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This guidance document will:  Introduce the concepts of rural employment and decent work (RE&DW). Acknowledge the centrality of RE&DW for the achievement of the Millennium  Development Goals (MDGs) • Affirm FAO’s comparative advantages in dealing with RE&DW and identify the main areas  of intervention • Provide a summary of the results of FAO’s “Self-Assessment on Employment and Decent Work • Suggest examples of concrete actions that FAO country offices could consider to promote  RE&DW w ithin their existing work programmes  • Encourage the creation of links with International Labour Organization (ILO) field offices  and facilitate partnerships and the identification of synergies.  

Childrens participation in their own family farm activities helps them learn valuable skills and contribute  to the generation of household income, which has a positive impact on their livelihoods. Such participation is important for children and builds their self-esteem. Because of poverty, the breakdown of the family, the demand for cheap labour, family indebtedness,  household shocks due to HIV and other reasons, many younger children end up doing work that  poses a risk to their physical and psychological development or to their right to formal education. The prevention and mitigation of child labour has always been an implicit element of [...]

The origins of this volume stem from interactions with developing country government offi cials and policy makers on trade-related issues, where it became apparent that there was a need to supplement the debates related to multilateral trade negotiations, and associated trade capacity-building activities, with a clearer understanding and refl ection among policy makers and those seeking to provide policy advice, on the type of agriculture sector trade policy that would be desirable for diff erent developing countries, in boosting their growth and enhancing their food security situation. The perception is that many developing countries are not in a strong position to articulate their strategy for trade negotiations and end up being [...]

This report describes the current status of the conservation and use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) throughout the world. It is based on country reports, information gathering processes, regional syntheses, thematic background studies and published scientific literature. It describes the most significant changes that have taken place since the first SoW report was published in 1998 and describes major continuing gaps and needs. The structure follows that of the first SoW report with an additional chapter on the contribution of PGRFA to food security and sustainable agricultural development. By the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food [...]

This volume provides a global review of experiences and learning on the broad subject of value chain finance for agriculture in developing countries. Value chains in agriculture comprise a set of actors who conduct a linked sequence of value-adding activities involved in bringing a product from its raw material stage to the final consumer. Value chain finance, as described in this volume, refers to the financial flows to those actors from both within the value chain and financial flows to those actors from the outside as a result of their being linked within a value chain.

This publication provides insight into the nature and operations of agricultural investment funds and draws lessons for development agencies, governments and investors. It was developed from “Agricultural investment funds for developing countries” (2009), a research study undertaken as a joint collaboration of ConCap Connective Capital (ConCap) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in order to better understand the growth and potential of agriculture and agribusiness investment funds. It included a stocktaking analysis of agricultural investment funds as well as case studies of distinct funds and fund management structures. This publication is enhanced with a complementary analysis of agricultural funds in the broader context [...]

The number of undernourished people in the world remains unacceptably high at close to one billion in 2010 despite an expected decline – the first in 15 years. This decline is largely attributable to a more favourable economic environment in 2010 – particularly in developing countries – and the fall in both international and domestic food prices since 2008.  FAO estimates that a total of 925 million people are undernourished in 2010 compared with 1.023 billion in 2009. Most of the decrease was in Asia, with 80 million fewer hungry, but progress was also made in sub-Saharan Africa, where 12 million [...]

It is a simple methodology for teaching vulnerable children and young people  about farming and how to take care of themselves. It uses a “living classroom" approach in which the students observe the crops throughout the growing season  with the help of a facilitator. Agricultural topics are linked to life skills so that when  children talk about how to protect their plants from diseases they also learn how to  protect themselves from diseases and other adverse conditions. The school bui lds  the students’ self-confidence and problem solving skills by having them decide  for themselves what steps are required, for example, [...]

The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2009 aims to bring to a wider public an accessible discussion of agricultural commodity market issues and related policy matters. Although the findings and conclusions presented rely on recent technical analyses by FAO specialists in commodity and trade issues, this is not an overly technical report. Rather, it seeks to provide an objective and straightforward treatment of what are at times complicated economic issues for policy-makers, commodity market observers and all those interested in agricultural commodity market developments and their impact on developing countries.

The report intends to examine the short-term measures adopted by some 81 countries and is intended for policy makers and analysts.    Prices of staple foods, such as rice and vegetable oil, have doubled between January and May 2008. High food prices together with record petroleum and fertilizer prices have spurred inflation. Poorer households with a larger share of food in their total expenditures are suffering the most from high food prices, due to the erosion of purchasing power, which has a  negative impact on food security, nutrition and access to school and health services. Higher prices also result in [...]