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L’agriculture contractuelle, qui désigne généralement la production et la commercialisation de produits agricoles en vertu d’un accord conclu au préalable entre producteurs et acheteurs, est de plus en plus pratiquée dans de nombreux pays pour des denrées agricoles très variées. Conscients de l’importance de mieux faire connaître le régime juridique applicable aux opérations d’agriculture contractuelle, l’Institut international pour l’unification du droit privé (UNIDROIT), l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO) et le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA) ont préparé ce Guide juridique sur l’agriculture contractuelle UNIDROIT/FAO/FIDA. Ce Guide constituera une référence utile pour tous les opérateurs qui [...]

Women play a critical role in every link of the value chain in small-scale fisheries, although their best-known roles are in processing and marketing of fish and other fishery products. This perception of the highly gender-segregated division of labour (men fishing / women processing) has shaped the generalized approach in supporting development initiatives for small-scale fisheries. More often than not, this approach targets men as fishers, and women as processors and marketers of fishery products. However, this generalization has also made fisheries governance blind to women’s other valuable inputs to the sector. In fact, their roles can and should go [...]

L’objectif de cette édition de La situation des marchés des produits agricoles est d’atténuer la polarisation actuelle des points de vue sur les impacts qu’a le commerce des produits agricoles sur la sécurité alimentaire, et sur la manière dont le commerce agricole devrait être régi de sorte qu’une ouverture accrue aux échanges profite à tous les pays. En donnant des éléments concrets et des éclaircissements sur une gamme de sujets, le présent rapport vise à contribuer à un débat plus éclairé sur les choix de politique et à dresser l’inventaire des améliorations qu’il faut apporter dans les processus politiques au [...]

Persistent underinvestment in agriculture in developing countries can be attributed to many issues including: climate risks, fragmented input and service markets, seasonal and long-term financing requirements, weak property rights, and market-distorting political interventions. However, the rapid rise in world demand for agricultural products provides incentives for local actors to develop innovative financial and risk management mechanisms. Commercial investors are starting to recognize agribusiness as a promising sector because of the upwards trend in food markets. As most commercial investors focus solely on financial returns, public incentives and support are required to make investments more inclusive and to create business linkages [...]

A substantial proportion of the food produced for human consumption is lost through decreases in its quantity or quality, or wasted through being discarded when still fit for consumption. Food losses and waste have negative impacts on the environment, natural resource sustainability, and food and nutrition security. They also represent a loss of economic value for actors in the food supply chain. Value addition through processing and preservation is one of the avenues for reducing food loss and mitigating its negative effects. A wide range of challenges limit value addition by small and medium agro- industries in developing countries. These [...]

In a similar but wider scope than the previous special issue produced in 2011 during the 4th UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV), this updated Special Issue of Agriculture and Food Security Statistics now includes information not only for of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), but also for all Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The current issue presents a compilation of up-to-date available agricultural statistics covering th e general nature of the agricultural sector in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS ranging across the crops, livestock, forest and fisheries sub-sectors. Basic data and indicators covering [...]

In Brazil, the government has successfully adopted an integrated approach for combating malnutrition and hunger. Under the well-known Zero Hunger strategy (“Fome Zero”) and subsequent Brazil Without Misery plan (“Brasil Sem Miséria”), innovative social programmes were launched to target more poor women and children. 

Innovative and integrated actions to modernize and facilitate the transformation from subsistence to commercial agriculture are foremost on Ethiopia’s agenda. Initiatives to address soil depletion with the end goal of sustainably increasing productivity, building resilience in efforts to promote food sufficiency of vulnerable households, and tapping livestock sector potential to generate foreign exchange, are just three of the key policy trends that have emerged over the 2007─2013 period in Ethiopia. For more country policy briefs by FAPDA please see here.

Burkina Faso has succeeded in achieving the Maputo Declaration target by allocating at least 10 percent of the national budget to agriculture almost every year since 2003. Most of these expenditures have been allocated to support the production of cotton, one of the country’s main exports, through input subsidies and minimum prices to producers. However, a large portion of the country’s agricultural investments as well as social safety net programmes remain heavily dependent on donor funding. For more country policy briefs by FAPDA please see here.

In Cambodia, the government has given increasing priority to commercial rice production by promoting higher yield seeds and expanding irrigation and post production infrastructure. Relevant reforms have been adopted in favour of the fisheries sector. Child malnutrition remains a critical development challenge for the country despite the enhancement of nutritional policies and programmes over the past few years. For more country policy briefs by FAPDA please see here.