As global population soars and various climate and environment challenges emerge, food and nutrition security remain a distant reality for many populations in the rural world. In rice production areas, overuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers decreases terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity while negatively impacting human health. While using fertilizer and pesticides increases productivity in the immediate term, over the long term it contributes to a loss of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity, negative health impacts due to direct exposure to toxic pesticides and contaminated water, pest resurgence, degradation of natural resources and decreases in production. Moreover, aquatic biodiversity from rice-based ecosystems,...

Interview with Carlos Watson, Team Leader, South-South Cooperation, FAO, on the online platform aimed at facilitating cooperation among the global south.  23 November 2016, Rome. Widely known as the “Gateway”, this tool developed by FAO fosters support to South-South Cooperation by putting southern expertise and national capacities at the reach of FAO Member countries. The Gateway also gives great visibility to the existing national expertise and facilitates solution exchanges. 35 institutions from 11 countries have joined the platform since it was launched in 2015. We talked to Carlos Watson about this ‘marketplace-like’ tool that matches Southern Expertise and needs. How would you...

African countries yield positive results thanks to the Purchase from Africans for Africa initiative, that adapts the Brazilian successful school feeding model and public food procurement from family farmers 20 October 2016, Rome. Since 2014 Brazil no longer features on the World Hunger Map. Its powerful National School Feeding Programme, within the framework of the national Zero Hunger programme, has been key in eradicating hunger. Its valuable experience is now being shared with African countries through South-South Cooperation in order to adapt the approach to their local realities. Brazil’s successful model, which goes beyond providing school meals...

Five years ago, a programme was launched in Latin America and the Caribbean with the goal to provide students with nutritious food, promoting food and nutrition education, and stimulating the local economy.  The “Strengthening School Feeding Programmes in the Framework of the Hunger Free Latin America and the Caribbean 2025 Initiative” began with the collaboration of five countries, and today the number has grown to 14.

La faiblesse persistante de la production dans les petites exploitations d’Afrique australe empêche les agriculteurs de répondre aux besoins alimentaires de leurs familles et plus généralement, de leur pays. Les faibles niveaux de production, notamment dans le cas des cultures céréalières, sont principalement le résultat d’une pluviométrie erratique et imprévisible et de techniques agricoles qui ne sont pas suffisamment efficaces pour en atténuer les effets indésirables. Les conséquences des méthodes d’exploitation en usage actuellement, qui contribuent souvent à la dégradation des sols, sont encore aggravées par une utilisation inefficace des ressources agricoles (main-d’oeuvre, enrichissement du sol, eau de pluie), un...