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The vast majority of the world’s food crops are annuals that are grown from seed sown at the start of each production season. The quality of that seed is a key determinant of production. Farmers cannot easily observe the quality or identity of seed at the point of sale, which creates a risk on the part of the farmer. With the development of the commercial seed trade and the increasing number of varieties during the 20th century it became important to reduce this risk. This led to the formulation of laws and regulations intended to protect farmers and increase agricultural [...]

​Le projet «Renforcement des capacités de planification de l'adaptation pour la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition» au Sénégal est un projet de collaboration multi-acteurs développé par la FAO et le gouvernement du Québec avec le soutien du gouvernement du Sénégal. L'objectif principal de ce projet, qui intervient dans deux pays francophones, Haïti et le Sénégal, est de renforcer la résilience des secteurs agricoles face au changement climatique pour la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition.

This document summarizes the online discussion Mainstreaming gender for sustainable soil management, held on the FAO Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum) from 23 September to 25 October 2019. The discussion was facilitated by Ilaria Sisto and Ronald Vargas from FAO and aimed to collect views from a wide range of stakeholders about the relations between gender equality and sustainable soil management (SSM). Participants’ contributions fed into the draft of the ‘Guide on gender and sustainable soil management’ prepared by the Regional Soil Partnerships, the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, and the Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division of [...]

As a result of the Government of Uganda’s forward thinking policies to create a commercial forestry sector in the early 2000’s, it is 20 years ahead of its neighbors in terms of the sector’s development. It now must implement policies to sustain to the sector, and enable it to help meet the rapidly growing demand for timber and other wood products in the region, and beyond.  This depends fundamentally on enabling producers and processors to easily access to external timber markets.  

The leaflet provides a brief overview of two projects implemented by FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division and when combined create a model that can be adapted and used in various different regions. The leaflet also sheds light to the projects in practice, in Zambia and Sri Lanka - what has been accomplished so far and in what ways the project has been successfully implemented.  

This course focuses on how to practically operationalize the indigenous peoples’ right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) throughout all stages of the project cycle. The course describes each of the recommended six steps of the process and the related actions to be undertaken.System RequirementsThe online version of this course runs on the latest versions of the major browsers, such as Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox.The downloadable version only runs on Windows PC’s and no additional software is needed.AudienceThe course is primarily intended for professionals directly engaged in the development and implementation of projects involving indigenous peoples. In particular, [...]

We, Indigenous  peoples of the Arctic,from  three  of  the  seven  socio-cultural  regions -the  Arctic,  North America  and  Russia -representing the  Inuit, Saami, Sakha, Itelmen, Yukaghir,  Ulchi,  Evenki,Golganand Chickaloonpeoples, have travelled from Finland, Greenland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and USA to meet in Rome on the 23rdand 24thSeptember 2019 at the headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Prompted by the urgent need to address current threats and challenges facing the Arctic, its peoples and natural resources, we have gathered to share our perspectives and knowledge with researchers, FAO and Government officials from the region.

Unhealthy diets now pose a greater risk to morbidity and mortality than unsafe sex, alcohol, and drug and tobacco use combined. They are at the root of the global obesity and diet-related non-communicable disease (NCD) pandemic. The ways of food production that lead to these unhealthy diets also pose a major threat to climate stability and ecosystem resilience, and constitute the most important driver of environmental degradation and natural resources depletion.In the short term, there is little that we can do to curb the global demand for food and other products that depend on biological resources. Demand will continue to [...]

This document provides technical guidance for countries to integrate Sustainable Land Management (SLM) into national policies and programs. It was developed in the context of the project "Desicion Support for Mainstreaming and Scaling up Sustainable Land Management (DS-SLM)" supporting country teams in designing operational strategies for mainstreaming information on land degradation and SLM into national and subnational decision-making processes.

Fall Armyworm (FAW) continues to spread into new territory, moving further east and north in Asia, as well as north from sub-Saharan Africa. As it spreads, more governments are faced with decisions about how to react quickly and sustainably to the arrival of this new crop pest. Fortunately, they can benefit from over two years’ worth of experience gleaned from across sub-Saharan Africa as well as decades of experience from the Americas. The lessons learned there by governments, resources partners and farmers can help guide decision-makers now being affected by FAW. This policy guide reviews the experiences and lessons learned [...]