FAO and the GEF

Partnering for sustainable agri-food systems and the environment

Latest news and updates from the partnership

04/03/2026
Rural women have always played a central role in agriculture, planting, weeding, tending livestock and managing household food productions. Long unrecognized and often unpaid, however, many women still lack access to the knowledge, finance, tools and resources they need to make agriculture a reliable source of income. A FAO-GEF project is helping women to revive local seeds, improving food security and nutrition and enhancing resilience.
AgrobiodiversityBiodiversityCentral AsiaEurope and Central AsiaGenderInternational Women's DayWomen
26/02/2026
Livestock countries in the Food Systems Integrated Program align with the Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Livestock Transformation
Climate Smart LivestockFood SystemsFood Systems Integrated ProgramLivestock
25/02/2026
The initiative aims to strengthen the climate resilience of communities, ecosystems, and livelihoods across Cambodia’s protected landscapes while promoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable natural resource management.
Asia PacificBiodiversityClimate ChangeProtected Areas
20/02/2026
The Empowering Youth for Agroecological Transformation in Agrifood Systems Programme (EYAAS) is a 4-month training module implemented by Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD), under the Food Systems Integrated Program (FSIP), led by FAO and IFAD and financed by the Global Envir...
19/02/2026

The “Sound of Silence” Farmer Field School in Egypt brought together 15 deaf and speech-impaired farmers in a learning environment shaped by their needs. They transformed what was once a barrier into a source of collective strength, becoming some of the most skilled date growers in Egypt’s New Valley Governorate.

Farmer Field SchoolsSocial Inclusion
12/02/2026
Water scarcity is becoming an increasingly pressing issue in several regions of Uzbekistan. Climate change, declining precipitation and increasing pressure on surface and groundwater resources are complicating irrigation water supply, particularly in foothill and rural areas. Ice stupas are artificial glaciers and an innovative water harvesting technology that helps households and farms access water in spring and summer.
10/02/2026
Climate risk screening tools help pinpoint where risks and vulnerabilities exist from the start, who is most exposed, and what measures are most effective to address them. This approach has been key in future-proofing investments from the GEF and GCF, channeling investments in sustainable and climate-resilient agrifood systems in over 140 countries.
Climate ChangeClimate Change Adaptation
10/02/2026
The UN-flagged research vessel R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen has completed a landmark scientific mission to the high seas of the southwest Indian Ocean, shedding new light on mysterious deep-sea ecosystems and strengthening the science needed for sustainable ocean management. Organized by FAO’s Common Oceans Deep‑Sea Fisheries Project, the FAO EAF‑Nansen Programme and its partner the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), and Norway, the three-week expedition wrapped up just before the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement (BBNJ) entered into force, calling for robust data to guide conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in international waters.
06/02/2026
Over the past two years, under the project “Building global capacity to increase transparency in the forest sector (CBIT-Forest): accelerating capacity-building, knowledge-sharing and awareness raising”, countries around the world have been working to strengthen how forest data are collected, shared and used for climate reporting. A new publication takes stock of what that work has looked like in practice.
CBITForestsNational Forest Inventory
04/02/2026
‘Smart agriculture’ is hailed as a game-changing approach in boosting resilience and productivity in Samoa’s agriculture sector, amid climate challenges.
Asia PacificClimate Smart AgricultureLivestockSIDS
30/01/2026
Rome and online - As adoption of management procedures (MPs) expands worldwide, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will host a global webinar to highlight its new e-learning course series: Management procedures for sustainable tuna fisheries, designed to help meet growing demand for technical training and capacity building.
22/01/2026
The third meeting on the Global Environment Facility’s ninth replenishment cycle (GEF-9), held in Bonn, Germany, moved donor governments closer to broad consensus on its size, scope and priorities for the period from July 2026 to June 2030, coinciding with a critical window for progress toward global environmental goals.
19/01/2026
The BBNJ Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty, recently came into force to protect marine biodiversity in the Ocean Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. FAO stands ready to support Parties and relevant institutions in implementing the Agreement, drawing on its expertise in fisheries governance, marine genetic resources, and the data and systems that will be critical to achieving its objectives.
16/01/2026

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), in the framework of the GEF-funded FAO Common Oceans Tuna Project, is convening this three- day workshop to adv...

29/12/2025

In early December 2025, partners from around the world gathered in Panama City to advance a shared goal: reducing pollution from land that harms ocean and coastal ecosystems. Co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CAF – Developmen...

17/12/2025
The GEF has approved eight projects led by the FAO worth nearly $60 million designed to help seven countries improve their management of agricultural landscapes, promote climate-friendly and biodiversity-positive livestock production, and restore forest, coastal, and marine ecosystems.
GEF CEO Carlos Manuel Rodríguez and Uzbekistan’s Ecology Minister Aziz Abdukhakimov
17/11/2025

The last sprint toward 2030, the GEF-9 cycle will implementing the agenda for the world’s family of funds for the environment.

13/11/2025
With GEF support, two traditional agricultural systems rooted in the ancestral knowledge and practices of Indigenous Peoples in the northern Andean highlands and the southern mountain ranges of Chile have been recognized as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) by the Food and ...
Agricultural HeritageBiodiversityBiodiversity ConservationGIAHSIndigenous PeoplesIndigenous PeoplesLatin America and the CaribbeanLivestockPastoral
10/11/2025
In the Small Island Developing State of Timor-Leste, where 42 percent of the population live below the national poverty line, communities that rely on aquatic resources face a harsh reality. 
28/10/2025
Over the past 60 years, the area of eroded land has increased 1.8 times in Moldova, mainly due to cultivation on sloping lands without the application of soil conservation practices. In response, FAO's land degradation neutrality strategy aims at improving soil health, enhancing sustainability and supporting long-term agricultural resilience in Moldova's districts of Orhei, Rezina and Șoldănești.