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The document is the result of a technical cooperation agreement between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the National Land Agency. It presents the results of an intermediate evaluation of the Peasant Reserve Zones legally established in Colombia, providing guidelines to strengthen and dynamize this legal figure in the context of rural development policies. Through the revision of the historical context and the legal and institutional framework, and using primary and secondary information, this evaluation examines the challenges related to governance, including institutional and organizational actors, the application of normativity and the design of sustainable productive [...]

The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) is an appraisal system developed by FAO providing estimates of the impact of agriculture and forestry development projects, programmes and policies on the carbon-balance. The carbon-balance is defined as the net balance from all greenhouse gases (GHGs) expressed in CO2 equivalent that were emitted or sequestered due to project implementation as compared to a business-as-usual scenario. EX-ACT is a land-based accounting system, estimating C stock changes (i.e. emissions or sinks of CO2) as well as GHG emissions per unit of land, expressed in equivalent tonnes of CO2 per hectare and year. The tool helps project designers [...]

There is growing interest in water accounting, why it is needed, what benefits it brings, and equally important, how it can be put into practice. Water accounting is about quantifying water resources and uses of water, much like financial accounts provide information on income and expenditure. Interest in water accounting is based on the premise that ‘We cannot plan and manage what we do not measure’ – a statement that few would disagree with.Society needs more accurate information and answers to the key questions about water supply and demand. More data are needed but simply doing water measurements and assessments [...]

La FAO ha desarrollado una iniciativa de Comunicación para el Desarrollo (CpD) orientada a informar y documentar experiencias relevantes en tema de gobernanza y reconocimiento de tierras comunales en Guatemala, con fines de acceso y uso sustentable de los recursos naturales.  Se ha producido un Módulo de Comunicación y Capacitación sobre Tierras Comunales que incluye: un video didáctico, cinco cortos documentales realizados con comunidades indígenas y campesinas donde existen buenas prácticas y casos exitosos, una cartilla para los usuarios y una guía metodológica para los facilitadores, además de microprogramas radiales en idiomas Maya (Chorti’, Mam y Q’echi’). La iniciativa busca facilitar procesos [...]

Through the Purchase from Africans for Africa programme (PAA Africa), the FAO has been engaging in providing technical support to African Governments for building adapted and operational public food procurement methods from smallholder farmers for school feeding. The methods of public procurement fostered by PAA Africa were developed in complex contexts of food insecurity and malnutrition, presenting occasional food deficit and / or chronic food insecurity, low agricultural productivity, institutional fragility and lack of governance, with population relying on food aid to overcome food insecurity. The publication aims at presenting best practices and lessons learned along of five years of [...]

The resource guide is part of the follow-up to the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) that was held in November 2014 in Rome, Italy. It aims at guiding countries to translate the 60 recommended policy options and actions of the ICN2 Framework of Action into country-specific commitments for action. This process is done according to the national needs and conditions, and builds on existing policies, strategies, programmes, plans and investments in order to achieve the 10 commitments of the Rome Declaration on Nutrition.

For the third year in a row, hunger is on the rise again and affects 821 million people in the world. In addition, one third of the global population suffers from malnutrition. Eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030 requires strategies, public policies, national laws and programs that guarantee the right to adequate food for everyone, contribute to reducing poverty and improve people’s diets according to each country’s specific context. This publication presents the structural causes of hunger and malnutrition and introduces FAO’s framework of action to achieve a solid political commitment and design long-term legal strategies to achieve Zero Hunger. [...]

Many different policies affect rural migration through their impacts on agriculture, rural development, food insecurity and poverty. As countries at different levels of development face different challenges and policy priorities (as shown in the typology based on rural migration drivers), the migration context matters for related policy formulation and implementation. The challenge for policy-makers is to maximize the benefits of rural migration while minimizing the negative effects and, as much as possible, to create conditions so that migration is a voluntary decision based on real and informed choices. For this purpose policies must aim at: creating attractive rural livelihood opportunities, [...]

Migration is an expanding global reality, one that allows millions of people to seek new opportunities. But it also involves challenges for migrants and for societies, both in areas of origin and of destination. This report analyses migratory flows – internal and international – and how they are linked to processes of economic development, demographic change, and natural-resource pressure. The focus is on rural migration, the many forms it takes and the important role it plays in both developing and developed countries. The report investigates the drivers and impacts of rural migration and highlights how related policy priorities depend on [...]

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, known as the VGGT, promote secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests. Their overarching goals are to achieve food security for all, and support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food. Liberia, Mongolia and Sierra Leone are among the first countries to make significant progress in implementing the VGGT. Maintain ing government commitment and the general momentum around the VGGT is key to ensuring their internalization, and related processes in national programmes. Find more Project [...]