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The Oilcrops Monthly Price and Policy Update (MPPU) complements FAO's bi-annual market reports. The oilcrops brief notes review the development of international prices for oilseeds, oils and meals as reflected by FAO's specific price indices and spot recent policy and market events - selected from a variety of sources - that are deemed important for the global oilseed economy. The oilcrop brief is issued on the second week of each month, for a total of 10 issues per year.  Policy archive All the information published in the second part of the MPPU (the section featuring policy developments and industry news) is now also available [...]

The treatment of agriculture in Regional Trade Agreements provide a discussion on the growing importance of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and the trends in the treatment of agriculture in RTAs. Also available in French and Spanish

This publication aims to inform the debate on the status of food security in Arab countries, and provide policy options for enhancing food security in the future, in line with the overarching directions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Given the heterogeneity of the Arab region, both in terms of natural endowment, particularly in water resources, and economic capabilities, the report’s analysis divides the region into four subregions, each consisting of a more homogeneous group of countries. This report provides a broad overview of food security in the Arab region, including the availability, access and utilization of food. Elements of [...]

This sourcebook provides an overview of the second, digital edition of the Climate-Smart Agriculture Sourcebook. The new edition includes new findings, case studies and lessons learned. It also takes into account the changes in the landscape of international climate action since the original edition was published in 2013. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – which encompasses the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda – provides an international framework for strong national actions and collective efforts to achieve sustainable development. Climate-smart agriculture, as an approach to achieve sustainable food and agriculture, [...]

This manual explains how to use the EX-Ante Carbon-balance Tool for Value Chain (EX-ACT VC) and how to address a multi-impact appraisal in terms of socio-economic and environmental performance of value chains. These guidelines justify the development of the tool, and introduce its goals for value chain analysis and the step-by-step approach of its modules. Specifically, Chapter 1 discusses the importance of incorporating climate change mitigation and resilience into agricultural production systems. Chapter 2 explains the development of the FAO EX-ACT Value Chain tool, along with its logic and methodology, while Chapter 3 provides a concise overview of its structure. Chapters [...]

FAO encourages sustainable crop production intensification farming practices and technologies that support the development of resilient crop production systems. The approach is founded on a set of science based environmental, institutional and social principles.  

While countries in Europe and Central Asia have made significant progress reducing the prevalence of undernourishment, 14.3 million people still experience severe food insecurity. Malnutrition – in one or more of its three main forms – is present throughout the region. Demand for food is growing, consumption patterns are changing and urbanization is accelerating. The effects of climate change pose considerable challenges to agricultural production. The Sustainable Development Goals provide a fra mework for assessing and tackling these challenges and monitoring progress. Currently only a few countries have policy frameworks that address all four pillars of food security – availability, [...]

 The FAO-ITU E-agriculture strategy guide is actively being used to assist countries in the successful identification, development and implementation of sustainable ICT solutions for agriculture. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, and connected analytics has great potential to support and address some of the most pressing problems faced by agriculture in terms of access to actionable real-time quality data. Goldman Sachs predicts that the agriculture sector will be the second largest user of drones in the world in the next five years. Sensor networks based on the Internet of things (IoT) are increasingly being used in the [...]

This is a training course on multisectoral approach to sustainable food and agriculture. It examines the challenges facing agriculture and food production systems and presents a common vision and coordinated approach towards sustainable food and agriculture developed through intensive consultations and discussions among agriculture specialists. It illustrates in detail the five key principles that allow the transition toward a more sustainable and productive agriculture, highlighting examples of strategies, policies and technologies and explaining several sustainability frameworks and programmes which can underpin the efforts towards the implementation of sustainability in food and agriculture.  

Tracking adaptation processes and outcomes is a continuous process which also encompasses monitoring and evaluation – one of the important elements of the climate change adaptation. A detailed review of existing literature on adaptation tracking tools showed a number of challenges and limitations related to their application in agricultural sectors. Though some of the tools are technically sound, practical use is constrained by non-availability of adequate baseline data and information. In addit ion, several of these frameworks are individual project specific, complex and thus seldom contribute to better informed policy level decisions and adaptation planning.  This paper outlines the importance [...]