FAO.org

Transboundary animal diseases (terrestrial and aquatic), plant pests and diseases (agriculture and forest plants) and Food safety hazards, are raising public awareness for their potential impact on food and nutrition security, human health, livelihoods, and trade. The ability to predict FCC threats through a forecasting process is imperative for Governments to act quickly by taking necessary measures to prevent these threats, limit their geographic spread and minimize their impact. To address this challenge, FAO Food Chain Crisis-Intelligence and Coordination Unit (FCC-ICU) developed an Integrated Forecasting Approach. See also the quarterly Early Warning Bulletins that integrate information on threats to the food chain [...]

This fact sheet presents an overview of current gender equality and women’s empowerment issues in the fisheries sector. Women’s engagement in fisheries can be viewed from social, political and technical perspectives, all of which show that the role of women is often underestimated. This inadequate recognition of women’s contributions hampers the sustainable development process, resulting in increased poverty and food insecurity. This fact sheet provides information on policy, institutions and planning processes; statistical dimensions in gender analysis; and specific concerns in the field of fisheries industries. It identifies lessons learned and opportunities for gender mainstreaming at macro, meso and microoperational levels. The information provided does not represent an exhaustive analysis of the subject, [...]

The SSF Guidelines are based on internationally accepted human rights standards and are to be interpreted and implemented in accordance with those standards. Their objectives are to be met through the promotion of a human rights-based approach (HRBA). This approach seeks to ensure the participation of small-scale fishing communities in nondiscriminatory, transparent and accountable decision-making processes by putting particular emphasis on the needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups and developing countries. While the HRBA has been recognized by FAO as a principle that informs the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects, there is still limited experience in its practical application in the context of small-scale [...]

FAO recognizes the potential of rural women and men in achieving food security and nutrition and is committed to overcoming gender inequality, in line with the pledge to “leave no one behind”, which is at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda. The publication illustrates the consistent and sustained work of FAO towards gender equality and women’s empowerment, which are at the core of the Organization’s work to eliminate hunger and rural poverty. Each chapter highlights the relevance of gender work to achieving the FAO Strategic Objectives, and describes main results achieved, showcasing activities implemented [...]

At FAO, increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods against threats and crises is a corporate priority. FAO’s resilience work is multisectoral, encompassing all aspects of agriculture: crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, natural resource management and value chains. FAO assists countries to increase the resilience of households, communities and institutions to more effectively prevent and cope with threats and disasters that impact agriculture, food security and nutrition.

This report provides a global analysis of the El Niño-related disasters and their impact on agriculture, food security and nutrition.  Analysis in the report is divided between FAO high priority countries and other countries at risk.  Countries were selected based on a combination of analysis of the El Niño event and FAO priorities for strengthening the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is a set of standardized tools that aims at providing a "common currency" for classifying the severity and magnitude of food insecurity. The IPC draws from existing data and information produced by governments, UN Agencies, NGOs and other agencies located in-country. It is based on consensus-building processes to provide decision makers with a rigorous analysis of food insecurity along with objectives for response in both emergency and development contexts.  The purpose of this document is to address this challenge by outlining standardized guidance to country gFSC and IPC Technical Working Groups (TWG) on [...]

FAO recognizes that scaling-up cash-based programming and risk-informed and shock-responsive social protection systems is a strategic priority in particular to improve food security and nutrition and protect households' assets as well as increase income of the most vulnerable population. Over the past 15 years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of countries implementing social protection schemes, mainly cash-based. Today, more than 1.9 billion people in 136 countries benefit from social assistance programmes and approximately 718 million people are enrolled in cash transfer programmes.

Building more resilient livelihoods is increasingly being recognized as one of the most powerful means to mitigate – or even prevent – food security crises.Since 2008, FAO has been at the forefront of efforts to measure the resilience capacity of people to food insecurity and the effectiveness of resilience strenghtening interventions. In this framework, FAO has pioneered the development and the use of Resilience Index Measurement and Analysis (RIMA).RIMA is an innovative quantitative approach that explain why and how some households cope with shocks and stressors better than others do. The first version of RIMA has been technically improved based [...]

Since  the  effects  of  climate  change  are  already  being  felt,  incorporating adaptation  into agricultural policies, plans and investments is needed to maintain and enhance the benefits obtained from agriculture. Risk  management  strategies have  a  prominent  role  to  play  in adaptation,  ranging  from  increasing resilience  of  agro-ecosystems  through  better management  of  ecosystem services,  increasing  resilience of livelihoods through social protections policies to disaster risk response.