The recently published "Bioinputs: Investment Opportunities in Latin America" by the FAO Investment Centre provides a comprehensive examination of the potential role of bioinputs in the region’s transition towards more sustainable agri-food systems.

Today is International Tea Day! This popular drink – the second most consumed beverage after water – is an important source of economic growth, jobs and income for millions of people. In Georgia, state authorities, tea producers and entrepreneurs are using innovation and ingenuity to revitalize the country’s once thriving tea sector. 

The recently agreed European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is set to transform coffee production in Central America, bringing more sustainable practices which conserve forests and the environment.

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.

Jordan’s delicious mix of cultural heritage and gastronomic delights is set to diversify and supplement the incomes of local food producers through investments that will link them to tourism markets, an effort gathering pace after the first meeting of the Agritourism Development Task Force in early 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. 

Безотлагательность скоординированных мер реагирования по сдерживанию угрозы распространения африканской чумы свиней – основной вопрос в повестке дня недавно завершившегося Национального собрания по охране здоровья животных, обеспечению безопасности пищевых продуктов и качеству в Сербии. На мероприятии были представлены результаты реализации проекта ЕБРР/ФАО в Болгарии, Румынии и Сербии, в рамках которого применялся региональный межсекторальный подход к сдерживанию распространения болезни.

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.