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These guidelines are intended to assist competent authorities in their consideration of voluntary third-party assurance (vTPA) programmes. They provide a framework and criteria for assessing the integrity and credibility of the governance structures of vTPA programmes and the reliability of information/data generated by such programmes to support national food control system objectives. The term "Codex Alimentarius" is Latin and means "food code”. Codex standards are international food texts, i.e. standards, codes of practice, codes of hygienic practice, guidelines and other recommendations, established to protect the health of the consumers and to ensure fair practices in the food trade. The collection of [...]

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food and agriculture have been felt all over the world. As the pandemic unfolded, considerable attention began to be paid to the resilience of agricultural supply chains to COVID-19-related shocks, as well as to natural and human-induced shocks more generally. These "Guidelines to increase the resilience of agricultural supply chains" are intended for policymakers and other stakeholders who need a broad grasp of the concepts, issues and possible approaches involved. Efforts to strengthen resilience to risks need to be based on a thorough analysis of the exposure and vulnerability of supply chains to them, [...]

Since 2007, FAO has been applying a comprehensive approach to support its Members in the development of sustainable geographical indications, with the scope of its work ranging from local value chains to national institutional frameworks.Based on the lessons learned from technical assistance projects, consultations with stakeholders across the globe and scientific expertise, FAO has identified a number of best practices to ensure that geographical indications contribute to the development of sustainable food systems. This policy guidance brief highlights the importance of endogenous projects that put local producers at the centre of geographical indication processes (with support from public authorities and [...]

Food Outlook is a biannual publication (May/June and November/December) focusing on developments affecting global food and feed markets. The sub-title "Global Market Analysis" reflects this focus on developments in international markets, with comprehensive assessments and forecasts on a commodity by commodity basis. Food Outlook maintains a close synergy with another major GIEWS publication, Crop Prospects and Food Situation, especially with regard to the coverage of cereals. The full report is available in English and summaries in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian.

An integral part of food systems, trade can contribute to economic growth and to a more efficient allocation of natural resources. By moving food from surplus to deficit regions and countries, trade can address production shortfalls, stabilize markets, reduce prices for consumers, and increase the diversity of available foods.

Food Outlook is a biannual publication (May/June and November/December) focusing on developments affecting global food and feed markets. The sub-title "Global Market Analysis" reflects this focus on developments in international markets, with comprehensive assessments and forecasts on a commodity by commodity basis. Food Outlook maintains a close synergy with another major GIEWS publication, Crop Prospects and Food Situation, especially with regard to the coverage of cereals. The full report is available in English and summaries in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Russian.

This guide presents a step-by-step approach to assist development practitioners, national authorities and the private sector in facilitating the development of export promotion programs through building multi-stakeholder value chain (VC) alliances to compete in international markets. The guide draws from the Alliances for Action (A4A) approach, which was developed by the International Trade Centre (ITC). A4A has been proven to be effective in mobilizing VC and supporting participants in an ecosystem around a shared purpose to transform VC performance in terms of competitiveness, value addition, and export growth, among other targets. This helps practitioners and value chain stakeholders understand the critical [...]

The Action Framework (2021-2025) for the Global Action on Green Development of Special Agro-Products: “One country – One Priority Product” (OCOP) presents the rationale, main pillars, key principles, thematic areas, results framework, budget, and activity planning, coordination and implementation, and guidelines for country project application for implementation of the Global Action.Special agricultural products (SAPs) are agricultural products with unique qualities and special characteristics associated with geographical locations, farming practices and cultural heritages. They are important examples of underutilized resources, which have not received the same attention as commonly known agricultural products, but which can significantly contribute to ensuring food security [...]

This paper summarizes the current state of concepts and approaches for addressing deforestation in the trade, marketing, and production of agricultural commodities that have a disproportionate impact on forests at international, national, and landscape level. To date, predominant attention has been directed towards the role of the private sector and "consumer countries" that shape market regulation. This publication aims to complement the international discourse by generating a greater focus on the role of "producer country" governments at the national and local level to support efforts to decouple agricultural production from deforestation.

In this paper, we propose a simple methodology to select a limited number of geographical areas to prioritize for commodity-specific investments in Uganda. Similar to other approaches for prioritizing investments geographically, the basic idea behind the proposed method is that districts with high agro-ecological potential, that are also far from their potential and have high levels of poverty, should be prioritized for commodity-specific investments as they are where investments are likely to have the highest impact. The methodology then proposes an iterative elimination algorithm to provide a list of suggested districts that rank high in all dimensions.The results highlight that [...]