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The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of agri-food systems to shocks and stresses and led to increased global food insecurity and malnutrition. Action is needed to make agri-food systems more resilient, efficient, sustainable and inclusive.The State of Food and Agriculture 2021 presents country-level indicators of the resilience of agri-food systems. The indicators measure the robustness of primary production and food availability, as well as physical and economic access to food. They can thus help assess the capacity of national agri-food systems to absorb shocks and stresses, a key aspect of resilience.The report analyses the vulnerabilities of food supply chains and [...]

The Food Loss and Waste database is the largest online collection of data on both food loss and food waste and causes reported throughout the literature. The database contains data and information from openly accessible reports and studies measuring food loss and waste across food products, stages of the value chain, and geographical areas. In October 2019, more than 480 publications and reports from various sources (e.g., subnational reports, academic studies, and reports from national and international organizations such as the World Bank, GIZ, FAO, IFPRI, and other sources), which have produced more than 20 thousand data points, were included. Data [...]

La publicación busca resaltar la importancia de la transformación de los sistemas alimentarios en América Latina y el Caribe, en el marco de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) y en un contexto de pandemia.Los sistemas alimentarios tienen el potencial de nutrir a la población y apoyar la sostenibilidad ambiental; sin embargo, la pandemia pone en riesgo ambos logros. Proporcionar dietas saludables a una población en crecimiento, a partir de sistemas alimentarios sostenibles en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) es un desafío inmediato.El libro presenta una introducción sobre la Transformación de los Sistemas Alimentarios como un desafío planetario de [...]

A primer to the right to adequate foodThis course is part of the e-learning curriculum "Right to Food in Practice" and it introduces the principles and concept of the human right to adequate food and its practical application.The course also provides an overview of the historical development of this human right, the human rights based approach to development, recourse mechanisms, the Right to Food Guidelines and describes the rights, obligations and responsibilities of rights-holders and duty-bearers of the right to food.The course is available in English, French and Spanish. Methodologies for implementing the right to foodThis course is part of the [...]

Food is a human right. Yet hundreds of millions are still going to bed hungry. FAO´s Right to Food Guidelines recommend how to take action, so that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and affordable food every day. The Guidelines are a powerful policy tool to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms.Many countries are taking steps in line with these guidelines. Some are examples are:    In 45 countries, the right to food is recognized by their Constitutions.    In Indonesia, indigenous peoples´access to natural resources and their ancestral forets is legally guaranteed.    In Sierra Leone, rural communities took [...]

In recent years, several major drivers have put the world off track to ending world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. The challenges have grown with the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures. This report presents the first global assessment of food insecurity and malnutrition for 2020 and offers some indication of what hunger might look like by 2030 in a scenario further complicated by the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes new estimates of the cost and affordability of healthy diets, which provide an important link between the food security and nutrition indicators [...]

This strategy proposes that FAO’s vision for nutrition is a world where all people are eating healthy diets from sustainable, inclusive and resilient agri-food systems. The mission is to tackle malnutrition in all its forms by accelerating impactful policies and actions across agri-food systems to enable healthy diets for all. Through this mission, and in the realization of the aspiration of Better Nutrition, FAOwill contribute to the achievement of targets across the SDGs including SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG10, SDG12, SDG 14, and SDG 17.

Parliamentarians are agents of change, and their role is critical to ensure a world where all people are eating healthy diets from sustainable, inclusive, and resilient agri-food systems. Members of the Parliament hold a strategic position as they can shape policies and actions for improving food availability, accessibility, and affordability for all people, especially the most vulnerable, to ensure their food security and good nutrition for health and wellbeing. Objectives that are more important than ever in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic.This handbook is addressed to Parliamentarians to support them in adopting domestic legislation, approving budget allocations, and [...]

This document provides guidance on undertaking risk assessment of all microbial hazards which may adversely affect human health in foods along a food chain. This document is also intended to provide practical guidance on a structured framework for carrying out risk assessment of microbiological hazards in foods, focussing on the four components including hazard identification, hazard characterization, exposure assessment and risk characterization. These guidelines therefore represent the best practice at the time of their preparation, and it is hoped that they will help stimulate further developments and disseminate the current knowledge.

Territorial markets are essential to the livelihoods and food and nutrition security of populations. These markets are suffering multiple challenges in the current context of COVID-19 related restrictions on travel and transports and global economic slowdown. Against this background, strengthening territorial markets can support food production and access to healthy and nutritious foods. This requires a good understanding of the functioning of these markets. The FAO mapping system for territorial markets has been developed to this scope, and implemented in Tanzania as illustrated in this brief.See the full list of policy briefs related to COVID-19.