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Population, food security, nutrition and sustainable development – why population growth, employment and urbanization lie at the heart of sustainable food systems development. Current food systems are facing paramount challenges: they must ensure equitable access to a healthy diet both in rural and urban areas while decrease burdens of malnutrition and environmental impacts. A new UN report - prepared with FAO’s support - explores the role of sustainable development for food security and  nutrition in the context of global population change.

Identifying sustainable sources of renewable energy is key to ensuring that countries can grow on a sustainable path that also meets climate change targets as outlined in countries’ NDCs.Among renewables, bioenergy can attract investments in the rural sector and help farmers to improve their income by increasing agricultural production and diversifying markets for by-products, such as digestate. FAO’s Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) Approach assists countries in defining which bioenergy options can be both sustainable and viable while ensuring food security and protecting the environment.In Rwanda the agriculture sector plays a key role in its economy, contributing around one-third of [...]

The objective of this study is to provide insights into potentialities, steps, and best practices in applying blockchain technology (BCT) to use cases in agriculture in the context of climate change, to explore the opportunities and challenges in applying the BCT in agricultural sectors with the aims of reducing greenhouse gas emission, increasing carbon sequestration, as well as supporting farmers’ adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, this study also aims to shed light on policy options and propose policy guidance adapted to developing countries on blockchain applications.

This policy brief is intended to inform decision-makers of nine transformational actions to sustain dryland production systems under the impact of climate change. It highlights the relevance of the local context for interventions and the importance of traditional and tested adaptive agrosilvopastoral strategies for building resilience. In addition, it emphasizes the potential for scaling up and using complementary technologies over wider areas. In particular, the roles of both women and men should not be neglected in terms of maintaining, creating and restoring dryland sustainable landscape.

With climate change impacts already felt in the world’s drylands, there is an urgent need for action, at various scales and initiated by different stakeholders, to ensure the sustainability of food production and livelihoods in these regions in the coming decades. There is also the need to rapidly establish baselines, assess and start monitoring progress on sustainability, emerging as result of the action taken.To aid in this effort, this paper provides a short list of expected transformations (under each of the three sustainability pillars) for guiding the planning and implementation of policy, governance and practice-level actions. Gender and indigenous people’s [...]

The FAOSTAT emissions database is composed of several data domains covering the categories of the IPCC Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector of the national GHG inventory. Energy use in agriculture is additionally included as relevant to emissions from agriculture as an economic production sector under the ISIC A statistical classification, though recognizing that, in terms of IPCC, they are instead part of the Energy sector of the national GHG inventory.FAO emissions estimates are available over the period 1961–2018 for agriculture production processes from crop and livestock activities. Land use emissions and removals are generally available only for [...]

This progress report details the work carried out by FAO across the Southwest Asia to combat the unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods posed by the ongoing desert locust invasion. The report outlines the control measures taken so far as well as the longer-term reposnse planned for safeguarding the means of survival of millions of vulnerable people who could be affected by the pest, particularly with the compounding impact of COVID-19 and the restrictions this will likely incur for the Organization's humanitarian assistance.

At its 74th session, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2021 the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV). The primary role of the food and the agriculture sector is to adequately feed people by increasing the availability, affordability and consumption of varied, safe and nutritious foods that are in line with dietary recommendations and environmental sustainability. In this way, the IYFV is a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the important role of fruits and vegetables in human nutrition, food security and health and as well in achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Also available in French [...]

Accurate information is critical for natural resources to be managed sustainably. Developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing, and Analysis for Land Monitoring (SEPAL) helps countries monitor and report on forests and land use. SEPAL offers users unparalleled access to satellite data, an easy-to-use interface, and powered by cloud-based supercomputers, paving the way for improved climate change mitigation plans and data-driven land-use policies.

This Country Programming Framework (CPF) sets out five government priority areas to guide the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' (FAO) partnership and support to the Government of Nigeria (GoN) – bringing together innovative international best practices and global standards with national and regional expertise during a five-year period from 2018 to 2022.The priority areas are:1. Strengthen national food security and nutrition through enhanced nutrition-sensitive and climate smart food systems.2. Support for appropriate and operationally effective agricultural policy and regulatory frameworks.3. Support to Nigeria's economic diversification agenda and the promotion of decent employment for youth and women in [...]