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This publication is a collection of articles written by economists, sociologists, and gender specialists and practitioners from twelve post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. It is unique in its effort to review and analyze the issues that are at the intersection of gender equality, social protection and rural development in the region. Overall, there is a lack of research, documented knowledge and public discourse on this subject and a multi-disciplinary approach is necessary for ensuring an in-depth and rigorous understanding of these intersecting issues in the context of the region. In supporting this publication, the FAO [...]

Cash transfers have become a key social protection tool in developing countries and have expanded dramatically in the last two decades. However, the impacts of cash transfers programmes, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, have not been substantially documented. This book presents a detailed overview of the impact evaluations of these programmes, carried out by the Transfer Project and FAO’s From Protection to Production project. The 14 chapters include a review of eight country case studies: Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, as well as a description of the innovative research methodologies, political economy issues and good practices to design [...]

Women play key roles in rural economies. However, compared to men, rural women often experience greater constraints in accessing resources, services and opportunities. Brave Ndisale, Director Ad Interim of the FAO Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division together with Illaria Sisto, Gender and Development Officer explain the importance of empowering women and achieving gender equality to ensure food security and reduce rural poverty. They describe the FAO policy work, including key policy messages, to achieve this. See all videos in the Policy and Governance series :  AR  CH  EN   FR  RU  SP

One in five people in developing countries live on less than $1.9 dollars a day. Seventy-five percent of these people live in rural areas. They depend directly on small-scale farming, forest resources, livestock and fishing for their subsistence. Philippe Ankers, Senior Programme Advisor of the FAO Strategic Programme on Rural Poverty Reduction together with Susan Kaaria, Senior Officer of the FAO Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division explain how empowering people and strengthening rural institutions including small-scale producer organizations can significantly contribute to reducing rural poverty and eradicating hunger. They describe the FAO policy work, including key policy messages.  See all [...]

This booklet is directed towards FAO Member States, UN system and all other potential partners, and sheds light on the role that agriculture and rural development and the sustainable management of natural resources can play in curbing migration pressure in rural areas. It also outlines the main entry points where FAO can support international efforts to address global movements of refugees and migrants. Together with its partners, FAO is committed to further strengthening its efforts on migration within humanitarian and development contexts while building on its comparative advantage in agriculture and rural development issues.

Since 2009, FAO’s MAFAP programme has been working in several developing countries to create sustainable policy monitoring systems and carry out a consistent set of policy and public expenditure analyses across a wide range of agricultural value chains. MAFAP works with government institutions, research organizations and other partners to establish a community of practice on policy measurement, monitoring and analysis by developing institutional capacities to systematically analyse government policies and their effects. MAFAP analyses are used to inform targeted food and agricultural policy reforms that will result in a more conducive environment for agricultural investment and productivity growth, especially for smallholder farmers. MAFAP’s [...]

From ending poverty, hunger and malnutrition to sustaining our natural resources to responding to climate change, food and agriculture lie at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda. FAO’s Strategic Framework is aligned with the SDGs, geared towards tackling root causes and Bringing numbers to life building a fairer society.

The calls for action are numerous: at the United Nations Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in September 2012, governments reaffirmed the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. The same year, the UN Secretary General launched the “Zero Hunger Challenge” campaign to end hunger globally. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, endorsed in September 2015, confirms the importance of achieving food security, and eradicating hunger is the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2). Since 1990, much progress has been made in reducing hunger. Yet, challenges to food security and nutrition remain as pressing as ever. Around [...]

Social protection has helped lift millions of people out of extreme poverty.  However, seventy percent of the world population, particularly in rural areas, still lack social protection coverage. Benjamin Davis, Strategic Programme Leader ad interim of the FAO Strategic Programme on Rural Poverty Reduction together with Natalia Winder Rossi, Social Protection Team Leader of the FAO Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division explain how enhancing social protection systems in rural areas can contribute to reducing poverty and ending hunger. They describe the FAO policy work, including key policy messages. See all videos in the Policy and Governance series :  AR  CH  EN [...]

Capture fisheries support the livelihoods of over 120 million people. Small-scale fisheries produce two-thirds of all catches destined for direct human consumption and provide 90% of the employment in the sector. Nicole Franz, Fisheries Planning Analyst and Yvette Diei Ouadi, Fishery Industry Officer of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department explain the importance of supporting small-scale fishers, fish workers and their communities to ensure food security for all. They describe the FAO policy work, including key policy messages. See all videos in the Policy and Governance series:  AR  CH  EN   FR  RU  SP