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This paper looks at the main characteristics of rural transformation and the current lives of young rural women in East and Southern Africa, and identifies the key actions necessary to ensure that they have equal opportunities to participate in, and benefit from, the process of rural transformation.

Gender equality is a key to eliminating poverty and hunger, as it has been demonstrated by the FAO throughout its research worldwide. As part of the FAO efforts on generating evidence and knowledge, and in compliance with the FAO Policy on Gender Equality, the purpose of the Country Gender Assessment for Uzbekistan is to contribute to the production of knowledge for better informed, targeted and gender sensitive actions in agriculture and rural development. It has been produced as it is required in the FAO Policy on Gender Equality, and was validated in a high-level national workshop with representatives from the [...]

Asia-Pacific is home to well over half of all people worldwide who do not obtain sufficient dietary energy to maintain normal, active, healthy lives. To achieve SDG 2 in the region, more than 3 million people must escape hunger each month from now until December 2030. In most countries in the region, the diets of more than half of all very young children (aged 6–23 months) fail to meet minimum standards of diversity, leading to micronutrient deficiencies that affect child development and therefore the potential of future generations. The high prevalence of stunting and wasting among children under five years of [...]

Without rapid progress in reducing and eliminating hunger and malnutrition by 2030, the full range of Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved. We can advance faster if we work together. In its quest to achieve a Zero Hunger world, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) works in partnership with communities, governments, and organizations across Africa to address malnutrition, boost the productivity and resilience of small-scale farmers, share knowledge about innovative farming practices, and build sustainable food systems. FAO’s bold approach focuses on empowering women and employing youth, providing them with the skills and resources (land, capital, emerging technology) they need [...]

This brochure highlights the important role that social protection has to play in addressing many of the barriers poor rural households face in building resilient and sustainable livelihoods. Despite progress in recent decades, 736 million people worldwide still live in extreme poverty. Most are in rural areas, possess few or no assets and depend on agriculture and the use of natural resources for their livelihoods. A number of programmes have demonstrated not only that social protection can have significant impacts on poverty, but also that even low-income countries can afford to provide it for their citizens, if they commit to [...]

A single-stop shop for good practices for sustainable banana production and trade. This portal has been provided in response to high demand from the industry stakeholders.

Promoting higher involvement of women and youth in agricultural investment in Ghana. Two workshops organized in Ghana by the Economic and Social Development's Trade and Market Group shows that women and youth were seldom involved in the formulation, design or implementation of investments in agriculture and did not benefit from them. 

The objective of the Assessment is to analyse the agriculture and rural sectors from a gender perspective at the macro level (policy), meso level (institutional) and micro level (community and household). The Assessment seeks to identify gender inequalities in access to critical productive resources, assets, services and opportunities. The assessment looks at the priorities, needs and constraints of both women and men in agricultural and rural communities, and the gaps that exist in responding to these issues. It also provides recommendations and guidance to promote gender sensitivity in future programmes and projects, and identifies possible partners for gender-related activities. This Assessment [...]

Social protection is recognized as an effective strategy for poverty eradication. It also contributes to promoting good health and well-being, achieving decent employment, fostering economic growth and reducing inequalities – objectives that are reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG targets 1.3, 3.8, 5.4 and 10.4). When designed to reduce and prevent poverty, food insecurity, and vulnerability across the life cycle – social protection policies and programmes can effectively support vulnerable households to improve their lives. The issue lies in the fact that only 45 per cent of the global population is currently effectively covered by at least one social benefit [...]

The objective of the Assessment is to analyse the agriculture and rural sectors from a gender perspective at the macro level (policy), meso level (institutional) and micro level (community and household). The Assessment seeks to identify gender inequalities in access to critical productive resources, assets, services and opportunities. The assessment looks at the priorities, needs and constraints of both women and men in agricultural and rural communities, and the gaps that exist in responding to these issues. It also provides recommendations and guidance to promote gender sensitivity in future programmes and projects, and identifies possible partners for gender-related activities. This Assessment [...]