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The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) is an appraisal system that provides 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 with a business-as-usual scenario.  EX-ACT is a land-based accounting system, estimating emissions or sinks of CO2, as well as GHG emissions per unit of land. The tool helps project designers to prioritize project activities with benefits in economic and climate change mitigation terms. Find out more: EX-ACT Brochure YouTube-explanation [...]

This paper presents a new methodological approach aimed at measuring progress towards sustainable agriculture in countries and across agri-food systems typologies, by measuring socio-economic and environmental dimensions with available national statistics, with sixteen indicators defined and constructed from FAOSTAT data. A trend analysis is carried out at country level over the time series 1961-2018, with country results aggregated by four agri-food systems typologies: traditional; land-intensive and capital-intensive mixed systems; and modern food systems. The analysis provides a novel framework for the analysis of progress in achieving sustainable agriculture by country and agri-food system type, that can be implemented effectively and [...]

This working paper analyses the financial cost and benefit of adopting two different bundles of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, which are tailored for the diverse conditions that prevail in southern Malawi. The results show the integration of CSA practices, including soil conservation, agroforestry, and livestock diversification, into conventional maize-legume and maize monocrop systems is profitable for farmers. Moreover, the profitability of these systems increases under extreme weather conditions that occur with increasing frequency in the region. However, the upfront costs and cost variability associated with the adoption of these CSA scenarios is high relative to conventional practices. In addition, while [...]

The Progress towards Sustainable Agriculture initiative (PROSA) is a framework that seeks to complement ongoing efforts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and particularly indicator 2.4.1, to support country-level assessments using data already available at the national level. Making agriculture more sustainable – productive, environmentally friendly, resilient and profitable is fundamental, as agriculture remains the main source of livelihood for the majority of the world’s poor and hungry. The pathway towards sustainable agriculture must ensure increasing output, but also make more efficient use of increasingly scarce global resources, be resilient to and help mitigate climate change, and improve human well-being. This [...]

This paper presents a methodology for public expenditure review and analysis for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agricultural sector. It outlines the basic methodological concepts, including the classification of public expenditures in the context of their links to climate change adaptation and mitigation. It also illustrates how such analysis can usefully contribute to policy decision making to better achieve the climate change adaptation and mitigation goals using the case study of Uganda. The proposed classification allows for analysing the level and the composition of public expenditures that influence adaptation capacity of the sector to climate change, and actions [...]

Livestock portfolios play a significant role, as an income and consumption buffering strategy during severe droughts. The buffering potential of livestock varies by income quintile, length of the climate shock, animal species, and region. Households face trade-offs between using livestock assets to smooth the effect of the shock or protect future income generation. Livestock oriented resilience interventions should carefully consider the relationships among species, droughts, and socioeconomic groups. This study employs a unique dataset combining socioeconomic and livestock asset data from 150 000 households with a multi-scalar drought index.

满足日益增长的粮食需求在世界范围内给水、土地和土壤资源造成压力。农业可为减轻这些压力贡献力量，助力实现气候和发展目标。可持续农业模式能够直接改善土地、土壤和水资源状况，产生生态系统惠益，减少土地来源的排放。实现上述目标需要精准的信息，更需要我们大刀阔斧地改革资源管理模式；此外还需要自然资源管理范畴之外的补充力量，以便协同增效，权衡取舍。 2021年版《世界粮食和农业土地及水资源状况》旨在介绍土地和水资源现状，着重指出风险，梳理相关机遇和挑战。此外，报告还强调了适当政策、机制与投资的重要作用。近期开展的评估、预测和情境分析表明，水土资源消耗加速，生物多样性损失愈加严峻。2021年版《土地及水资源状况》着重分析了土地、土壤和水资源的相关风险和发展趋势，提出了解决用户竞争、实现预期惠益的途径。报告介绍了最新的知识内容，提出了一整套应对措施和行动，可以帮助决策者做出合理决策，推动由退化和脆弱转向可持续和韧性发展。

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 [...]

This document is a special update of the recent FAO analysis, “Climate finance in the agriculture and land use sector – global and regional trends between 2000 and 2018” and includes newly released data for 2019. Climate finance is a fundamental element of the global development agenda and has been accelerating in the past years. The recent FAO analysis identified that between 2000 and 2018 the share of global climate finance in the agriculture and land use sector decreased, passing from an average of 45 percent of the total flows at the beginning of the millennium, to 24 percent in [...]