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This research paper looks at the crises in international agricultural markets during the last decade and draws out some lessons. Although crop prices continue to be volatile, the bout of high prices/high volatility ended by 2015. The initial rapid rise of prices was not predicted, and surprised both market players and the international community more broadly. Considerable policy attention was focused on the crisis, by the UN broadly, by FAO and its members, by G20 heads, agricultural groups, and national governments. Attention by investors was also significant, as rates of return rose. The links of higher prices to growing population, incomes, energy/biofuels, dietary mix, [...]

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 [...]

This policy brief analyses the main programmes and interventions aimed at promoting youth employment in Uganda, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, as well as innovation and replication potential. The document also provides a series of recommendations towards the replication and upscaling of successful interventions that will inform the National Strategy for Youth Employment in Agriculture (NSYEA), as well as future strategic discussions on youth engagement in agriculture and food systems.  

The aim of the Contract Farming Toolkit is to provide practical information to assist the design and implementation of contract farming schemes. The Contract Farming Centre provides access to sample farming contracts, briefs on different contract issues and a selection of presentation resources.  

Interest in contract farming as a mechanism to coordinate linkages between farmers and agribusiness firms has grown considerably in the recent past, in large part because of the international trends towards tighter alignment in agrifood supply chains. FAO has been responding to this growing demand for information and technical support on contract farming issues by means of actions that include a series of capacity building workshops on planning and implementing contract farming operations, the dissemination of knowledge through the Contract Farming Resource Centre and the development of publications on conceptual, operational and legal aspects of contract farming.  Building on the above, [...]

This brief aims to help regulators and policymakers to achieve a correct understanding of the legal aspects of contract farming (CF). It is based on information extracted from the Legal Guide on Contract Farming (UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD, 2015), and from field experience in the implementation of contract farming projects by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). See also Legal Guide on Contract Farming

This review is the second in a series of publications devoted to the analysis of the latest developments in agricultural trade and in trade policy in the post-Soviet countries. This publication includes a chapter on the impact of macroeconomic factors on agri-food trade in the post-Soviet countries. The chapter considers changes in the macroeconomic situation in the countries of the region in 2014-2016 and the main factors of its influence on agri-food trade. Available only in Russian

The document is based on the publication “Review of Agricultural Trade Policies in former Soviet Union countries 2015-16” available in Russian. The main economic and political factors influencing the patterns of agrifood trade in the region during 2014 generally continued to have an impact in 2015 and 2016. In particular, a further slowdown in economic growth was observed in all countries during 2015. In addition, the depreciation of all the national currencies against the US dollar and the euro, which began in 2014, continued in 2015 and, in some cases, in 2016. Due to weaker national currencies and falling consumer [...]

Market information can play an extremely important role in promoting agricultural development, especially among small-scale producers. Sound market information can help to enhance transparency, competitiveness and the more equitable sharing of benefits among key players in the marketing system. An effective Market Information System or Service (MIS) can increase competitiveness, reduce information asymmetries and improve market efficiency. This Literature Review seeks to review all features relating to MIS development, with a particular focus on information on market prices and on the use of new technologies for price data collection and dissemination. It aims to identify the majority of the relevant [...]

Collective agreements aim to define the contractual employment relationship between the union and the employer in a given economic sector . They involve the participation of workers' representatives and employer’s representatives . The state can also be an important actor involved in the negotiations. Collective bargaining agreements can be of two types : 1. To replace multiple agreements signed at a company level without negatively affecting previous agreements. 2. To establish a minimum level of conditions that must be taken into account in all individual negotiations of the company, both for unionized workers and for those who are not part [...]