Operationalizing the CFS-FFA is a global priority for FAO under its Strategic Programme 5, “Increasing the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises”. In July 2016, FAO started developing a series of Guidance Notes on key areas of its work in protracted crisis situations.

The Guidance Notes draw on FAO specialized technical expertise, experience, and knowledge base in the fields of agriculture, support for food security and nutrition, and reducing rural poverty. They cover topics as diverse as analysis and information, gender, land-related issues, nutrition, safe access to fuel and energy, social protection and youth migration, in order to raise awareness of the CFS-FFA, whilst supporting FAO staff and partners in specific areas.

Each Guidance Note explores the role of the topic in the context of protracted crises, and its relationship with the principles of the CFS-FFA. It highlights key messages for decision-makers, provides concrete examples from FAO work, outlines potential practical interventions in protracted crisis situations, presents future perspectives, and lists key resources and tools for further learning.

The illustrations and examples of FAO work include both well-grounded practices and more recent initiatives. Together they show that joint efforts and combined interventions, the use of development approaches adapted to crisis situations, and people-centred initiatives which take agriculture and food security as entry points to sustaining peace and transformational change, can have a significant impact.

• Gender, Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises: women and girls as agents of resilience
• Nutrition in Protracted Crises: breaking the vicious circle of malnutrition
• Distress Migration and Youth in Protracted Crises: the Junior Farm Field and Life Schools approach
• Meeting Fuel and Energy Needs in Protracted Crises: the SAFE approach
• Information and Analysis in Protracted Crises: Informing strategies to strengthen resilience
• Land and People in Protracted Crises: building stability on the land
• The Role of Social Protection in Protracted Crises: enhancing the resilience of the most vulnerable 
• Livestock in Protracted Crises: the importance of livestock for resilience-building and food security of crisis-affected populations
• Forced Migration and Protracted Crises: a multilayered approach