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The "International Symposium on Food and Nutrition Security: Food-based Approaches for Improving Diets and Raising Levels of Nutrition" was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to better document the contribution that food and agriculture can make to improving nutrition. These proceedings are a useful resource for decision and policy makers, programme planners and implementers, and health workers, all of which work to combat hunger and malnutrition. The proceedings of the Symposium aim at collecting and better documenting evidence that demonstrates the impact, effectiveness and sustainability of food-based approaches for improving diets and raising levels of nutrition. [...]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its national, regional and international partners are committed to monitoring and analysingfood and agricultural policies (MAFAP) in order to provide policy-makers in developing countries, as well as their development partners and other stakeholders in civil society, with the best possible information on the effects of policies and public expenditure influencing agricultural investment decisions and ultimately foodsecurity. Furthermore, MAFAP supports governments in their efforts to identify, articulate and assess options for reforming food and agriculture policies. MAFAPworks with national and regional partners to: establish a community of practice on policy [...]

GSDRC Topic Guides aim to provide a clear, concise and objective report on findings from rigorous research on critical areas of development policy. Rather than provide policy guidance or recommendations, their purpose is to inform policymakers and practitioners of the key debates and evidence on the topic of focus, to support informed decision-making. This topic guide provides pointers to some of the key literature on political economy analysis and evidence of its impact on aid effectiveness in different contexts. It includes examples of analyses at country, sector and programme level.

The 2014 edition of the State of the World’s Forests report (also known as SOFO) has been released by FAO, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. This coincides with the opening of the 22nd Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) and the World Forest Week. SOFO 2014 deals with the existing knowledge gaps on the socioeconomic benefits provided by forests. It gathers and analyses data already available on the topic. It also makes recommendations to improve this information. The lack of information about the socioeconomic dimension of forests and the need to fill this gap was also one of [...]

Over the coming 35 years, agriculture will face an unprecedented confluence of pressures, including a 30 percent increase in the global population, intensifying competition for increasingly scarce land, water and energy resources, and the existential threat of climate change. To provide for a population projected to reach 9.3 billion in 2050 and support changing dietary patterns, estimates are that food production will need to increase from the current 8.4 billion tonnes to almost 13.5 billion tonnes a year. Achieving that level of production from an already seriously depleted natural resource base will be impossible without profound changes in our food [...]

As renewed international efforts are needed to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the livestock sector can contribute its part. An important emitter of greenhouse gas, it also has the potential to  significantly reduce its emissions. This report provides a unique global assessment of the magnitude, the sources and pathways of emissions from different livestock production systems and supply chains.  Relying on life cycle assessment, statistical analysis and scenario building, it also prov ides estimates of the sector’s mitigation potential  and identifies concrete options to reduce emissions. The report is a useful resource for stakeholders from livestock producers to policy-makers, researchers and [...]

In order to acquire an in - depth understanding of potential benefits, constraints and costs of foreign investment in agriculture and of the business models that are more conducive to development, FAO has undertaken research in developing countries.  The research aims to provide better knowledge on the trends and impacts of foreign direct investment on host communities and countries, to gather evidence on inclusive business models, to identify good practices and to develop guidance for host gov ernments.  This publication summarizes the results of this research, in particular through the presentation of the main findings of case studies in nine [...]

Guarantee funds have been used over the years in many countries, forms and contexts as a way to increase the flow of funds into targeted sectors and groups. Various types of guarantee systems and scheme are used to make lending more attractive by sharing or absorbing the risks associated with lending to the targeted sector or type of enterprise. Such systems can also increase the amount of loan funds available to an enterprise beyond its own collateral limits, because the guarantee is a form of loan collateral. The guarantee manager can assume the additional role of loan assessor and monitor, [...]

"Four case studies on credit guarantee funds for agriculture" is an in-depth analysis of different models of guarantee system. An assessment of these cases, together with a review of the global industry of agricultural guarantee systems, was published as "Credit guarantee systems for agriculture and rural enterprise development". The four case studies in this document provide the reader with a more detailed description of how these individual programmes have worked over time. Three of the programmes are among the largest and longest standing agricultural guarantee funds in the world, and have had both successful and difficult experiences as they evolve [...]

Organization development (OD) is an important area of capacity development practice to improve food and nutrition security, reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. OD is a powerful instrument that helps to analyse and engage in complex situations or contexts and discover effective ways to promote processes of organizational change. Learning Module 4 is the fourth in the FAO capacity development series. It aims to create a basic understanding of OD and system thinking approaches, as even a basic understanding can cultivate a new way of working. It reflects the learning experience, constructive inputs and wealth of exchanges from the OD seminar series which was held in FAO [...]