A stakeholders’ meeting in Rome marked a pivotal step towards greater private sector engagement for climate-smart agrifood systems. It was held as part of a joint project of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to decarbonize selected agrifood value chains and make them more resilient to climate change.

In the heart of Central America, El Salvador's rural communities face the dual challenges of poverty and climate change. Distributed along the Dry Corridor, these communities are particularly vulnerable to environmental disasters such as droughts. Its population often faces challenges in securing sufficient farmland, accessing financial services, and obtaining modern farming technology—key elements for poverty reduction in rural areas.

Cameroon, the third largest cocoa producing country in Africa and the fifth in the world, has a long tradition of growing cocoa in complex agroforestry systems, in which cocoa plants grow in the shade of other trees to provide the needed balance of light and humidity.

How best to pivot Morocco’s olive oil sector to adapt to the changing climate and leverage new opportunities in quality oil markets: two main topics discussed this week during a roundtable organized by the EBRD and FAO as a side event at the 16th Edition of Morocco’s International Agricultural Exhibition (SIAM) on Climate Change and Agriculture in Meknes.

In the past decade, the international chocolate market has become more sophisticated with an increasing number of consumers focusing on quality chocolate and manufacturers branding higher cacao content from specific origins. 

Europe's cocoa and chocolate market, one of the largest in the world, is a stable and flourishing market. Most of the cocoa and chocolate consumed in the EU originates from West Africa, however, in these countries, cocoa farmers have seen their income decline so much in the past decades that many live in poverty. 

A new investment programme, financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and developed with the support of the FAO Investment Centre, aims to enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change and other shocks by transforming their ability to access markets and strengthening production systems.

The FAO Investment Centre has today launched a study highlighting FAO’s new methodology to identify and prioritize investments in irrigation and drainage in Belize. The study outlines a practical framework for policymakers and private sector investors to address climate-related risks and bolster agriculture resilience through investments in water management.

Investing in gender equality and women’s empowerment is not only more urgent than ever but also an incredibly smart investment to generate economic growth, food security, income opportunities and better lives, particularly in rural areas where most of the world’s poorest live.

In a move to boost livelihoods for livestock farmers in Burkina Faso, the African Development Bank (AfDB), with the support of the FAO Investment Centre, have launched a project which aims to modernize meat production and livestock value chains.

يعمل المزيج اللذيذ من التراث الثقافي والمأكولات الشهية في الأردن على تهيئة البيئة المناسبة لتنويع وتكملة دخل منتجي الأغذية المحليين من خلال الاستثمارات التي تربطهم بالأسواق السياحية، حيث تتسارع الجهود نحو تحقيق ذلك بعد الاجتماع الأول لفريق المهام المعني بتنمية السياحة الزراعية في أوائل عام 2024.

A competition to find new ways to reduce antibiotic misuse in production animals has resulted in promising findings on how improved gut health in broiler chickens could boost immunity and reduce antibiotic-resistant bacteria, an approach that could bring wider benefits across the entire sector.

SBKS, serving as the lead Apex Producer Organization (PO) of GAFSP’s Missing Middle Initiative (MMI) in Bangladesh, is introducing innovative climate-resilient practices to rural communities, such as saline agriculture. 

The urgency of a coordinated response to contain the threat of African Swine Fever was high on the agenda at the recent National Convention on Animal Health, Food Safety, and Quality in Serbia. At the event, lessons were shared from an EBRD/FAO project in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia that has taken a regional cross-sectoral approach to containing the spread of the disease.

The Investment Centre is strengthening its ability to respond to the growing and evolving needs of countries and investors. Alessandro Marini, who recently joined as Chief of the newly created West and Central Africa Service, shared his thoughts on the importance of embracing change and taking risks. 

Giovanni Munoz, the Investment Centre's Service Chief for East and Southern Africa, reflects on a long career in the agriculture sector, his vision for the region and why getting out of one's comfort zone is good.

Coffee represents 14 percent and 52 percent of total agrifood exports in Guatemala and Honduras respectively, and a fifth of all exported Guatemalan coffee and half of the coffee exported from Honduras are destined to the EU. 

Service Chief Ekaterina Krivonos spoke of her experience in Latin America and the Caribbean, drawing on her expertise in agricultural policy and trade issues, and the need for win-win solutions to tackle the region’s pressing challenges.

The FAO Investment Centre has today launched a three-volume series, Social analysis for inclusive agrifood investments. Together with three innovative e-learning courses, these guides aim to boost the effectiveness of investments in agriculture and rural development through gender equality and social inclusion.

A new study from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Investment Centre in collaboration with the World Bank and launched during a virtual event today, unveils a variety of climate-smart policy actions and investment options set to shape Egypt's agrifood system's future.