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This booklet provides a comprehensive overview of the longer Future of Food and Agriculture publication. Shorter, more easily readable for the general public, this version sets out the key trends and challenges to be addressed in order to achieve sustainable agriculture and meet the SDGs, in particular ending hunger by 2030. This report presents a summary of the challenges that agriculture and food systems are currently facing and will face into the 21st century. Analysis of 15 global trends provides insight into what is at stake and what needs to be done.  Most of the trends are strongly interdependent and combine to [...]

For the third year in a row, hunger is on the rise again and affects 821 million people in the world. In addition, one third of the global population suffers from malnutrition. Eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030 requires strategies, public policies, national laws and programs that guarantee the right to adequate food for everyone, contribute to reducing poverty and improve people’s diets according to each country’s specific context. This publication presents the structural causes of hunger and malnutrition and introduces FAO’s framework of action to achieve a solid political commitment and design long-term legal strategies to achieve Zero Hunger. [...]

Global and regional agreements set out the rules for countries trade policies .and define the policy space available within agriculture for reaching food security objectives. Therefore, balancing the achievement of national policy objectives with the obligations under trade agreements is critical. This course informs the treatment of agriculture in several World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements and regional trade agreements (RTAs) and aims to support policy makers to develop and implement appropriate agricultural development and food security strategies. By the end of the course, participants will be better able to: •understand and identify the main provisions of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA); •understand and [...]

The implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda is just at the onset. Pursuing the wide and ambitious Sustainable Development Objectives (SDGs) poses major challenges at all levels, from the sub-national, to the regional and the international level, and calls for a timely decision of effective policy actions in a quickly-evolving world of scarce resources. In this context, the ability to design sound policies and monitor their outcomes is a key requirement. Measuring progress towards international goals and their national and subnational specifications is of paramount importance.  This pocketbook presents, at a glance, selected key indicators on agriculture and food security, [...]

Political disputes and the deterioration of the economic and security situation in Libya continue to threaten the agricultural sector and its infrastructure. The cereal sector and, above all, wheat production, the most important crop for food security, are particularly affected. To improve food security conditions, farmers need to have access to improved seed, especially wheat seed. The wheat seed assistant programme was implemented to help small farmers in selected governorates to increase wheat production and productivity by distributing improved seed to producer households affected by the political situation, and by providing training and extension. Find more Project Highlights here.  

Bioeconomycomprises the parts of the economy that use renewable biological resources (plants, animals, micro-organisms, etc.) to replace fossil fuels, and produce food, animal feed, and other biobasedproducts. Its cross-cutting nature offers a unique opportunity to comprehensively address interconnected societal challenges such as food security, natural resource scarcity, fossil-resource dependence and climate change, while achieving sustainable economic development. As bioeconomyplays an increa singly important role in many countries and regions, it is crucial to establish guidelines that enable it to be developed in a sustainable way. Find more Project Highlights here.

This Discussion paper explores the relationship between food loss and waste (FLW) and the right to adequate food. It focuses on the need to develop sustainable global consumption and production systems to contribute to the realization of the right to adequate food while it argues for a human rights-based approach to tackle FLW.  As such, it presents key notions of FLW and expands on their impact for the realization of the right to adequate food. Simultaneously, it looks into the different components of the right to adequate food and offers ways through which its legal obligations could help processes and initiatives [...]

This brochure presents the key findings and recommendations of the study entitled “the Regional Outlook on Gender and Agri-food Systems,” which was jointly conducted by the FAO and the African Union Commission. The brochure describes gender gaps in (i) access to and control over productive resources and opportunities, (ii) influence and collective capacity, and (iii) agricultural policies, investment and rural context. Additional analysis on progress and good practices across countries in Africa informed the brochure further to provide recommendations and next steps to move from commitments to collective actions. Also available in French. 

Drawing on two school feeding programmes in Mozambique, this study shows how policy reforms need to be aligned legally for successful implementation. It also argues that pilot initiatives can inform the adaptations needed within institutional frameworks.

This brochure provides an overview of FAO's work on Rural Institutions, Services and Empowerment, notably in regard to the challenges and ways forward for tackling hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity from social, territorial, financial and institutional perspectives. FAO's work in these areas aims to unlock the development potential of rural areas, reduce inequalities, promote inclusive finance and advisory service systems and contribute to socio-economic empowerment of rural women and men.