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The European Union Land Governance Programme funds 18 individual country-level projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, all of which address tenure issues, and are implemented alongside various partners, among which are government agencies, civil society organizations, bilateral and multilateral organizations and private contractors. All project activities are carried out within the framework of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and, in the African context, the African Union Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa (AU Declaration) and its Framework and Guidelines on [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world. Hundreds of millions of people were already suffering from hunger and malnutrition before the virus hit and, unless immediate action is taken, we could see a global food emergency. In the longer term, the combined effects of COVID-19 itself, as well as corresponding mitigation measures and the emerging global recession could, without large-scale coordinated action, disrupt the functioning of food systems. Such disruption can result in consequences for health and nutrition of a severity and scale unseen for [...]

This policy brief focuses on the topic of global emergence of infectious diseases and its links with consumption of wild meat, ecosystem disruption, habitat degradation and biodiversity loss. Emerging infectious diseases are a significant and growing threat to global health, economies and security. There is evidence that landscape changes and biodiversity loss are key drivers of the (re-) emergence of infectious diseases. More systematic research is needed to better understand the role of ecosystems in the regulation of diseases. Effective implementation of the One Health approach, promoting coordinated multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary responses, has the potential to reduce disease transmission risks [...]

The spread of COVID-19 has created tremendous uncertainty on a number of fronts, including the availability of food supplies. In such a situation, countries might be prompted to restrict their food exports to ensure greater domestic availability in the short term. However, such restrictions can cause panic, leading to price surges on international markets, and a breakdown of food supply chains. During the food price crisis in 2007–2008, trade restrictions contributed significantly to price spikes for various commodities (45 percent for rice and 30 percent for wheat (Martin & Anderson, 2020). Price volatility led to social unrest in many countries [...]

The Food Systems Dashboard combines data from multiple sources to give users a complete view of food systems. Users can compare components of food systems across countries and regions. They can also identify and prioritize ways to sustainably improve diets and nutrition in their food systems.Dashboards are useful tools that help users visualize and understand key information for complex systems. Users can track progress to see if policies or other interventions are working at a country or regional levelIn recent years, the public health and nutrition communities have used dashboards to track the progress of health goals and interventions, including [...]

Since the declaration by WHO of the COVID-19 as a Global Pandemic on 15 March, governments of the Near East and North Africa region have imposed a series of measures to slow down the spread of the disease. This policy brief aims at summarizing the potential impacts of COVID-19 and associated measures on agriculture and food security in the region and proposes measures to mitigate the impacts on food security and nutrition with special attention to the most vulnerable segments of societies. Ample food supplies exist globally despite COVID-19’s impacts. COVID-19 has considerably disrupted the world supply chains around the world [...]

The past few decades have seen dramatic improvements in the region in access to food, reduction in stunting rates, in premature death and disability caused by communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases. However, the gains in the fight against hunger and malnutrition have reversed in the wake of conflicts and violence that have spread in many parts of the region in the last decade. Today, nearly 55 million people in the Arab States, 13.2 percent of the population, are hungry and the situation is particularly worrying in countries affected by conflicts and violence: Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. Displacements [...]

The video animation showcases the work FAO is carrying out on Nutrition and Food Systems policies and programmes. FAO provides technical assistance to Member States and relevant partners to improve the capacity of key regional and country stakeholders as well as platforms to advocate, design, implement, support, and evaluate policies, programmes and investments that shape food systems towards achieving Zero Hunger and eradicating all forms of malnutrition through sustainable and healthy diets.

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, many countries are adopting measures to control the spread of the virus. While the health aspects of the pandemic have not affected rural areas as much as urban centres, containment measures pose new challenges to rural women with regards to their roles in household food security, as agricultural producers, farm managers, processors, traders, wage workers and entrepreneurs. Past experience shows that rural women are disproportionally affected by health and economic crises in a number of ways, including but not limited to food security and nutrition, time poverty, access to health facilities, services and economic opportunities, [...]

  Covid-19 is triggering chain reactions challenges in many sectors, including when it comes to food loss and food waste. Between the measures adopted by government to fight the virus, and the initial individual reactions of panic, more precious food is at risk of begin lost from production to consumer, or wasted by retailers or families, if proper measures and practices are not adopted immediately. This is particularly crucial for fresh produce like fruits and vegetables that are of paramount importance for heatlhy diets that support good health. On another hand, food waste reduction stakeholders such as food banks will and [...]