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The Commodity Policy Developments tool is maintained by commodity analysts of the FAO Trade and Markets Division. The tool provides concise accounts of national policy changes deemed relevant to markets of basic foodstuffs. Its coverage is global, with emphasis given to policy developments – grouped by major policy domains – affecting cereal, oilcrop, meat, dairy and sugar markets since 2011. The policy records included in the tool act as a supplement to more exhaustive commodity market appraisals prepared by the Division, such as the AMIS Market Monitor, the Food Outlook, the Oilcrops Monthly Price and Policy Update, the Monthly News [...]

FAO promotes the transition to sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural policies and governance mechanisms, working with countries on reviewing their policies and investment strategies and helping them align their policies and programmes in support of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the Paris Agreement on climate change.

This is a training course on nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems. Using two realistic scenarios, this course illustrates the linkages between agriculture, food systems and nutrition, and describes existing opportunities for integrating nutrition into food system policies, investments and programmes. The course offers a series of examples of nutrition-sensitive policies and interventions, as well as an overview of the main initiatives and commitment on nutrition. The course is designed to assist professionals from any fields related to agriculture and food systems (inputs and production, processing, storage, transport and retailing, consumption) that are involved in shaping and implementing nutrition-sensitive programmes, investments and [...]

Between 2013 and 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) undertook a survey of innovative approaches that enable markets to act as incentives in the transition towards sustainable agriculture in developing countries. Through a competitive selection process, 15 cases from around the world provide insights into how small-scale initiatives that use sustainable production practices are supported by market demand, and create innovations in the institutions that govern sustainable practices and market exchanges. These cases respond to both local and distant consumers’ concerns about the quality of the [...]

Fighting hunger is not only about producing more food. It also means protecting food sources from diseases that can spread across borders. The Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES), is a surveillance and early warning system established with the objective of preventing food chain emergencies caused by transboundary threats. These may be animal or plant pests and diseases or food safety threats and can have a great impact on food security and food safety. Threats to the food chain affect not only  food security livelihoods and human health, but also national economies and global markets. This is why surveillance, early detection, early [...]

The five-year Peste des Petits Ruminant Global Eradication Programme (PPR-GEP) highlights the technical and policy tools foreseen as appropriate to lay the foundation for and commencement of PPR eradication by reducing the prevalence of PPR in currently infected countries. The programme will also develop capacity for non-infected countries to demonstrate the absence of PPR Virus leading towards official endorsement of PPR free status by the OIE. During its course, the programme will strengthen national Veterinary Service that are the key players in the successful implementation of the PPR GEP. When appropriate, the programme will also support reducing the prevalence of [...]

The Government’s Green Morocco Plan (Plan Maroc Vert) underlines agriculture’s important role and sets strategies to promote the sector’s development. Despite these efforts, however, important challenges remain. An important one refers to the availability of appropriate financial services for rural actors engaged in agriculture. The average capital required yearly to finance agriculture is estimated at 30 billion Dirhams. The Moroccan banking sector finances only 17 percent of such demand and Credit Agricole du Maroc is responsible for about 80 percent of this share of financing to agriculture. A significant part of the rural population composed of poorer households continues to [...]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Investment Centre (IC) Division, is assisting the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in its goal to improve the impact of future EBRD agribusiness investments regarding water efficiency. To this end, in 2013, a joint FAO/EBRD project entitled “Water along the food chain” was initiated in four pilot countries – Ukraine, Turkey, Jordan and Kyrgyz Republic. The specific objectives of this project are four-fold: (i) conduct selected analyses of water efficiency along the food chain to inform EBRD’s agribusiness investment decisions; (ii) identify potential agribusiness clients for [...]

At the request of the Ecuadorian Government, FAO undertook a technical assistance to generate an integrated assessment climate impacts on the banana value chain in support of the Ecuador initiatives towards sustainable and climate-adapted strategies. Both biophysical and socio-economic analyses were carried out using a team of FAO and international experts. Evidence was generated on: (i) banana suitability under climate change in Ecuador and other banana producing countries; (ii) climate impacts on yields and potential diseases incidence for bananas in Ecuador; (iii) carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions from production to consumption, including transportation and waste disposal. Policy analysis focused on the [...]

The following recommendations have been elaborated building upon the main findings of the CFS High Level Panel of Expert’s report on Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition: what roles for livestock? The sustainable development of agriculture, including livestock, is essential for poverty reduction and the achievement of food security and nutrition. The recommendations aim to strengthen the contribution of the livestock sector1 to sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition (FSN) and contribute to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, in the overall context of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, recognizing the [...]