Publications
The State of the World
FAO’s State of the World collection comprises the Organization’s flagship reports. Published annually or biennially, these are data-rich and analytically complex publications: they provide a global snapshot of topics associated with food and agriculture.
The collection is increasingly structured to gauge progress towards the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is aimed at policymakers; donors; international organizations; academia; and journalists and researchers specializing in food security, agrifood systems, the environment and international development.
The State of Food and Agriculture
Addressing land degradation across landholding scales
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World
Addressing high food price inflation for food security and nutrition
The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture
The potential to produce more and better
The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets
Trade, resilience and food security: Global food markets under stress
The State of the World's Forests
Forest pathways for green recovery
The State of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Blue Transformation in action
Recent Publications
Water accounting for water governance and sustainable development
02/2018
There is growing interest in water accounting, why it is needed, what benefits it brings, and equally important, how it can be put into practice. Water accounting is about quantifying water resources and uses of water, much like financial accounts provide information on income and expenditure. Interest in water accounting is based on the premise that ‘We cannot plan and manage what we do not measure’ – a statement that few would disagree with....
City Region Food Systems and Food Waste Management
01/2018
This book describes the results of 13 case studies on city region food systems and food waste management. It provides lessons learned on the institutionalisation of city region food policies and programmes; provisioning of national and legal frameworks embedding city region food systems in broader legislation, on strengthening of coordination and collaboration across horizontal and vertical government levels, and on design of specific programmes and policies for sustainable city region food systems.
The future of food and agriculture: Trends and challenges
01/2018
After shedding light on the nature of the challenges that agriculture and food systems are facing now and throughout the 21st century, the study provides insights into what is at stake and what needs to be done. “Business as usual” is not an option. Major transformations in agricultural systems, rural economies and natural resources management are necessary.
Strategic Work of FAO to Increase the Resilience of Livelihoods
01/2018
Together with its partners, FAO works to increase the resilience of agricultural livelihoods at risk of disasters and crises. People with resilient livelihoods are better able to withstand damage, recover and adapt when disasters cannot be avoided. The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters caused by climate change reinforces the urgency to build the resilience of agricultural livelihoods of vulnerable communities.
Strategic work of FAO to Reduce Rural Poverty
01/2018
FAO helps countries achieve SDG1 (No poverty) and SDG2 (Zero hunger) by improving the livelihoods of poor and extreme poor rural people, including smallholders and family farmers.
Nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems in practice
01/2018
This publication provides a list of food system-based intervention options to improve nutrition and a set concrete entry points for maximizing the impact of each intervention. Developed through leveraging different expertise in FAO, it is a key resource to assist professionals involved in different areas to understand the linkages with nutrition, and to increase their contribution for a world free from malnutrition in all its forms.
Strategic work of FAO for inclusive and efficient food systems
01/2018
FAO helps to build safe and efficient food systems that support smallholder agriculture. In order for developing countries to benefit from globalization and commercialization, FAO assists countries in building the capacity to access international markets, meeting international standards for food safety and hygiene and improving processes along entire value chains.
Water stress and human migration: a global, georeferenced review of empirical research
01/2018
This report assesses and maps 184 peer-reviewed, empirical research articles selected for their focus on linkages between water stress and human migration. First and most importantly, this literature asserts that migration is universal. Migration is an extremely common social process and is normal in almost every society on earth. Moreover, migration is not a pathological response to environmental change. Environment- influenced migration is rarely (if ever) a resource threat to the regions to which...