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This report presents the findings of a multi-year FAO study undertaken on over 900 farms in ten different countries that measured, using field data, benefits gained through the use of innovative farming practices designed to boost the resilience of farmers in the face of natural disasters and other shocks. Its findings show that the use of good disaster risk reduction practices offer significant economic gains at the household level, and also that – because they are usually low-cost and easily implemented – they hold significant potential for reducing disaster risks at the national and regional scales as well. These results [...]

The food and agriculture sector of Mongolia lacked the technical capacity required to implement national agricultural and livestock policies and programmes. There was a need for expertise to strengthen capacity in farming technology, practices and local expertise, above all in livestock breeding, animal feed, horticulture and vegetable production, beekeeping, aquaculture, poultry production and honey sectors to improve beneficiaries’ farming technology, production, practice and knowledge. The objective of the project was to support the implementation of the National Programme for Food Security, the National Mongolian Livestock Programme and other agricultural policies aimed at enhancing agricultural production and food security and [...]

This publication provides an in-depth analysis of the applications of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies in the agriculture sector. It aims to facilitate a better understanding of the opportunities and benefits of blockchain in agriculture, as well as the technical and institutional barriers to its adoption. The paper analyses how blockchain and smart contracts can increase efficiency, transparency and traceability in agricultural supply chains and improve rural development interventions; as well as be an impetus to achieve the SDGs. Blockchain-based technologies have the potential to promote more sustainable agriculture supply chains, better facilitate trade and provide a more inclusive trading [...]

The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) is an appraisal system developed by FAO providing estimates of the impact of agriculture and forestry development projects, programmes and policies on the carbon-balance. The carbon-balance is defined as the net balance from all greenhouse gases (GHGs) expressed in CO2 equivalent that were emitted or sequestered due to project implementation as compared to a business-as-usual scenario. EX-ACT is a land-based accounting system, estimating C stock changes (i.e. emissions or sinks of CO2) as well as GHG emissions per unit of land, expressed in equivalent tonnes of CO2 per hectare and year. The tool helps project designers [...]

This publication contributes directly to SO1 and under Regional Initiative on Zero Hunger Challenge. Eradication of hunger and malnutrition is a major challenge in Asia. Dietary and production diversity are recognized factors in strategies to improve food security and nutrition. Currently, agriculture has an over-reliance on a handful of major staple crops. Agrobiodiversity offers huge potentials in addressing malnutrition and agricultural sustainability. Future Smart Food (FSF), often referred to as Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS), are rich in Asia. They represent a promising abundance of food resources and constitute the bedrock of the food system diversity. FSF have enormous benefits [...]

This brochure presents FAO ’s work on agricultural innovation. FAO advocates a shift from interventions focusing on single components of agricultural innovation towards a system-approach aimed at strengthening institutions and stakeholders’ networks that better respond to the needs of smallholder farmers. Agricultural innovation is the process whereby individuals or organizations bring new or existing products, processes or ways of organization into use for the first time in a specific context in order to increase effectiveness, competitiveness, resilience to shocks or environmental sustainability and thereby contribute to food security and nutrition, economic development or sustainable natural resource management. Innovation is central to [...]

Distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) and smart contracts provide a unique opportunity to bring greater efficiency, transparency and traceability to the exchange of value and information in the agriculture sector. By utilising digital records, cryptography and the disintermediation of transaction processing and data storage, DLTs can improve both agricultural supply chains and rural development interventions in a number of ways. The technology has the potential to simplify and integrate agricultural supply chains, enhance food safety, facilitate access to trade finance and other types of agricultural financial services, improve market transparency, provide greater legal certainty to land-tenure systems and strengthen accountability for [...]

This leaflet summarizes the modeling framework used in the corporate publication "The future of food and agriculture - Alternative pathways to 2050" and related inputs from the FAO Global Agriculture Perspectives System Partial Equilibrium model (GAPS) and the Environmental Impact and Sustainability Applied General Equilibrium (ENVISAGE). Click here for the publication "future of food and agriculture".

This report explores three different scenarios for the future of food and agriculture, based on alternative trends for key drivers, including income growth and distribution, population growth, technical progress and climate change. Building on the report The future of food and agriculture – Trends and challenges, this publication forms part of FAO’s efforts to support evidence-based decision-making processes. It provides solid qualitative and quantitative analysis and sheds light on possible strategic options to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of eradicating hunger, improving nutrition and ensuring economic, social and environmental sustainability of food and agricultural systems. Find out more: Report summary FAO Website: Global Perspectives [...]

INPhO, the Information Network on Post-harvest Operations, aims at promoting good practices in post-harvest activities for agri-food products and to assist in the expansion of agribusinesses by providing access to technical data and information.