,” says Benita Makena Kaghuvi, seated under a tall false mopa...

Today is Earth Day, a time to reflect on and to take local actions to safeguard the land and the environments that sustain all life. We each play a part and all efforts for sustainability are worthwhile.

In Adaköy, a village in the Yeniçağa district of Bolu, Kamil Yıldız...

Community Seed Banks supported by the Dryland Sustainable Landscapes Impact Programme in Zimbabwe serve as "centers of excellence" for sustainable land and forest management. It's a unique four-in-one model that integrates forestry restoration, soil and land conservation, farmer field schools, tree nurseries, orchards, and solar-powered boreholes.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched the “National Forest Inventory (NFI) Learning Journey” at a regional workshop in Bangkok, Thailand. This innovative, self-paced learning initiative aims to help Member Nations plan, implement, and analyze their national forest inventories. It provides ongoing access to valuable resources to improve forest data management systems and strengthen national capacities.

Traditional sun drying of fish in Bangladesh is climate-dependent and done at open spaces where insect infestations by beetle and fly are a real problem. Hazardous pesticides or chemicals are often used as a cheaper solution to eliminate insects during drying and storage of dried fish that pose serious public health risks. Innovative fish drying systems are part of a larger initiative that seeks to promote sustainable fishing practices, enhance the quality and marketability of dry fish products, and reduce post-harvest losses.

Global dialogue on wheat and maize innovations held in Istanbul, Türkiye, on agrifood systems transformation through innovation, policy and global collaboration.

Seagrass meadows are one of the planet's most valuable ecosystems, providing refuge, food, and breeding grounds for thousands of marine species while also storing up to 18% of the world's ocean carbon. A FAO-GEF project in Venezuela aims to reduce the threats of invasive species in seagrass ecosystems.

The Coastal Fisheries Initiative (CFI) is a global effort to preserve marine resources, making sure fishing is done in a way that keeps the environment healthy. To date, the CFI has helped save 700 hectares of mangrove forests in Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal. In Indonesia, they're teaching people how to fish responsibly in areas that cover over 1.6 million square kilometers of ocean. We can only bring about such transformation if we work together.

ويعمل المشروع، الذي يموّله مرفق البيئة العالمية، على تشجيع الإدارة المسؤولة لمصايد أسماك المياه العميقة والحفاظ على التنوع البيولوجي في أعالي البحار.