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This study report, developed in collaboration with the Bright Futures of Burkina Faso, is based on the case study in Burkina Faso. It, through a survey of 183 women and 6 men including 36 leaders of shea groups, provides quantitative analysis on the economic resilience derived from shea nuts in terms of income, assets and savings; on the social indicators of wellbeing, education, health and living standards; and on the political implications, especially with regard to women’s decision making at home and at work, participation in the shea value chain and personal aspirations.

By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Should we thus be more concerned with urban development? On the contrary, we should still focus on rural development, as this will remain critical to ensuring food security and eliminating poverty. With the ongoing demographic change, however, successful rural development will need to heavily rely on strong linkages between rural and urban economies. See the complete series here.

Achieving the SDGs to end hunger and extreme poverty by 2030 will depend crucially on developing rural areas in the poorest nations of the world. More resources need to be allocated for investment in rural areas, not just because that is where most of the poor live, but also because these areas have great potential for economic development. The FAO report The State of Food and Agriculture 2017 (SOFA) shows that, across all regions, rural-based economic activity can be just as effective for poverty reduction as that of urban sectors. See the complete series here.

The international community is committed to ending hunger and all forms of malnutrition worldwide by 2030. While much progress has been made, conflict and human-induced and natural disasters are causing setbacks. This year’s The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World warns that the long-term declining trend in undernourishment seems to have come to a halt and may have reversed, largely on account of the above-mentioned factors. Meanwhile, though progress continues to be made in reducing child malnutrition, rising overweight and obesity are a concern in most parts of the world. These and other findings are detailed in the 2017 edition of The State of [...]

These Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication have been developed as a complement to the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (the Code). They were developed to provide complementary guidance with respect to small-scale fisheries in support of the overall principles and provisions of the Code. Accordingly, the Guidelines are intended to support the visibility, recognition and enhancement of the already important role of small-scale fisheries and to contribute to global and national efforts towards the eradication of hunger and poverty. The Guidelines support responsible fisheries and sustainable social and economic development for the benefit of [...]

This video tells the story of Mehaou, an inspiring Nigerien farmer and grandmother who has overcome many challenges to provide for her family - including rearing, breeding and selling goats.  FAO and the ASTF fund are supporting small farmers to invest and diversity their incomes to create decent employment opportunities. 

The paper discusses the role that social protection can play in saving livelihoods while also enhancing the capacity of households to respond, cope and withstand threats and crises. The paper builds on FAO Social Protection Framework (FAO, 2017) and focuses on the role of social protection systems in humanitarian contexts, with a closer look at protracted crises and a discussion on the importance of shock-sensitive and responsive systems, even in stable contexts. The paper acknowledges that strengthening resilience at national and community levels requires a multisector approach, where risk-informed social protection interventions, including cash transfers, can become a critical component.The paper [...]

Measuring food insecurity through people's experiences The Voices of the Hungry project has launched a tool called the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) which can be used to gather information about the adequacy of people’s access to food by asking them directly about their experiences. National institutions can use the FIES to obtain data-based evidence about the distribution and severity of food insecurity that contributes to building political will and implementing policies to effectively realize the human right to adequate food.    

FAO helps countries achieve SDG1 (No poverty) and SDG2 (Zero hunger) by improving the livelihoods of poor and extreme poor rural people, including smallholders and family farmers.

The document follows the agenda of the workshop. It starts with a background description of the situation that has lead to the organization of the technical event. It sets the scene presenting the FAO's strategy on Rural Poverty Reduction and on Social Protection. It starts then with the policy review and the national Priorities presenting the learnings from the Republic of Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The second part treats the expanding of Social Protection to Rural Areas, presenting the experiences from Leabnon and the expansion of universal health to rural areas. The [...]