FAO.org

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of agri-food systems to shocks and stresses and led to increased global food insecurity and malnutrition. Action is needed to make agri-food systems more resilient, efficient, sustainable and inclusive.The State of Food and Agriculture 2021 presents country-level indicators of the resilience of agri-food systems. The indicators measure the robustness of primary production and food availability, as well as physical and economic access to food. They can thus help assess the capacity of national agri-food systems to absorb shocks and stresses, a key aspect of resilience.The report analyses the vulnerabilities of food supply chains and [...]

The FAO Investment Centre provides a wide range of support services to help countries make more and better investments in food and agriculture. This review looks back at the work the Centre carried out with its partners in 2020. Despite a challenging year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre’s global team supported investment-related policy and sector studies to increase policy dialogue and contributed to the design, technical assistance, supervision or evaluation of investment projects in 120 countries. The Centre increasingly linked both its policy work with investment support to scale up impact. And it promoted greater knowledge sharing and innovation, while [...]

There has been a surge in the attention to sustainable agricultural mechanization for Africa. The need to support agricultural mechanization in the value chain in order to achieve agricultural and rural development is well recognized. Therefore, it is vital to address the major challenge of ensuring that business models for mechanization hire services driven by the private sector (including farmers, cooperatives, and small and medium enterprises) are not only profitable, sustainable and inclusive for smallholder farmers and vulnerable community members including women and youth, but also resilient to the effects of climate change. For a better understanding of how agricultural [...]

This White/Wiphala paper on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems is the result of collective work by Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and experts, scientists, researchers, and UN staff. Over 47 different units, organizations, and institutions have contributed to the Paper from the seven socio-cultural regions. This final version of the White/Wiphala paper has been coordinated by the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems and edited by a Technical Editorial Committee, and summarises the main points received.This Paper advocates that lessons can be learnt from Indigenous Peoples’ approach to food, which will contribute to the resilience and sustainability of food systems worldwide, as well [...]

The following publication "Indigenous youth as agents of change - Actions of Indigenous youth in local food systems during times of adversity" highlights six initiatives from Indigenous youth in regions around the world who are leading innovative solutions and collaborations in the face of adversity brought about by climate change and exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The youth initiatives describe how grassroots groups, networks, and platforms established by Indigenous youth have been essential to the fulfillment of basic needs within their communities in the face of this adversity. The publication has been produced under the Koronivia Joint Work on [...]

In Burkina Faso, the exacerbation of conflicts over natural resources and the rapid development of insecurity are sources of major concern for both the public authorities and the populations. The report features the main findings of the conflict analysis that was carried out to: (i) take stock of conflicts over natural resources and other conflicts in rural areas; (ii) identify initiatives for conflict prevention and management; and (iii) formulate proposals to improve the effectiveness of conflict prevention and management mechanisms. The conflict analysis is one of the main activities implemented under the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [...]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed this three-year strategy to strengthen resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods in Nigeria under recurring threats from both conflict and natural hazard-induced disasters to better withstand shocks and thrive. It integrates the pathways for resilience through four main outcome areas. The first one is the strengthening of the national institutions and their entities for disaster risk reduction, natural resources management and food crisis prevention and management in the agriculture sector. Secondly, it aims to inform agriculture-based livelihood interventions with reliable data, analysis and a well-established early warning system against known and [...]

The PPR Secretariat, the OIE Working Group on Wildlife, and the PPR Global Research and Expertise Network (GREN) have jointly developed these guidelines for PPR prevention, outbreak response, and control in wildlife, which can be used by countries to develop their PPR national strategic plans. These guidelines are intended to help countries in the development and implementation of PPR eradication programmes, including objectives, policies and strategies that can be adapted to the full range of national needs, and that facilitate the integration of the wildlife sector into the national strategic plan. Integration will enhance the conservation of wildlife populations, and facilitate [...]

After more than five years of protracted conflict, Yemen continues to face an unprecedented humanitarian, social and economic crisis. Conflict, displacement and economic decline are placing immense pressure on essential basic services and the institutions that provide them. Humanitarian needs have sharply increased across all sectors since the escalation of the conflict in 2015, which has exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities, degraded community resilience and accelerated the collapse of public institutions. Due to the need for reliable and timely food security and nutrition information to inform decision-making at the national and governorate levels, FAO and the Yemeni Government, with support from the [...]

COVID-19 is a defining moment for strengthening drought resilience of society and managing ecosystems more sustainably. Both recent and historical experiences indicate that disease outbreaks very often follow extreme weather events. Drought, combined with other ecosystem changes such as habitat degradation, preceded the COVID-19 outbreak and has been associated with many other types of epidemics in the past. This paper highlights that the interactions between human, ecosystems and ecology often govern drought-linked disease. Factoring these interactions and their impacts on vulnerable communities and their environment is important for drought preparedness, resilience, and recovery. It also calls for increased investments and [...]