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The FAO Statistics Division, the World Bank and IFAD have joined forces to build RuLIS, as a tool to support policies for reducing rural poverty. Information on agricultural income and rural livelihoods is crucial for the formulation of evidence-based development policies.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken by governments on social distancing and mobility restrictions have contributed to boosting the use of digital technology to bridge some of the physical access gaps. An increasing number of services and extension/information activities are delivered through digital tools and applications. E-commerce has also flourished. As a result, the potential of digital technologies has gained prominence in immediate response and recovery strategies and programmes.See the full list of policy briefs related to COVID-19.

The purpose of this report is to assess the current implementation of forest and landscape restoration (FLR) in Africa. It presents the context for FLR on the African continent, highlights major FLR initiatives, and provides an overview of FLR in Africa at the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030). It identifies key challenges, opportunities, actors and processes, illustrated with some case studies. Data collection was both primary (interviews) and secondary (extensive desk research).The report contributes to tracking progress on the implementation of AFR100 and other FLR initiatives in Africa on the ground. It provides a baseline for [...]

The Crop Sector Development Strategy for Eastern Africa 2021 - 2026 defines a series of goals and interventions agreed by representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture from the countries within the jurisdiction of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Subregional Office for Eastern Africa, as well as inputs from FAO representatives in the member countries, the East African Community Secretariat, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Secretariat, the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa and the CGIAR centres.The Strategy presents a holistic approach to improving crop production and productivity through a unified approach. This should be [...]

Public support mechanisms for agriculture in many cases hinder the transformation towards healthier, more sustainable, equitable, and efficient food systems, thus actively steering us away from meeting the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the Paris Agreement.This report sets out the compelling case for repurposing harmful agricultural producer support to reverse this situation, by optimizing the use of scarce public resources, strengthening economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and ultimately driving a food systems transformation that can support global sustainable development commitments.The report provides policymakers with an updated estimate of past and current agricultural producer support for 88 countries, projected [...]

The Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation area is home to a great diversity of ecosystems and landscapes. Each year, the area experiences large-scale migrations of megafauna. Whilst rural communities in the Mucheni (Zimbabwe) and Simalaha (Zambia) Community Conservancies have distinct cultures and local governments, they depend on hunting and fishing for both food and income. Community conservancies are legally-recognised, geographically-defined areas that have been formed by communities that have united to manage and benefit from wildlife and other natural ressources.However, communities’ livelihoods are threatened by erratic rainfall, poor soils, and human–wildlife conflicts. The SWM Project in KaZa is promoting a [...]

Ce rapport propose une analyse des effets de la maladie à coronavirus 2019 (covid-19) sur le système agroalimentaire du Togo, en se basant sur l’évaluation menée en février 2021.L’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO) met en œuvre un projet visant la collecte et l’analyse de données liées à la covid-19 afin d’étayer la programmation basée sur les preuves dans un certain nombre de pays choisis. L'objectif est d'évaluer les effets de la covid-19 sur le système agroalimentaire, qui comprend l'élevage et la pêche, l'approvisionnement alimentaire, les moyens d’existence et la sécurité alimentaire des populations rurales au niveau [...]

This publication, produced by FAO and Zhejiang University, examines how rural e-commerce could advance the digital transformation of agri-food systems, including increasing production efficiency, expanding farmers’ market access, improving poverty alleviation, fostering agricultural entrepreneurship, and attracting young generations back to their villages for economic revival and rural revitalization.It is highlighted that an enabling ecosystem with favourable government policies and strategies, public-private partnerships and innovative business models is of great importance to accelerate the development of rural areas in China, and generate larger economic, social and environmental impacts. As the largest developing country in the world, the experience of digital agriculture [...]

Respecting free, prior and informed consent is a collective right that belongs to every member of a community. This means that communities have the right to make decisions through their own freely chosen representatives and their institutions, customary or otherwise, such as local authorities and local elected officials. This accompanying guide should be used for training in free, prior and informed consent. Also available in French

The arid and semi-arid areas (ASALs) of Kenya cover nearly 84 percent of the national land and thus present an enormous potential contribution to national agricultural production as well as basic food and income for farmers residing in these areas. About three in every ten Kenyan children aged below two years are stunted. According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey conducted in 2014, Kitui county and West Pokot county had the highest stunting rates nationally at almost 46 percent. This is against a national average stunting rate of 26 percent.There have been multiple past projects in Kitui county that aimed [...]