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School feeding programmes are recognized as a key part of food assistance and relief in emergency and development programmes.  They are principally concerned with transfer of food to school to alleviate hunger, meet daily consumption needs and encourage attendance and retention.  Home-Grown School Feeding programmes (HGSF) in particular have received attention in recent years because of the links to agricultural development and have therefore been widely viewed as a means to address food insecurity while promoting rural development goals in Africa. Locally procured school meals, form an important part of HGSF programmes, and when coupled with food and nutrition education (FNE), [...]

This report analyses the impacts of violent conflicts on food security, including on coping and consumption patterns, long-term consequences of early-life exposure to conflict, and the linkages between food insecurity and anti-social behaviours.  

An overview of the current scientific knowledge available on climate change implications for fisheries and aquaculture is provided through three technical papers that were presented and discussed during the Expert Workshop on Climate Change Implications for Fisheries and Aquaculture (Rome, 7�9 April 2008). A summary of the workshop outcomes as well as key messages on impacts of climate change on aquatic ecosystems and on fisheries- and aquaculture-based livelihoods are provided in the introduction of this Technical Paper. The first paper reviews the physical and ecological impacts of climate change relevant to marine and inland capture fisheries and aquaculture. The paper begins [...]

The Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027 is a collaborative effort of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. It brings together the commodity, policy and country expertise of both organisations and input from collaborating member countries to provide an annual assessment of prospects for the coming decade of national, regional and global agricultural commodity markets. This year’s edition contains a special chapter on the prospects and challenges of agriculture and fisheries in the Middle East and North Africa that reviews the prospects and challenges facing the agricultural sector in the Middle East [...]

Good institutions are a fundamental pre-requisite to successfully achieve structural transformation in growing developing countries (UNECA, 2016). Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a rapid growth but a weak and slow structural transformation process, which is mainly characterized by the reallocation of labour from agriculture to low skilled services. The focus of this paper is to explore how political and economic institutions affect structural transformation in a panel of 11 sub-Saharan African countries. Our empirical analysis reveals a positive and statistically significant effect of quality of institutions and economic freedom measures on structural transformation between sectors, which translates into movement out of agriculture. Better institutions appear to not improve productivity [...]

The publication complements the FAO Guiding Framework on gender-sensitive value chain development by providing practical tools and examples of successful approaches to address the gender-based constraints that affect agrifood value chains. The guidelines are intended to assist practitioners in integrating gender equality dimensions more effectively in the design and implementation of value chain interventions in the agricultural sector. See also: Developing Gender-Sensitive Value Chains. A Guiding Framework

The Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR), the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition initiative (GODAN), the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft (KTBL) organised an e-consultation on ethical, legal and policy aspects of open data affecting smallholder farmers.  Forum dates: 4 till 8 June 2018. The objectives of this e-consultation are to: Clearly identify the ethical, legal and policy gaps that currently prevent data from benefiting smallholder farmers. Using practical examples, give a clear picture of what the desired scenarios would be by 2030 for a policy, legal [...]

ENHANCING FISHERY MANAGEMENT IN THE WESTERN CENTRAL ATLANTIC FISHERY COMMISSION AREA At the 14th and 15th sessions of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC), the European Union (EU) member countries expressed an urgent need to improve fisheries data and information collection in the wider Caribbean region. The identified data gaps lessened the effectiveness of significant efforts made to improve fishery management, and constituted one of the major reasons preventing a change of WECAFC status towards a management organization. The project aimed to contribute to the availability of high quality information for fisheries management and development in the area, in support [...]

Crop Prospects and Food Situation is published by the Trade and Markets Division of FAO under the Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS). It is published four times a year and focuses on developments affecting the food situation of developing countries and in particular the Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries (LIFDCs). The report provides a review of the food situation by geographic region, a section dedicated to the LIFDCs and a list of countries requiring external assistance for food. It also includes a global cereal supply and demand overview to complement the biannual analysis in the Food Outlook publication. The report [...]

The Conference of the Parties (COP) of UNFCCC is a prime opportunity to communicate FAO’s work on climate change and to liaise with potential partners, at the numerous side events and parallel events organized around the COP. This booklet seeks to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change on food security and nutrition and advocate for the importance of having the agricultural sectors properly considered in climate change mechanisms, policies and finances.