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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 [...]

Since 1950s, Sudan has been intermittently devastated by civil wars and, in 2011, has split into two different nations, the Republic of Sudan (subject of the analysis) and the Republic of the South Sudan. Nowadays, almost half of the population of the Republic of Sudan is at or below the poverty line. The FAO RAP (Resilience Analysis and Policies) team carried out a household resilience analysis examining differences between female- and male-headed households and between regions. This brief presents the results and, based on them, the policy indications.

At FAO, increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods against threats and crises is a corporate priority. FAO’s resilience work is multisectoral, encompassing all aspects of agriculture: crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, natural resource management and value chains. FAO assists countries to increase the resilience of households, communities and institutions to more effectively prevent and cope with threats and disasters that impact agriculture, food security and nutrition.

This report provides a global analysis of the El Niño-related disasters and their impact on agriculture, food security and nutrition.  Analysis in the report is divided between FAO high priority countries and other countries at risk.  Countries were selected based on a combination of analysis of the El Niño event and FAO priorities for strengthening the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.

Drought is one of the main causes of food insecurity. In 2011, the horn of Africa has faced the worst drought in 60 years. An estimated 12.4 million people suffered from a massive food shortage. To mitigate the impact of agricultural drought, it is of high importance to dispose of timely and reliable information of the condition of food crops and grassland areas in all regions and countries in the world. The case study would characterize the agricultural drought prone areas of Horn of Africa overlapping socioeconomic variables such smaller or large farmers, irrigation, population, production, etc. The final results [...]

This note focuses on the topic of access to fuel and energy in protracted crises, and the possible solutions using the SAFE approach, illustrated by case studies from FAO's interventions in protracted crisis situations. Access to fuel and energy – vital for food security – is often highly constrained in protracted crises. The risks posed by limited access to fuel and energy are multiple and diverse depending on the context, including malnutrition, environmental degradation, a high work burden for women, gender-based violence (GBV) and unsustainable livelihood activities. The inter-agency Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) initiative and FAO’s work on [...]

This note focuses on the topic of social protection in protracted crises, presenting some possible approaches and its contribution to food security and nutrition, illustrated by case studies from FAO interventions in such contexts. The humanitarian system is currently at a critical turning point. No longer an exception, crises have become the norm across regions and are characterized by increasing complexity and recurrence. Moreover, despite the increase in the volume of humanitarian funding, there continue to be important shortfalls in meeting humanitarian appeals. The World Humanitarian Summit highlighted the urgent need to change the approach to addressing increasing humanitarian needs and [...]

This note focuses on the topic of nutrition in protracted crises. While malnutrition is one of the biggest challenges to development and human well-being in many countries, rates of malnutrition, especially stunting, are significantly higher in countries in the throes of protracted crises. Malnutrition and crises go hand in hand: malnutrition both impacts on and is affected by crises. Protracted Crises impact negatively on people’s lives and livelihoods and the factors responsible for malnutrition: food insecurity, inappropriate care and feeding practices, poor health environment. Nutrition needs to be integrated in resilience-building programmes to support a people-centred approach and build a bridge [...]

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is a set of standardized tools that aims at providing a "common currency" for classifying the severity and magnitude of food insecurity. The IPC draws from existing data and information produced by governments, UN Agencies, NGOs and other agencies located in-country. It is based on consensus-building processes to provide decision makers with a rigorous analysis of food insecurity along with objectives for response in both emergency and development contexts.  The purpose of this document is to address this challenge by outlining standardized guidance to country gFSC and IPC Technical Working Groups (TWG) on [...]

FAO recognizes that scaling-up cash-based programming and risk-informed and shock-responsive social protection systems is a strategic priority in particular to improve food security and nutrition and protect households' assets as well as increase income of the most vulnerable population. Over the past 15 years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of countries implementing social protection schemes, mainly cash-based. Today, more than 1.9 billion people in 136 countries benefit from social assistance programmes and approximately 718 million people are enrolled in cash transfer programmes.