FAO.org

Agroecology has been gaining interest in recent years among governments, research and civil society organizations worldwide and many actors present it as a strategic pathway to transition to sustainable food and agriculture systems for achieving food security and nutrition. Following the First International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition, held in Rome in 2014, FAO organized a series of regional multistakeholder seminars in Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific, China, Europe and Central Asia, and the Near East and North Africa from 2015 to 2017. These seminars provided many opportunities for exchange and debate and revealed that while the scientific [...]

The main objective of this report is to provide a regional synthesis of the current climate change mitigation and adaptation commitments in the agriculture sectors of the Southern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (SEECA) region, as set forth in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and to identify opportunities for enhancing mitigation and adaptation ambitions, capturing their synergies and leveraging climate finance and international support options in the region. This analysis builds on FAO’s previous regional analysis and enhances its methodology and findings. It aims to guide FAO – and policy makers and practitioners in the region – committed to [...]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is conducting a comprehensive study across regions to assess the benefit from applying disaster risk reduction (DRR) good practices in agriculture. The study identify practices that help to reduce the vulnerability of households and communities to natural hazards. The study uses a systematic approach to quantify, on a case-by-case basis, how much damage and loss can be reduced in the agriculture sector through the implementation o f DRR good practices at farm level, compared with usual practices. The approach compares the performance under hazard and non-hazard conditions, including various types [...]

This study provides a rationale for building linkages between social protection and sustainable forestry in developing countries through: the development of a conceptual framework for understanding the two-way relationship between social protection instruments and forestry policies; a review of evidence of the role of forestry policies in reducing vulnerabilities and fostering livelihoods among forest-dependent people; a review of the evidence of the impact of social protection instruments on th e resilience of forest-dependent people and on the promotion of sustainable forest management; and a discussion of ways of developing linkages between social protection and forestry policies.

This study reviewed the achievements, and also the shortcomings, of 12 watershed management projects technically supported by FAO over the past decade, with a view to learning from experience. Unlike sectoral development approaches, watershed management involves examining the interactions among various natural processes and land uses and managing land, water and the wider ecosystem of the watershed in an integrated way. Watershed management is best carried out as a stepwise multistakeholder process. The review identified a sequence of steps that watershed management projects or programmes should ideally follow. The approach has demonstrated its effectiveness for responding to global challenges of [...]

These guidelines, now available in French, support preparation of policies, plans and actions to create and sustainably manage urban green spaces. Networking, collaboration, communication, resource mobilization, monitoring and community engagement are key.   

This book defines land concentration, accumulation, land-grabbing and foreign ownership in Colombia. It identifies risks related to large-scale investments in rural land and makes public policy recommendations, such as conducting risk-based analysis. Only available in Spanish.

The regional Symposium on Agroecology for Europe and Central Asia was held in Budapest from 23 to 25 November 2016, which was attended by over 180 participants from 41 countries in the Region. The Symposium participants formulated 37 recommendations to develop agroecology for sustainable food and agricultural systems in Europe and Central Asia. This report reflects the discussions among participants on the following five topics:  Agroecology: concepts, systems and practices Research, Innovation, knowledge sharing and agroecological movements  Agroecology and natural resources in a changing climate: water, land, biodiversity and territories  Agroecology and sustainable food systems  Public policies to develop agroecology and promote transition

SMAACNET is a web-based database for sharing information of agricultural mechanization that is best adapted to different agro-ecologies and categories of agri-food chains in the region of Asia and the Pacific. SMAACNET focuses on the needs of smallholder farmers and Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs). The overarching goal of SMAACNET is to ensure that Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (SAM) contributes to food security, economic development and ecological balance in Asia and the Pacific Region.  More specifically SMAACNET aims: To exchange knowledge, share experience and promote collaboration and concerted efforts among all stakeholders on the use of SAM across agri-food chains To advocate for the economic, social [...]

This How2Guide for Bioenergy is designed to provide stakeholders from government, industry, and other bioenergy-related institutions with the methodology and tools required to successfully plan and implement a roadmap for bioenergy at the national or regional level. As a guide addressed to decision makers in developing, emerging and developed economies, the H2G.BIO does not attempt to cover every aspect of bioenergy conversion technology and deployment, or to be exhaustive in its reference to biomass resources and technologies at the country and regional levels. Rather, the aim is to provide a comprehensive list of steps and issues to be considered at [...]