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This Practical Handbook is directed to Members of Parliament and Parliamentary Advisors, who are considered “change agents”. It provides a comprehensive and systematic overview of the role that Parliamentarians can play in the creation of reliable, coherent, and transparent “enabling environments” in the range of areas related to investment in agriculture and food systems.The Handbook does so, not through a catalog of prescriptions, but through guidance notes, examples of good practices, and very practical indications. It does not aim to provide a blueprint to be implemented by each Parliament but rather it sets out key stages of processes and mechanisms [...]

This document intends to provide an analysis of the outcomes of the application of the TAP Common Framework in the eight countries of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project. The TAP Common Framework (TAP CF) was developed at the global level as an initial activity of the CDAIS project in order to guide capacity development (CD) and strengthening of Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS). The project then tested this framework in eight pilot countries (Guatemala, Honduras, Burkina Faso, Angola, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Lao PDR, Bangladesh). The purpose of the transversal analysis was to understand how the CDAIS approach contributed [...]

For almost four decades, the partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) has generated advanced knowledge and expertise in support of achieving food security, sustainable agriculture, and rural development in the Mediterranean. Driven by these shared goals, FAO and CIHEAM have jointly contributed to policy dialogue, the implementation of programs and projects, awareness-raising, and the capacity development of different actors in the region. FAO- CIHEAM collaboration has helped to build important knowledge resources and technical networks, strengthen the focus on gender and youth in agriculture, and [...]

This publication highlights various access points for projects and initiatives that engage and mobilize young people. It focuses on climate-resilient capacity development, agricultural education, and entrepreneurial guidance to promote decent rural employment in agriculture, and platforms that create alliances and networks for stimulating climate action and exchanging information. It presents activities that have successfully reached youth. These activities include competitions, such as 'hackathons' and flagship educational products that support everyday climate action. The projects and initiatives presented here also emphasize the key role partnerships among governments, the private sector, other international organizations and local cooperatives play in achieving successful outcomes. [...]

Morocco has a diverse and varied landscape, as part of the Mediterranean basin. Nevertheless, the country's valuable biodiversity, including the Atlas Mountains and its oasis systems, is threatened. 30 000 hectares of plant cover are thus lost each year in Morocco; this has significant consequences on the various species that depend on this cover for their protection, and creates a vicious circle. Biodiversity conservation and mitigation of land degradation through adaptive management of agricultural heritage systems are a priority for the country. To face these challenges, between April 2015 and December 2019, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the contribution [...]

En Tunisie, le taux de chômage des jeunes de 15 à 35 ans est très élevé, se situant autour de 35 pour cent, chez les diplômés du supérieur des régions de l’intérieur et en milieu rural, ce qui pousse un nombre important à l’exode et à l’émigration souvent au péril de leur vie. Par ailleurs, les régions de l’intérieur à dominante agricole et rurale accusent le plus grand retard de développement. Caractérisé par un vieillissement de la population des chefs d’exploitation et un faible niveau d’innovations techniques et organisationnelles, le secteur agricole peine à faire face aux défis de la [...]

The evaluation of FAO’s statistical work examines the relevance and the effectiveness of statistics in the era of “leave no one behind”. It appraises the progress made by FAO and the challenges faced in establishing functional statistical governance, providing quality statistics, and adopting sustainable capacity development at the global, regional and country level.The evaluation found that statistics remain core to FAO’s overall work. Members demand for data to support SDG indicator implementation and the use of statistics in policy-making has increased. FAO’s profile has been raised through its methodological work on the SDG indicators and outreach work on national standards.However, [...]

Agriculture plays a critical role in Fiji’s development by upholding food and income security, promoting the advancement of communities and offering opportunities in international trade. In 2013, agriculture accounted for 9 percent of Fiji’s GDP, with the industry growing by 3.4 percent thanks largely to increased production of sugarcane, yagona, taro and coconut (according to the FBoS). In 2014, an agricultural statistics unit, headed by a trained statistician, was established in the MoA in an effort to improve data collection and analysis in the agriculture sector. This has led to the implementation of an agricultural survey and, consequentially, the identification [...]

In developing countries, further progress of irrigation is essential for increasing food security and farmers’ income. However, developing small-scale schemes remains a challenge due to multiple factors that must be taken into consideration, such as diversity of small-scale schemes, a large number of water users, social disharmony over the water use, varying water demands of multi-cropping systems, heterogeneity of equipment over the scheme. Furthermore, on-farm irrigation development has a major role in enhancing Agricultural Water Management (AWM). The previous development methods considered the improvement of single-factor productivity, but agriculture is undergoing a global shift from the single objective of outputs [...]

The background for conducting country study on the challenges, needs and constraints of smallholders and family farms in the Republic of Serbia has been a wish to further strengthen the Regional Initiative on Empowering Smallholders and Family Farms and develop it towards a stronger programmatic approach at both the regional and the country level. In order to provide support to smallholders and family farms, there has been a need to develop a better understanding and knowledge platform of the main challenges, needs and constraints of smallholders and family farms in the specific country context. The objective of the country study is [...]