FAO.org

Food security means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. Food safety is interlinked with and essential to achieving food security.In times of food insecurity, humanitarian relief in the form of food aid is often distributed by specialized organizations, such as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Under conditions of food assistance there are food safety considerations that must be taken in account so as to carefully evaluate the impact on food availability while [...]

The need to urgently transition food systems to net-zero, nature-positive that can nourish all people, leaving no one behind is more critical than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has furthered deepened complex challenges we already face from hunger and nutrition, climate and nature, and societal inequity. Innovation offers a profound opportunity to achieve these transitions and help unlock challenges across food systems. The white paper ‘Transforming Food Systems: Pathways for Country-led Innovation’, published by the World Economic Forum Food Systems Initiative and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), presents an action-oriented roadmap for countries looking to accelerate [...]

Acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 20 countries or situations – hunger hotspots – in the next months. Organized violence or conflict remain the primary drivers, followed by weather extremes and climate variability. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt economies. High food prices and low household purchasing power are major economic concerns for food insecurity rising. The report provides country-specific recommendations on priorities for emergency response and anticipatory action to address existing humanitarian needs and ensure short-term protective interventions before new needs materialize.

Malnutrition in all its forms (undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, overweight and obesity) is a major global challenge, and improving nutrition is a key priority for global development, as recognized in the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this context, ensuring availability, physical accessibility and affordability of healthy and nutritious food at territorial level is crucial to ensure the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In many developing countries, territorial markets are key retail outlets for fruits and vegetables, but also for animal source foods and staple foods. Besides the relevance, data concerning [...]

The report uses a nutritional water productivity (NWP) framework to interpret the relationship between nutrition and water in the context of water challenges. It argues that higher yields – of both staple and nutritious crops – are possible, even in water-stressed areas. This will require an agricultural transformation that ensures that efforts to enhance water productivity are linked to the promotion of healthy diets.Increasing water productivity and stabilizing yields at realistic levels will also be crucial to increasing the resilience of farmers. Better coordination and timing of water and other inputs, notably fertilizers and improved seeds, is likely to enhance [...]

En este reporte FAO ilustra los avances realizados durante el año 2021, en el cumplimiento del mandato que nos dieron los Países Miembros. Durante 2021, los países de América Latina y el Caribe demostraron que incluso durante uno de los periodos más demandantes de la historia reciente, es posible impulsar una mejor producción, una mejor nutrición, un mejor medio ambiente y una vida mejor, sin dejar a nadie atrásLos resultados incluidos en este documento son ejemplos importantes, pero parciales, de nuestro quehacer.

In recent years, various factors have diverted the world off the path to eradicating hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this trend. Latin America and the Caribbean is no exception. This edition of the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2021: Statistics and Trends reveals a bleak scenario for the future. In 2020, 59.7 million people in the region suffered from hunger, and between 2019 and 2020 the prevalence of hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean increased by 2 percentage points. Much of this can be explained by [...]

Africa is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 targets to end hunger and ensure access by all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round, and to end all forms of malnutrition. The most recent estimates show that 281.6 million people on the continent, over one-fifth of the population, faced hunger in 2020, which is 46.3 million more than in 2019. This deterioration continues a trend that started in 2014, after a prolonged period of improving food security. In addition to hunger, millions of Africans suffer from widespread micronutrient deficiencies, while overweight and [...]

Parliamentarians from around 50 countries and nine parliamentary networks gathered in the context of the Virtual Parliamentary Dialogues on Food Security and Nutrition in the time of COVID-19. From March to September 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), pledged to put food security and nutrition at the forefront of national, regional, and global agendas and to take proactive steps to address the consequences of the pandemic. In their legislative, budgetary, and oversight responsibilities, parliaments are strategically positioned to strengthen food security, nutrition, and inclusion [...]

The  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization  of  the  United  Nations  (FAO)  Strategic  Framework  2022-31  outlines  the organization’s  commitment  to  MORE  efficient,  inclusive,  resilient  and  sustainable  agri-food  systems  for  better  production,  better  nutrition,  a  better  environment,  and  a  better  life,  leaving  no  one  behind.  These  four  betters are the aspirations of FAO, and the organizing principles of our work for the coming decade. They demonstrate a  commitment to better nutrition, while linking sustainable production and decent livelihoods with the urgent need  to protect and regenerate our environment.