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Climate change issues are among the leading causes of hunger and affect all dimensions of food security in the Upper West region of Ghana, including access to food, availability and stability of supplies and nutrition. To address this situation, the project aimed to increase the productivity of selected crop commodity value chains (maize, cowpea, soya bean, Sorghum and groundnut) and develop information, education and communication materials for training and capacity-building in disaster management. Emphasis was also placed on Good Agricultural Practices to reduce risk and improve natural resource management.

 Agriculture is the backbone of Afghan economy. However, its agriculture sector is highly dependent on irrigation water management. Given that the productivity of rainfedcultivation is very low, most of the production comes from irrigated agriculture. The rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation systems and improvement of their efficiency was deemed crucial for sustainable development and the stability of the country. The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), through its Irrigation Directorate (ID), plays a key role in this process. The project, which was part of a bigger project called Capacity Development and Institutional Strengthening (CDIS) funded by Japan International Cooperation [...]

Agriculture is the most important sector for the economy of Ghana, and for its continued growth, the use and management of agricultural inputs, such as pesticides, had to be improved. Since 2009, obsolete pesticides have been stored in the temporary storage facility at the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate office, close to a water body that provides water for the surrounding communities. The poor storage of stockpiles posed a severe risk to people's health and the environment. Therefore, this project was implemented to dispose of the hazardous chemicals and build the institutional capacity to manage them in the future, [...]

Beekeeping is a tradition for a large segment of the rural population in Azerbaijan. Prior to independence in 1991, apiculture was an intensive agricultural activity. Following independence, when agricultural reforms were carried out in the country for transition to a market economy, all beekeeping farms were privatized, and the beehives were divided among small farms. While the number of private farms and hives in each private farm increased, honey production dropped. The project aimed to increase the productivity of the local Caucasian honey bees, and to improve the capacity of beekeepers to produce more honey from each beehive.

The Government of The Gambia faced many difficulties controlling spiralling whitefly infestation in the country, because of insufficient capacity at both public and private sector levels to control the pest. Whitefly is found in the western part of The Gambia, but if it is not adequately controlled it could spread to the rest of the country. In view of these challenges, the Government requested technical support to build the capacities of public and private sector stakeholders in whitefly management, and to develop and implement a sustainable pest management strategy.

Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have made information available to more people than ever before. These advances have also substantially increased their capacity to connect with each other in a continuously expanding number of ways. Rural women are currently (and have always been) last in line in terms of ICT access and use, even though women stand more to gain than most from active participation and engagement with these resources.   Evidence suggests that the ICT sector is both urban- and male-centric, ranging from the design of  ICTs to the gender of sector employees and decision-makers. Representation in the media is [...]

This paper is an accompaniment to the FAO study, The Agricultural Sectors in the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs): Analysis. Building on the results of that study, this paper outlines key types of support developing countries will require to effectively implement and report on their agricultural sector commitments, and ultimately scale up ambition in the coming years. 

In the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Pam in 2015, the Government of Vanuatu intensified its support to the fruit and vegetable sector. Pineapple was identified as being particularly resilient to severe weather and as having excellent production and market potential. However, the lack of knowledge among farmers and agribusinesses on how to grow sustainably and profitably and how to add value to pineapples made it necessary to strengthen capacity in the sector. The project targeted both the public and private sectors, with a view to helping farmers to produce and sell fresh and processed pineapple products on Vanuatu’s domestic market. Find [...]

In the majority of developing countries, pesticides are widely used for the control of pests and diseases in agriculture. Unsound chemical management, the use of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs), the presence of unsafeguarded obsolete stocks of pesticides and the overall poor management of pesticide products pose significant and often unacceptable risks to human health and the environment. The project(of which this was the second phase) was part of the European Commission programme on “Capacity Building related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements(MEAs) in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries”. The second phase of this project aimed to support and strengthen institutional and national [...]

Increasing exports is one of the most important priorities for governments and plays a prominent role in the development agenda in developing countries, high-income states and all countries between. On the other hand, pursuing the intensification of trade demands a deliberate policy framework tailored to country-specific needs and the interests of producers. In light of this, governments around the globe have developed various export promotion policies – some that share similar characteristics and others that are unique – that can serve as best practices to many. The purpose of this paper is to identify the best promotional practices implemented [...]