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Parliamentarians from around 50 countries and nine parliamentary networks gathered in the context of the Virtual Parliamentary Dialogues on Food Security and Nutrition in the time of COVID-19. From March to September 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), pledged to put food security and nutrition at the forefront of national, regional, and global agendas and to take proactive steps to address the consequences of the pandemic. In their legislative, budgetary, and oversight responsibilities, parliaments are strategically positioned to strengthen food security, nutrition, and inclusion [...]

Growing international and domestic demand for tropical timber has resulted in critical wood supply gaps for many tropical timber-producing countries, in some instances linked to a surge in illegal logging. Growing shortages of legal timber supply have necessitated the exploration of alternative sources of legally produced timber. Community forestry has been recognized as a potential source that could boost legal timber supply on the domestic market of tropical timber-producing countries. This brief seeks to share the experience accrued across Asia, Africa and Latin America in addressing and overcoming challenges faced in legal frameworks, market access, and capacity building.

To support the implementation of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and help achieve its goals, there is a need for a shared vision of ecosystem restoration. A key step in creating a shared vision of ecosystem restoration is to adopt principles that underpin the full set of ecosystem restoration activities. To this end, this brochure presents ten principles for ecosystem restoration including a first principle that orients restoration in the context of the UN Decade, followed by nine best-practice principles. These best-practice principles detail the essential tenets of ecosystem restoration that should be followed to maximize net gain for [...]

This brochure presents flagship initiatives and programmes designed by members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to contribute to the common goal formulated by UN Secretary-General António Guterres of “turning the tide on deforestation”. The brochure reaffirms the call by leaders at UNFCCC COP26 for action to accelerate efforts to halt deforestation.The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), made up of 15 international organizations, is accelerating efforts to halt deforestation globally. Turning the tide on deforestation within the next decade is crucial to achieve the 1.5 degree Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement, and to tackle not only the climate crisis, [...]

The complete series of five free courses on rural poverty reduction is now available on FAO’s e-learning Academy as a global public good. The e-learning series is a comprehensive learning path on rural poverty and rural poverty reduction, highlighting key concepts, tools and case studies proven to support efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger in rural areas. Developed by FAO’s Strategic Programme to reduce rural poverty in collaboration with the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, and with the technical support of several technical divisions and external experts, the content was designed using a multi-stakeholder consultative process in 2018. 

Consumers are a powerful force for change towards a sustainably developing world that leaves no one behind and respects the human rights of all. This publication showcases the work of a selection of consumer organizations around the world in securing the right to adequate food. Intended to be frequently updated, this collection brings to the fore the experiences and good practices of members of Consumers International. It aims to be of use to multi-sector partnerships and the whole community of consumer organizations, to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and skills, and to foster collaborations around thematic areas.It is designed as [...]

Since 2020, the EU, FAO and CIRAD have entered into a partnership with governments and food systems actors to initiate a large-scale assessment and consultation on food systems in more than 50 countries, as a first step towards transforming them. The assessments and consultations will gather evidence and knowledge in support of the transition to more sustainable food systems, centered on four core goals, namely food security, nutrition and health, inclusive economic growth, territorial development and equity, and the environment. Country teams led by the government and supported by EU Delegations, FAO Representations and other development partners are driving the [...]

Climate change is a major challenge for agriculture, a vital source of food, income and employment for most of the world’s poor. Agricultural investments, as a result, need to become more climate sensitive. This is as true for general agricultural investments focused on development outcomes as for projects specifically addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation. This comprehensive knowledge product provides investment practitioners with practical reference material on integrating climate risk considerations at all stages of the investment project cycle, from design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Produced by multidisciplinary teams across FAO, the knowledge product is organized as a compendium of [...]

There has been a surge in the attention to sustainable agricultural mechanization for Africa. The need to support agricultural mechanization in the value chain in order to achieve agricultural and rural development is well recognized. Therefore, it is vital to address the major challenge of ensuring that business models for mechanization hire services driven by the private sector (including farmers, cooperatives, and small and medium enterprises) are not only profitable, sustainable and inclusive for smallholder farmers and vulnerable community members including women and youth, but also resilient to the effects of climate change. For a better understanding of how agricultural [...]

This White/Wiphala paper on Indigenous Peoples’ food systems is the result of collective work by Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and experts, scientists, researchers, and UN staff. Over 47 different units, organizations, and institutions have contributed to the Paper from the seven socio-cultural regions. This final version of the White/Wiphala paper has been coordinated by the Global-Hub on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems and edited by a Technical Editorial Committee, and summarises the main points received.This Paper advocates that lessons can be learnt from Indigenous Peoples’ approach to food, which will contribute to the resilience and sustainability of food systems worldwide, as well [...]