FAO.org

This book is about Indigenous Peoples’ food systems and how important local knowledge about foods and the ecosystems that provide them can be used to improve health and well-being. The authors describe processes and activities in nine cultures of Indigenous Peoples, where interventions were developed and implemented with local knowledge, and explain how this information can benefit Indigenous Peoples everywhere, and all of humankind. Food and nutrition insecurity and the burden of high incidence of non-communicable diseases reach all corners of the globe. This “nutrition transition” is driven by changing lifestyles, loss of livelihoods for all those engaged in food production, increasing poverty and urbanization, and [...]

Si bien el Programa marco respalda a los asociados gubernamentales nacionales, sus beneficiarios directos son los pequeños productores de los países en desarrollo, tales como pequeños agricultores, pescadores, ganaderos y forestales y la población urbana pobre, especialmente las mujeres, cuyas vidas y medios de vida se ven amenazados. Los pequeños agricultores representan el 90 % de la población rural pobre y constituyen la mayoría de la población que pasa hambre en el mundo. El Programa marco de reducción del riesgo de desastres para la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional se fundamenta en los siguientes cuatro pilares temáticos integrados: 1. Creación de un entorno [...]

Malnutrition in all its forms - undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity - imposes unacceptably high economic and social costs on countries at all income levels. "The State of Food and Agriculture 2013: Food systems for better nutrition" argues that improving nutrition and reducing these costs must begin with food and agriculture. The traditional role of agriculture in producing food and generating income is fundamental, but agriculture and the entire food system - from inputs and production, through processing, storage, transport and retailing, to consumption - can contribute much more to the eradication of malnutrition.

La presente Nota orientativa contiene una descripción práctica para los profesionales que deseen integrar el derecho a una alimentación adecuada en los programas de seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. La Nota establece un puente entre las dimensiones normativas del derecho a la alimentación y la labor práctica de formulación, aplicación y supervisión de los programas en los países. Este instrumento consigue tal objetivo explicando los aspectos conceptuales, jurídicos y operacionales del derecho a la alimentación. A continuación, se examinan cuatro puntos de partida fundamentales para integrar el derecho a la alimentación en los programas de seguridad alimentaria y nutricional: responsabilidades de [...]

Gender equality is central to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations’ (FAO’s) mandate to achieve food security for all by raising levels of nutrition, improving agricultural productivity and natural resource management, and improving the lives of rural populations. FAO can achieve its goals only if it simultaneously works towards gender equality and supports women’s diverse roles in agriculture and rural development. Gender equality is not only an essential means by which FAO can achieve its mandate, it is also a basic human right. Available in French and Spanish.

This book presents the current state of thought on the common path of sustainable diets and biodiversity and addresses the linkages among agriculture, health, the environment and food industries. The alarming pace of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and their negative impact on poverty and health makes a compelling case for re-examining food systems and diets. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop and promote strategies for sustainable diets, emphasizing the positive role of food biodiversity in human nutrition and poverty alleviation. Sustainable Diets are those diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to [...]

This study, developed jointly with the Geneva academy of humanitarian law and human rights, aims to provide guidance on how the right to adequate food can best be integrated into the two frameworks ”The Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition (GSF)” and “the UN Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA)”. Formed as both an analytical and practical tool, the study divided into four main sections: the evolution of the right to adequate food and the rights-based approach to the fight against hunger; an introduction to the CFA/UCFA as well as the GSF; possible ways to introduce the right to adequate [...]

Micronutrient deficiencies affect more than two billion people in the world today. With long-ranging effects on health, learning ability and productivity they contribute to the vicious cycle of malnutrition, underdevelopment and poverty. Food-based approaches, which include food production, dietary diversification and food fortification, are sustainable strategies for improving the micronutrient status of populations and raising levels of nutrition. "Combating Micronutrient Deficiencies: Food-based Approaches" focuses on practical, sustainable actions for overcoming micronutrient deficiencies through increased availability, access to and consumption of adequate quantities and appropriate varieties of safe, good quality food. The volume brings together the available knowledge, success stories and lessons [...]

Published under the The Food and Agriculture Policy Decision Analysis (FAPDA) project, this paper reviews the policy decisions taken from October 2008 to mid 2010. It aims to analyze the policy trends during the period that followed the peak of the 2008 Food Security Crisis. It seeks to identify possible changes in the policy orientation adopted by selected FAO member countries. This paper aspires to answer to the question raised as the result of the 2009 FAO publication on "Country Responses to the Food Security Crisis" which had found quite deep changes in the orientation of policies put in place by [...]

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 [...]