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The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture presents the first global assessment of biodiversity for food and agriculture worldwide. Biodiversity for food and agriculture is the diversity of plants, animals and micro-organisms at genetic, species and ecosystem levels, present in and around crop, livestock, forest and aquatic production systems. It is essential to the structure, functions and processes of these systems, to livelihoods and food security, and to the supply of a wide range of ecosystem services. It has been managed or influenced by farmers, livestock keepers, forest dwellers, fish farmers and fisherfolk for hundreds of generations. Prepared [...]

In 2007, the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Commission) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) included the preparation of the report on The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Report) into its Multi-Year Programme of Work. The Commission later determined that the scope of the Report be “farmed aquatic species and their wild relatives within national jurisdiction”. Following a country-driven process, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department prepared a draft Report for review by the Commission, its Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food [...]

The Government of Botswana has made efforts in recent years to improve the control of pesticides in the country. In addition to ratifying international agreements, it enacted the Waste Management Act in 1998 and the Agrochemicals Act in 1999. However, there was little evidence of the enforcement of these regulations, and a review of their relevance and application was needed. In addition, serious gaps in the ability to control all aspects of the pesticide life cycle were identified. Against this background, the project sought to reduce the risk to public health and the environment posed by poor pesticide management and [...]

Beekeeping is a tradition for a large segment of the rural population in Azerbaijan. Prior to independence in 1991, apiculture was an intensive agricultural activity. Following independence, when agricultural reforms were carried out in the country for transition to a market economy, all beekeeping farms were privatized, and the beehives were divided among small farms. While the number of private farms and hives in each private farm increased, honey production dropped. The project aimed to increase the productivity of the local Caucasian honey bees, and to improve the capacity of beekeepers to produce more honey from each beehive.

Le rapport décrit les principaux résultats de l'analyse de résilience réalisée dans le Nord-Kivu, en République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Les agences des Nations Unies basées à Rome (ABR) qui comprennent la FAO, le PAM, et le FIDA avec l’appui du Gouvernement canadien mettent en oeuvre un programme visant à renforcer la résilience des moyens d’existence dans les contextes de crises prolongées en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), au Niger et en Somalie.  Le programme a commencé en avril 2017 et se terminera en décembre 2021. En RDC, le programme est mis en oeuvre dans le territoire de Rutshuru dans la [...]

Le Bénin est parmi les 20 premiers pays producteurs du manioc dans le monde et au quatrième rang pour la production d’igname. La culture du manioc a connu un développement très important de même que les techniques de sa transformation en gari et autres produits dérivés («importation» des habitudes alimentaires brésiliennes - farinha). L’importance de l’igname dans l’alimentation réside également dans les multiples types de transformation. Cependant, les acteurs impliqués dans ces filières sont confrontés aux problèmes d’organisation, de faible productivité, d’accès aux financements et aux incertitudes face au changement climatique. Afin d’améliorer les conditions de vie de ces acteurs, [...]

Cassava is both a subsistence and commercial crop in Ghana. Due to the growing demand for cassava and its products, the Government has identified cassava as a priority crop. Nevertheless, cassava farmers and small processors faces challenges such as difficulty in marketing, lack of business management orientation and transportation issues that hinder the development of the sector. In order to improve the livelihood of those involved in the cassava value chain, the project aims at the following results: (i) existing national and regional strategies are aligned with initiatives supporting the development of improved regional market integration for the roots and [...]

In December 2017, FAO and Bioversity International entered into an agreement to contribute to the overall food systems and climate change adaptation debate through analytical and field activities on indigenous food systems. Thanks to this agreement, and through a task force thatincluded, FAO and Bioversity, the Centre  for  International  Forestry  Research  (CIFOR),  the  Indigenous  Partnership  for  Agrobiodiversity  and Food  Sovereignty,  the  French  National  Research  Institute  for  Sustainable  Development  (IRD)  and  local indigenous organizations, different food systems across the world were profiled. To  present  the first  results  of  these  studies  and  to  identify strategies  to  safeguard  the  preservation  and transmission  of  ancestral  [...]

Today’s food and agricultural systems have succeeded in supplying large volumes of food to global markets. However, high-external input, resource-intensive agricultural systems have caused massive deforestation, water scarcities, biodiversity loss, soil depletion and high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Despite significant progress in recent times, hunger and extreme poverty persist as critical global challenges. Even where poverty has been reduced, pervasive inequalities remain, hindering poverty eradication. Integral to FAO’s Common Vision for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, agroecology is a key part of the global response to this climate of instability, offering a unique approach to meeting significant increases in our food [...]

The brochure provides an overview of FAO's Biodiversity Mainstreaming Platform. This includes highlighting the importance of biodiversity mainstreaming across the agricultural sectors, fostering dialogue between the environment sector and the agricultural sectors, the development of a biodiversity strategy of FAO and shaping the global agenda on biodiversity.