As a region, Europe and Central Asia has achieved the Millennium Development Goal hunger target of reducing by half the proportion of people affected by hunger. Progress on reducing the incidence of hunger differs from country to country, with the Central Asian countries having the most difficulty. Despite positive trends in food security, child malnutrition continues to be a problem in the region – in both rich and poor countries. This can be seen in relatively high rates of stunting in the Caucasus and Central Asian countries, and alarming levels of anaemia in children under 5 in several countries. Overweight and obesity are an increasing nutrition, health and budgetary issue in the region. Child overweight rates are double those for the developing world. Countries across the region differ in their strategies for ensuring food security.

In a world where more than 800 million continue to suffer from chronic malnourishment and where the global population is expected to grow by another 2 billion to reach 9.6 billion people by 2050 – with a concentration in coastal urban areas – we must meet the huge challenge of feeding our planet while safeguarding its natural resources for future generations. This new edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) highlights the significant role that fisheries and aquaculture plays in eliminating hunger, promoting health and reducing poverty.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank organized the Fishing for Development joint meeting, which was held in April 2014 at OECD headquarters in Paris. The meeting was convened to initiate a dialogue between the fisheries and the development policy communities from OECD and FAO Members and partner countries on key issues of shared interest. It addressed four topics high on the international fisheries and aquaculture policy agenda: the challenges of rebuilding fish stocks while securing the integrity of ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them; the potential for green growth in aquaculture; combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and the role of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) in the management of high seas fish stocks and in developing cooperation between States that share fish stocks in several exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

The present work takes guidance from the FAO flagship publication, "The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2010-2011: Women in agriculture – Closing the gender gap for development" (FAO, 2011a). The SOFA report argues that, "despite the diversity in the roles and status of women in agriculture, the evidence and analysis...confirm that women face a surprisingly consistent gender gap in access to productive assets, inputs and services" and that closing this gender gap could result in significant gains "in terms of agricultural yields, agricultural production, food security and broader aspects of economic and social welfare" (FAO, 2011a: 4). The report presents empirical evidence from many countries to support these two arguments, while noting that the potential gains that should occur by closing the gender gap on input use "would vary by region depending on how many women are currently engaged in agriculture, how much production or land they control, and how wide a gender gap they face" (ibid: 5).

Proceedings of a Joint FAO/OECD WorkshopGlobally, climactic conditions are increasingly variable, and the intensity of their effects stronger. As climate change brings new uncertainties, risks and changes to already existing risks, one of the most efficient ways for agriculture to adapt is increasing its resilience. In April 2012, the joint FAO/OECD Workshop on "Building Resilience for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Agriculture Sector" was held to address these issues in different agro-ecological and socio-economic contexts, and to illustrate how building resilience is critical to adapting to climate change.