FAO.org

Para erradicar el hambre será necesario aumentar significativamente las inversiones agrícolas y, lo que es más importante, deberá mejorarse la calidad de las inversiones de manera que beneficien a quienes más lo necesitan. En los Principios del CSA para la inversión responsable en la agricultura y los sistemas alimentarios (los Principios del CSA) se reconoce que el punto de partida para definir el modo en que la inversión responsable en la agricultura y los sistemas alimentarios puede contribuir a la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición es el reconocimiento y el respeto de los derechos humanos. Constituyen un conjunto de 10 principios [...]

Más de 500 millones de explotaciones familiares gestionan la mayor parte de las tierras agrícolas y producen la mayor parte de los alimentos del mundo. Las explotaciones familiares son necesarias para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria mundial, cuidar y proteger el entorno natural y terminar con la pobreza, la subalimentación y la malnutrición. Pero estos objetivos solo pueden alcanzarse si las explotaciones familiares llegan a ser mucho más productivas y sostenibles; en otras palabras, necesitan innovar en un sistema que reconozca su diversidad y la complejidad de los desafíos ante los que se encuentran. El estado mundial de la agricultura y la [...]

Food Losses and Waste (FLW) impact the sustainability and resilience of agricultural and food systems and their ability to ensure food security and nutrition for all for this generation and for future generations. Reduction in FLW also supports better use of natural resources. The CFS acknowledges that FLW is a consequence of how food systems function. It calls for all stakeholders – States, including other relevant levels of governance, international organizations, the private sector and civil society – to recognize food security and nutrition as central objectives of sustainable food systems and to individually and collectively address FLW to improve [...]

Aimed at policy-makers, project designers and field practitioners, this publication provides the conceptual foundation for a new set of FAO handbooks on sustainable food value chain development. It defines the concept of a sustainable food value chain, presents a development paradigm that integrates the multidimensional concepts of sustainability and value added, highlights ten guiding principles, and discusses the potential and limitations of the approach. By doing so, this handbook makes a strong case for placing sustainable food value chain development at the heart of any strategy aimed at reducing poverty and hunger in the long run.

The objective of the Principles is to promote responsible investment in agriculture and food systems that contribute to food security and nutrition, thus supporting the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security. This document seeks to address the core elements of what makes investment in agriculture and food systems responsible; identify who the key stakeholders are, and their respective roles and responsibilities with respect to responsible investment in agriculture and food systems; and to serve as a framework to guide the actions of all stakeholders engaged in agriculture and food systems by defining Principles which can [...]

If a decision is made at the national level to increase the share of bioenergy, what implications does this have for water, land and energy? How do electricity subsidies contribute to groundwater depletion and what can be done about it? How can we ensure that sectoral policies and strategies consider the potential trade-offs for other sectors? Finding answers to these questions is the main challenge of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. By describing the complex and interrelated nature of our global resource systems, the Nexus approach helps us to better understand and systematically analyze how we can use and manage our resources in light of different, often competing [...]

The 2014 edition of the State of the World’s Forests report (also known as SOFO) has been released by FAO, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. This coincides with the opening of the 22nd Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) and the World Forest Week. SOFO 2014 deals with the existing knowledge gaps on the socioeconomic benefits provided by forests. It gathers and analyses data already available on the topic. It also makes recommendations to improve this information. The lack of information about the socioeconomic dimension of forests and the need to fill this gap was also one of [...]

During the XXXII Regional FAO Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Buenos Aires in March 2012, one of the issues proposed for the agenda and agreed upon by the participants was that “FAO will organize a broad and dynamic debate with the participation of the civil society and academia to discuss the concept of food sovereignty, the meaning of which has been not been agreed upon by FAO Member States and the United Nations System.” (FAO, 2012, paragraph 25) To this end, this ad h oc document, prepared by the consultant Gustavo Gordillo, contains information and analysis [...]

As renewed international efforts are needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the livestock sector can contribute its part. An important emitter of greenhouse gas, it also has the potential to  significantly reduce its emissions. This report provides a unique global assessment of the magnitude, the sources and pathways of emissions from different livestock production systems and supply chains.  Relying on life cycle assessment, statistical analysis and scenario building, it also prov ides estimates of the sector’s mitigation potential  and identifies concrete options to reduce emissions. The report is a useful resource for stakeholders from livestock producers to policy-makers, researchers and [...]

This comprehensive sourcebook on climate-smart agriculture (CSA), produced by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, consists of eighteen modules covering every aspect of planning and implementing CSA policies and projects.  Aimed primarily at developing countries, the opening module outlines the case for CSA (including forestry and fisheries), discussing issues such as food security, resilient systems, and systemic efficiency. The sourcebook argues that if we are to match growing demand whilst simultaneously combating climate change, it is crucial that greater efficiency and resilience is achieved in our food systems to aid climate mitigation and adaptation respectively. This has to happen globally, and in [...]