This policy note, which served as an input document for G7, first examines global trends in the trade of food and agricultural products. Next, it shows how trade and well-functioning markets can address food security issues in each of its dimensions. It then offers solutions on how food security can be guaranteed in the event of trade disruptions and concludes with several recommendations.

This note, which served as an input document for the G7, provides a brief overview of the environmental impacts of agriculture, discusses how agricultural policies affect the environment, and identifies policy responses to foster agricultural productivity while reducing the sector’s environmental footprint.

This paper presents a new methodological approach aimed at measuring progress towards sustainable agriculture in countries and across agri-food systems typologies, by measuring socio-economic and environmental dimensions with available national statistics, with sixteen indicators defined and constructed from FAOSTAT data. A trend analysis is carried out at country level over the time series 1961-2018, with country results aggregated by four agri-food systems typologies: traditional; land-intensive and capital-intensive mixed systems; and modern food systems. The analysis provides a novel framework for [...]

This document presents a proposed methodology for public expenditure review and analysis for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agriculture sector (PERCC) and its application to a case study of Kenya. The document starts by explaining the basic methodological concepts, classification, and labeling of public expenditures that allow calculating spending in agriculture-related to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Next, the document applies the methodology to public expenditures in Kenya to analyse how agricultural spending policies help, or hinder, Kenya’s [...]

This state of the art report offers an overview of existing tools, methodologies and case studies to support countries with their peatland mapping and monitoring. The 35 expert authors from 14 countries stress the need for continuous and cost-effective peatland mapping and monitoring to maintain and prevent degradation of this important carbon storage in all regions. Contributions of authors from major tropical peatland countries such as Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Peru demonstrate the urgent need to [...]

Key messages:  - Supplies of pine produced by commercial plantations will increase rapidly over the next 5 years. Pine plantations planted in the early 2000’s will soon mature, leading to an increase from roughly 200 000 m3 of pine production currently, to 800 000 m3 in 2023, and stabilizing at 1.2 million m3 after that.   - Exporting timber from Uganda is impeded by restrictive policies. Numerous approval requirements and a lack of approved grading standards substantially hinder access to export licenses for timber. These [...]

Mainstreaming greenhouse gas accounting intoagricultural investments and policiesThe 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement tied the knot between sustainable economic developmentand a climate-resilient, low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions future. Moving forward, accountingfor potential changes in GHG emissions will be a vital component of any agricultural investment, project,or policy proposal under consideration by any country, institution, or organization.To support the international community’s efforts with quantifying changes in GHG emissions,the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) developed the EX-AnteCarbon-balance Tool [...]

This report is prepared to provide an ex-ante appraisal of the carbon-balance of the “Environmental Services Project” (ESP) of the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Swedish International Deveopment Cooperation Agency (SIDA) in Albania. The calculated ex-ante carbon balance is intended to complement conventional ex-ante economic and environmental analyses commonly undertaken in the planning phase of investment projects and development policies. A number of itsoutputs can furtherbe used in financial and economic analyses.This appraisal also provides the [...]

Strategic investments in the agriculture sector are a catalyst for sustainable, economic growth and poverty reduction. Through their partnership, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have produced this comprehensive study on the State of Agriculture in the Caribbean, drawing upon decades of research on the many drivers of change affecting the CDB’s Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs), including international trade, institutional policies, and climate change.   This report follows forty years of structural [...]

This working document presents the results of an EX-ACT Greenhouse Gas appraisal of the "Mekong Delta Integrated Climate Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Project (MD-ICRSL)" conducted with the MD-ICRSL team during the EX-ACT workshop organized by FAO and the World Bank from 14 to 17 June 2016 in Hanoi. The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) is an appraisal system developed by FAO providing ex-ante estimates of the impact of agriculture and forestry development projects, programmes and policies on the carbon-balance. The project [...]