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In the Asia–Pacific region, water resources form the basis of agrarian prosperity and economic development. However, increasing water demand due to population growth, rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, and a changing climate undermine those water resources. Like many parts of the world, Asia–Pacific faces increasing water scarcity, with varying characteristics, causes and trends across a diverse range of countries at different stages of development. Understanding of the spatial and temporal differences in water scarcity across the region is, however, limited, and while policies and management strategies are under development in all countries, their effectiveness varies significantly. Responses to water scarcity are often [...]

En 2022, dans le cadre du projet «Efficacité, productivité et durabilité de l’eau dans la région du Proche-Orient et de l’Afrique du Nord», l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO) a appuyé le Gouvernement tunisien dans l’analyse de la comptabilité de l’eau en combinaison avec l’analyse de la gouvernance de l’eau dans la basse vallée de la Medjerda (BVM). La BVM a été retenue pour son importance capitale dans le système hydraulique du nord du pays. En effet, la Medjerda, principal fleuve du pays, représente l’essentiel des réserves nationales en eau de surface, irrigue 80 000 hectares de terres [...]

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food and agriculture have been felt all over the world. As the pandemic unfolded, considerable attention began to be paid to the resilience of agricultural supply chains to COVID-19-related shocks, as well as to natural and human-induced shocks more generally. These "Guidelines to increase the resilience of agricultural supply chains" are intended for policymakers and other stakeholders who need a broad grasp of the concepts, issues and possible approaches involved. Efforts to strengthen resilience to risks need to be based on a thorough analysis of the exposure and vulnerability of supply chains to them, [...]

Il reste huit ans pour atteindre les ODD. La transformation des systèmes agroalimentaires s’impose de toute urgence si l’on veut obtenir des résultats en matière de durabilité, de résilience, de sécurité alimentaire et de nutrition dans un monde post-COVID. La transition souhaitée n’est possible qu’en renforçant et en exploitant les connaissances, l’expérience, les compétences et les capacités d’action collective d’une grande variété d’acteurs publics et privés dont les intérêts, les besoins, les ressources, l’influence et les capacités diffèrent. La «gouvernance» est la capacité multidimensionnelle qui permet une action collective efficace et inclusive à tous les niveaux. Dans de nombreux contextes nationaux, les [...]

The analysis of household resilience to food insecurity has become a key technical and evidence-based policy instrument for better tailoring development and humanitarian intervention designs. International development agencies must strengthen the capacity of vulnerable households to anticipate, cope with and adapt to shocks and stressors. Despite the humanitarian and development scope of household resilience strengthening, most resilience academic research and policies focused on protracted crises countries. Moreover, too little attention has been paid to in-depth gender inequality analysis in household resilience to food insecurity, and household food security. This paper aims to (i) analyse the key drivers of household resilience [...]

This brief summarizes the findings of the working paper Resilience to food insecurity and gender differential decomposition in the Gambia, which aims to analyse the key drivers of household resilience to food insecurity and assess differences in resilience capacity and food security indexes across male- and female-headed households. It identifies key drivers of these differentials at the national, urban and rural areas in the Gambia, by using Gambian Integrated Household Surveys on consumption expenditure and poverty-level assessment 2015–2016.

As a contribution to the new FAO Green Cities programme, the Forestry Division has developed in close collaboration with the Regional Offices in Africa, Asia and the Near East a new global programme: the Green Urban Oases Programme. The overall objective of the programme is to turn dryland cities into “green urban oases” and strengthen their overall resilience to climatic, health, food and economic crisis, as well as to reduce the impact of urbanization on biodiversity and the surrounding natural environment. The present document is intended to be used to provide a solid background to the role of urban forests [...]

The purpose of this Sourcebook is to provide advice on how to incorporate disaster risk reduction and resilience building into the watershed management process. As an increasingly heavier toll is exerted on agriculture and food systems by drought, floods, wildfires, and other extreme events, adopting risk reduction and management practices must become an integral part of watershed management. While the steps involved to incorporate resilience building are similar to those routinely carried out in integrated watershed management, this Sourcebook stresses the importance of understanding disaster and climate risks, adopting a landscape approach and targeting vulnerable groups (e.g. women, youth, indigenous [...]

At its 26th Session in October 2018, the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) requested FAO to take the lead to develop voluntary codes of conduct for the reduction of food loss and food waste. In response to the COAG request, FAO developed the Voluntary Code of Conduct for Food Loss and Waste Reduction, which was endorsed by the 42nd Session of the FAO Conference in June 2021. The Voluntary Code of Conduct for Food Loss and Waste Reduction sets out a generic framework of actions and guiding principles that should be followed to reduce food loss and waste (FLW) and support [...]

Young people are key agents of change, with enormous innovation potential. FAO recognizes that youth are already at the frontline to build more sustainable agrifood systems and are best placed to rejuvenate the sector, acquire the knowledge and skills needed to innovate, uptake new technologies, and spearhead the digital transformation. The Organization provides support to countries to develop more youth-inclusive policies, strategies, investments and programmes, in order to enhance the overall well-being of young women and men. This compendium of good practices brings together snapshots of selected FAO’s youth-specific projects, activities and products in support of the Rural Youth Action [...]