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Social protection plays an important role in protecting poor and vulnerable people from natural hazards saving lives and livelihoods, while also enhancing families’ capacity to cope, respond and withstand threats and crises. Moreover, risk-informed and shock-responsive social protection systems enhance the resilience and decrease the vulnerability of the agricultural livelihoods, absorbing part of the humanitarian caseload. FAO is currently scaling-up its commitment in the field of Risk-Informed and Shock-Responsive Social Protection through evidence generation, policy support, direct implementation in emergency contexts and capacity development. FAO, together with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, is developing an interactive learning tool to [...]

Rural youth are the future of food security and rural poverty reduction. They are also the present as there are more young people today than ever before – 1.8 billion between the ages of 10 and 24 – most of them living in less developed countries and in rural areas. However, youth in rural areas of developing countries face enormous challenges in preparing for and accessing decent work, including in agriculture. These challenges are even greater for youth under the age of 18. Considerable work has been undertaken on understanding the challenges and solutions facing rural youth. However, youth are a heterogenous group, and attention needs [...]

This e-learning course introduces you to the concepts of productive employment and decent work and its relevance for food and nutrition security and rural poverty reduction. The course also provides guidance on how to integrate employment and decent work considerations into agricultural strategies and programmes, with focus on specific groups such as rural women, youth and children in the agricultural sector. Content The course consists of 6 lessons: Lesson 1   Understanding employment and decent work in rural areas: concepts and definitions Lesson 2   The centrality of employment and decent work for agricultural development, poverty reduction and food and nutrition security Lesson 3   Youth [...]

Part I of this year’s edition of the State of Food Insecurity in Europe and Central Asia is devoted to the theme of how the nature of food insecurity has evolved in the region over the past 23 years. The familiar four pillars of food security are used to demonstrate how the character of food insecurity in the region has changed substantially, owing to the pro-poor economic growth observed over the past 23 years, particularly in the poorer countries of the region. Today, the main indicators and issues on household food insecurity concern malnutrition, rather than the physical or economic [...]

This report provides an overview of a study conducted in the NENA region in 2015-2016 in partnership with FAO, CIRAD, CIHEAM-IAMM and six national teams, each of which prepared a national report. In the six countries under review in the NENA region (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Sudan and Tunisia), agriculture is carried out primarily by small-scale family farmers, the majority of whom run the risk of falling into the poverty trap, largely due to the continuous fragmentation of inherited landholdings. As such, the development of small-scale family farming can no longer be based solely on intensifying agriculture, as the farmers [...]

FAO recognizes the potential of rural women and men in achieving food security and nutrition and is committed to overcoming gender inequality, in line with the pledge to “leave no one behind”, which is at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda. The publication illustrates the consistent and sustained work of FAO towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, which are at the core of the Organization’s work to eliminate hunger and rural poverty. Each chapter highlights the relevance of gender work to achieving the FAO Strategic Objectives, and describes main results achieved, showcasing activities implemented [...]

This video shows how the clubs in Niger have been crucial in ensuring women’s access to land and water , while contributing to nutrition, food security, gender equality and the reduction of rural poverty at the same time.  ”Access to Water and Land” is part of a series that illustrates the impact of FAO-Dimitra Clubs, a successful gender-transformative approach developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO-Dimitra Clubs are groups of rural women and men who decide to meet regularly to discuss the challenges they face in their daily lives, make decisions together and take collective action [...]

The video shows how Dimitra Clubs play an important role in helping women gain self-confidence and in building their capacities to become leaders in their communities. ”Women Leaders” is part of a series that illustrates the impact of Dimitra Clubs, a successful gender-transformative approach developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO-Dimitra Clubs are groups of rural women and men who decide to meet regularly to discuss the challenges they face in their daily lives, make decisions together and take collective action to solve community problems with their own means.  Since 2006, 1500 FAO-Dimitra Clubs have been set [...]

Forests play important provisioning and supporting roles in the livelihoods of rural households (Byron and Arnold, 1999, Sunderlin et al., 2005) and the majority of those who live in extreme poverty are reliant on forests for their livelihood. Products from non-cultivated ecosystems such as natural forests, woodlands, wetlands, lakes, rivers, and grasslands can be a significant income source for rural households providing energy, food, construction materials and medicines both for subsistence and cash uses. Beginning with seminal studies on environmental resource use (e.g. Cavendish, 2000) the contribution of forest and other environmental resources to household income accounts were found to [...]

The training guide Gender-Responsive Disaster Risk Reduction in the Agriculture Sector is intended primarily for policy-makers and practitioners, who have a good understanding of disasters but limited knowledge of gender issues, and work on DRR policies, plans, information systems, or other activities related to disaster-prone communities. Its main objective is to present theoretical and practical approaches to address gender issues in DRR strategies for the agriculture sector, illustrating some  stories on how gender issues cut across men’s and women’s experiences of disaster risk and can be addressed in DRR decision-making. This guide also provides an overview of a gender-responsive planning [...]