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This paper discusses how adapting food production systems to respond to consumer demand for healthier diets is a major opportunity to mitigate and adapt to climate change in agro-rural economies. It also addresses how existing technological solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation need to create more balance between the production and consumption tiers of agrifood systems.Policy dialogue includes managing trade-offs between different sector and stakeholder interests and exploring synergies rather than focusing on exclusivity and competition. This requires a new framework that goes beyond sector-specific policy development. Political economy issues compound the outcome of evidence-based policy dialogue results. For [...]

Agriculture accounts for almost one-fourth of all the greenhouse gas emitted by humans, but is also a victim of the changing climate – extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and land degradation are undermining the sector's productivity – putting many livelihoods at risk. Yet, with the right set of policies and investments, agriculture can be a part of the solution. The EX-ACT suite of tools gathers the evidence complementing the information available to decisions makers on the outcomes of their agrifood interventions. It helps them to quantify the amount of greenhouse gas released or sequestered from agricultural production, analyse the outcomes [...]

In June 2022, FAO adopted the Framework for Environmental and Social Management, which replaces the Environmental and Social Management Guidelines (2015) and is complementary to the Compliance Reviews Following Complaints Related to the Organization’s Environmental and Social Standards Guidelines. More information on the framework will be available here soon.   1) Agriculture, including crop, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, depend largely on the sound use of natural resources. Sustainable agriculture must strike a balance between protecting and sustainably using natural resources while at the same time meeting society’s growing needs by offering decent and resilient livelihoods. FAO and its key stakeholders need to share a common [...]

In its 2020 communiqué, the International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy has urged to strengthen good practices and policies to advance the global bioeconomy.The transition from a fossil-based economy to a bioeconomy happens at three levels: technological, organizational and social. In particular, agri-food systems are key to achieve a shift to sustainable and circular production and consumption patterns, since they occupy the biggest share of the bioeconomy from an economic, value-added perspective as well as having potential for discovery and innovation.This Compendium outlines 250 sources of good practices and policies. It covers the entire continuum of economic sectors that have [...]

To promote the production, utilization, conservation and regeneration of biological resources in ways that support global food and nutrition security and sustainable development, it is necessary to have a holistic vision for a sustainable and circular bioeconomy. Through the International Sustainable Bioeconomy Working Group (ISBWG), a multistakeholder group established in 2016, FAO provides international support to increase national capacities to develop strategies and policies that can realize this vision for a transition towards sustainability.Aware that the implementation of bioeconomy involves potential synergies and trade-offs with regards to sustainability, the ISBWG proposes to mainstream a set of Aspirational Principles and Criteria [...]

Food system demands have increased exponentially in recent decades and are estimated to continue growing as global populations increase and economic affluence expands. However, the very foundation of a productive system – healthy lands and soils and clean water supply – is already under immense pressure. In fact, by the most credible estimates, up to 52% of global agricultural lands are now moderately to severely degraded, with millions of hectares per year degrading to the point they are abandoned by the land manager. The loss of productive land, coupled with increased food demand, pushes agriculture to be the primary driver [...]

Esta publicación presenta diez experiencias de colaboración intercultural escalables que demuestran la importancia, eficiencia y efectividad de trabajar de la mano de hombres, mujeres y jóvenes de pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes de América Latina y el Caribe en la búsqueda de soluciones prácticas desarrolladas a partir de la sinergia entre el conocimiento ancestral y la innovación científica y tecnológica.Los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes son dos de los grupos rurales con mayor potencial para contribuir a la mitigación del cambio climático en la región. Ambos grupos están altamente expuestos a los desastres naturales y los efectos del clima en la agricultura [...]

The document summarizes the report that, based on a review of more than 250 studies, demonstrates the importance and urgency of climate action to protect the forests of the indigenous and tribal territories of Latin America as well as the indigenous and tribal peoples who protect them. These territories contain about a third of the continent's forests. That's 14% of the carbon stored in tropical forests around the world; These territories are also home to an enormous diversity of wild fauna and flora and play a key role in stabilizing the local and regional climate.Based on an analysis of the [...]

Bees provide a critical link in the maintenance of ecosystems, pollination. They play a major role in maintaining biodiversity, ensuring the survival of many plants, enhancing forest regeneration, providing sustainability and adaptation to climate change and improving the quality and quantity of agricultural production systems. In fact, close to 75 percent of the world’s crops that produce fruits and seeds for human consumption depend, at least in part, on pollinators for sustained production, yield and quality. Beekeeping, also called apiculture, refers to all activities concerned with the practical management of social bee species.These guidelines aim to provide useful information and [...]

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) to raise global awareness on how protecting plants from pests and diseases can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development. The IYPH final report presents the key outcomes and achievements of the Year, and highlights its main legacies.