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This paper aims to identify the channels of transmissions of the COVID-19 pandemic into the food and agriculture sectors and, based on this, to delineate the degrees of exposure to the COVID-19 shock by geographic region. Primary production, trade and final consumption are analysed in detail and, where possible, quantified. Based on results of the analysis, a country taxonomy of the exposure is developed and presented.  

Chemical production, use and disposal will continue to increase worldwide; assessments and forecasts predict that global chemical sales will grow by about 3 percent per year until 2050, the major part of which will take place in Asia. South-East Asian countries in particular have shown strong industrial growth in agriculture during the last two decades. Many countries in Southeast Asia lack the capacity to handle chemicals management issues and are in great need to develop institutions, legislation, knowledge and general awareness. The countries face many challenges in the area of chemicals management, in particular pesticide governance. The intensive and often [...]

The vast majority of the world’s food crops are annuals that are grown from seed sown at the start of each production season. The quality of that seed is a key determinant of production. Farmers cannot easily observe the quality or identity of seed at the point of sale, which creates a risk on the part of the farmer. With the development of the commercial seed trade and the increasing number of varieties during the 20th century it became important to reduce this risk. This led to the formulation of laws and regulations intended to protect farmers and increase agricultural [...]

El Marco de la FAO para la Alimentación y Nutrición Escolar tiene como objetivo apoyar a los gobiernos y las instituciones para que desarrollen, transformen o fortalezcan sus políticas, programas y otras iniciativas a fin de lograr un mejor impacto en la alimentación, la nutrición escolar y adolescente, el desarrollo socioeconómico comunitario y los sistemas alimentarios locales. El Marco representa una respuesta directa al llamado internacional para mejorar la nutrición a lo largo del ciclo de vida y para transformar los sistemas alimentarios, en el contexto de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS), la Segunda Conferencia Internacional sobre Nutrición (CIN2) y el [...]

This document summarizes the online discussion Mainstreaming gender for sustainable soil management, held on the FAO Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum) from 23 September to 25 October 2019. The discussion was facilitated by Ilaria Sisto and Ronald Vargas from FAO and aimed to collect views from a wide range of stakeholders about the relations between gender equality and sustainable soil management (SSM). Participants’ contributions fed into the draft of the ‘Guide on gender and sustainable soil management’ prepared by the Regional Soil Partnerships, the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, and the Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division of [...]

The leaflet provides a brief overview of two projects implemented by FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division and when combined create a model that can be adapted and used in various different regions. The leaflet also sheds light to the projects in practice, in Zambia and Sri Lanka - what has been accomplished so far and in what ways the project has been successfully implemented.  

Cette note d’orientation politique est basée sur les travaux de l’atelier de consultation national qui s’est tenu à Ouagadougou au Burkina Faso le 15 mars 2017, dans le cadre du projet «Intégration des initiatives pour la réduction des pertes alimentaires pour les petits producteurs dans les zones à déficit alimentaire» décrit ci-après. L’atelier a réuni des représentants des Directions techniques du Ministère de l’Agriculture et des Aménagements Hydrauliques, des organisations professionnelles, des instituts de recherche et des universités, et des Partenaires Techniques et Financiers (PTF), du Gouvernement du Burkina Faso, Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO), le Programme [...]

The Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme is the first international initiative to tackle the wild meat challenge by addressing both wildlife conservation and food security. This African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) initiative is funded by the European Union through the 11th European Development Fund (EUR 45 Million). The SWM Programme mobilizes an international group of partner organizations with strong expertise and experience in wildlife conservation, food security and policy development. It is implemented through a consortium partnership, which includes the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Wildlife [...]

Unhealthy diets now pose a greater risk to morbidity and mortality than unsafe sex, alcohol, and drug and tobacco use combined. They are at the root of the global obesity and diet-related non-communicable disease (NCD) pandemic. The ways of food production that lead to these unhealthy diets also pose a major threat to climate stability and ecosystem resilience, and constitute the most important driver of environmental degradation and natural resources depletion.In the short term, there is little that we can do to curb the global demand for food and other products that depend on biological resources. Demand will continue to [...]

In 2018 FAO approved its Corporate Framework to Support Sustainable Peace in the Context of Agenda 2030, committing FAO to a more deliberate and transformative impact on sustaining peace, within the scope of its mandate. The foundational element for FAO supported interventions to - at a minimum - do no harm, or to identify where they may contribute to sustaining peace, is to understand contextual dynamics and how they could interact with a proposed intervention. This is essentially what conflict-sensitive programming means. The Programme Clinic Facilitation Guide is a key step in operationalising this, being a structured participatory analysis designed to [...]