Results
Briefs
2020
Social protection: effective response and inclusive recovery in the context of COVID-19 in Africa
COVID-19 poses significant challenges to an already strained rural context in Africa. The growing direct impact of COVID-19 is affecting health, in terms of morbidity and mortality, as well as quickly overburdening health care services with negative repercussions for non-COVID related health problems, but even before COVID-19 had spread in Africa, the socio economic impact was felt. The sharp decline in demand and production from the most economically developed countries where contagion had initially hit hardest—China, EU and the USA—has caused a global recession, with direct repercussions in Africa. With the spread of the virus in the continent, containment measures, [...]
Briefs
2020
Integrated agriculture water management and health
This policy brief reviews on going challenges and proposes recommendations on integrated water resources management approach that embraces the value of water in all its forms and recognizes the intrinsic role of water in protecting human, animal and ecosystem health.
This multi-sectoral approach to integrated water resources management under the One Water One Health concept of water recognizes that decisions regarding land and water use have real implications for health. Less-resilient ecosystems, shifts in patterns of disease emergence and spreading, manifest themselves when we fail to recognize this relationship.
Briefs
2020
Identifying and addressing the threats against food recovery and redistribution
Many communities and vulnerable individuals rely on foodbanks and other food recovery and redistribution charities to ensure they have access to enough food to build resilience in their communities, reduce food insecurity and contribute to healthier diets.
Quite often foodbanks are able to distribute processed foods with limited access to highly perishable fresh foods, resulting in nutrient deficiencies of beneficiaries who are dependent on these charitable organizations for their food needs.
Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is recommended that food banks, seek to source and offer, as far as possible, fresh fruits and vegetables and limit the quantities of calorie dense [...]
Briefs
2020
Social protection and COVID-19 response in rural areas
Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 include strong restrictions of movement which dramatically change daily lives and impact agricultural livelihoods. These measures are particularly difficult for the rural poorest and most vulnerable, who tend to hold jobs and occupations which cannot be performed remotely. Many of the world’s poor depend on public spaces and movement for their livelihoods, including seasonal agricultural work and traveling to markets to sell or buy produce and/or inputs, etc.
This briefs explains how social protection measures could shield the rural poor from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while providing a series of social protection [...]
Briefs
2020
Impact of COVID-19 on informal workers
The COVID-19 pandemic is a major economic and labour market shock, presenting significant impacts in terms of unemployment and underemployment for informal workers. In rural areas, the livelihoods of especially the self-employed and wage workers are at risk, because agri-food supply chains and markets are being disrupted due to lockdowns and restrictions of movement. Families might resort to negative coping strategies such as distress sale of assets, taking out loans from informal moneylenders, or child labour. Specific groups of workers, including women, youth, children, indigenous people, and migrant workers, who are overrepresented in the informal economy, will experience further exacerbation [...]
Briefs
2020
Leveraging social protection programmes to advance climate-smart agriculture in Malawi. FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Brief No. 21
This brief details the three functional elements of climate vulnerability: risk exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, in order to assess the interactions between participation in Malawi’s largest public works programme, the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) and three widely promoted climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices. Using three waves of national panel household survey data, we find that participation in MASAF significantly increases the likelihood that farm households adopt CSA practices. This suggests that MASAF participation improves farmers’ adaptive capacity by reducing direct and indirect constraints to adopting climate adaptive farm practices. Moreover, we empirically demonstrate that the joint treatment effect of [...]
Issue paper
2020
The role of social protection in inclusive structural transformation
Structural transformation involves the reallocation of resources from less to more productive uses. It involves growth in agricultural productivity and generation of higher productivity jobs in other sectors. In addition, in the longer-term, it can support poverty reduction. However, the transition process and its outcomes are frequently challenging – especially among the poor and vulnerable people and households, given the economic and social forces that pressure them to adapt to realities faster than they are able to.
The objective of the paper is to show how social protection policies and programmes can contribute to structural transformation, smoothen the transition for the [...]
Issue paper
2020
Emploi rural des jeunes et systèmes agroalimentaires au Sénégal. Analyse rapide du contexte
Cette analyse du contexte donne un aperçu du Sénégal, décrivant les défis, les politiques et les programmes d’emploi des jeunes en place ainsi que les priorités de la FAO en matière d’emploi décent pour les jeunes des zones rurales. Enfin, il analyse également les tendances et dynamiques migratoires du pays.
Près de 88% des 1,2 milliard de jeunes du monde vivent dans des pays en développement. À l'échelle mondiale, les jeunes représentent environ 24% des travailleurs pauvres. Bien que la population mondiale de jeunes est censée augmenter, les possibilités d’emploi et d’entreprenariat pour les jeunes femmes et hommes restent limitées - [...]
Tool
2019
Guidelines for increasing access of small-scale fisheries to insurance services in Asia
The purpose of these insurance guidelines is fourfold, i.e.:
to increase awareness about the needs of small-scale fishers for better risk management, disaster preparedness and insurance services;
to guide policy and decision makers to help introduce insurance services to small-scale fishers, with the ultimate objective to strengthen the sustainability and ecological and economic viability of these fisheries;
to build capacity among insurance providers, fisherfolk organizations, NGOs, and concerned government agencies, to design and implement insurance programmes that suit the needs of small-scale fishing communities and enhance social protection;
to promote insurance services that incentivize and reward a responsible and sustainable conduct of fishing operations [...]
Tool
2019
Guidelines for micro-finance and credit services in support of small-scale fisheries in Asia
The purpose of these guidelines is fourfold: (i) Increase awareness about the financial service needs of small-scale fishers (SSF) for more sustainable and inclusive access to finance; (ii) Guide policy and decision makers in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere, to help introduce and incentivize financial services to small-scale fishers, with the ultimate objective to encourage investment in the industry and by doing so influence and strengthen sustainability, ecological and economic viability of these fisheries; (iii) Build capacity among financial service providers, fisherfolk organizations, NGOs, and concerned government agencies, to design and implement financial service products and programmes that suit the [...]