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The Policy database on Employment and decent work in rural areas is an online inventory of current national, regional and global policies, programmes and studies that are relevant to the promotion of more and better jobs in the rural areas of developing countries. The Database has the twofold purpose of: Facilitating a quick assessment of countries and regions’ needs for support on Employment and decent work in rural areas, and Fostering information sharing on how the employment challenge in rural areas is addressed around the world. This database represents the first initiative that focuses primarily on employment-related issues applied to rural areas and/or [...]

The demand for food is expected to increase by 60 percent in the next 37 years as the world’s population is estimated to reach 9.2 billion by 2050. Mobile technology would effectively improve the transmission of agricultural research results forapplication in farmer’s fields.

Poverty is one of the biggest obstacles to human development and economic growth. About 2.1 billion people still live in poverty and 900 million are extreme poor. Most of them live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and rural livelihoods for their income and food security.

The SSF Guidelines are based on internationally accepted human rights standards and are to be interpreted and implemented in accordance with those standards. Their objectives are to be met through the promotion of a human rights-based approach (HRBA). This approach seeks to ensure the participation of small-scale fishing communities in nondiscriminatory, transparent and accountable decision-making processes by putting particular emphasis on the needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups and developing countries. While the HRBA has been recognized by FAO as a principle that informs the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects, there is still limited experience in its practical application in the context of small-scale [...]

Worldwide small-scale fishers, boat crew members, fish-processors, fish traders and fish processing workers face serious labour related challenges specifically linked to the nature of the sector, including prevailing informality, seasonality, remoteness and hazardous nature of work. Inadequate knowledge and skills make many fishers dependent on unpaid family labour including those of women and children. Where labour regulation exist are of difficult application. The study explores wide-ranging decent work concerns in fisheries and aquaculture sector with the objective to inform and guide FAO programming and partnering with governments, civil society organizations, private sector and other UN organizations in promoting decent working conditions along [...]

The course is designed to raise awareness and build knowledge among agricultural stakeholders about the importance of addressing child labour in agriculture, including livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture. It aims to build specific skills, depending on work-related responsibilities and tasks and/or interests, by providing concrete ideas and guidance that can be applied in real life agricultural policy and programming situations. Duration: 12 hours

The Guidance document aims to assist FAO Members in incorporating decent rural employment (DRE) interventions across different agricultural sub-sectors. It is organized into three main sections that answer respectively to the questions: "Why", "When" and "How" to integrate DRE. In particular, the section on “How to incorporate DRE considerations” outlines and analyzes the following 4 strategic planning phases: Phase 1: Conducting the problem and stakeholder analysis – Applying a DRE lens; Phase 2: Defining desired impacts and beneficiaries – Prioritizing DRE; Phase 3: Developing the result chain and the strategies and programmes to achieve the results - Developing a DRE-inclusive results chain; [...]

This booklet is directed towards FAO Member States, UN system and all other potential partners, and sheds light on the role that agriculture and rural development and the sustainable management of natural resources can play in curbing migration pressure in rural areas. It also outlines the main entry points where FAO can support international efforts to address global movements of refugees and migrants. Together with its partners, FAO is committed to further strengthening its efforts on migration within humanitarian and development contexts while building on its comparative advantage in agriculture and rural development issues.

This document presents the conceptual framework for distress migration of rural youth. The framework focuses on the migration of rural youth (aged 15–24), who account for a large proportion of migrants and are a particularly vulnerable group. The framework comprises three sections: Analysis of the main factors determining the propensity of rural youth to migrate; Assessment of the likely impacts of distress migration of rural youth in terms of rural development for local areas of origin; Illustration of the most promising policies and programmes to reduce distress migration of rural youth and maximize its developmental benefits for the communities of origin.

Social protection has helped lift millions of people out of extreme poverty.  However, seventy percent of the world population, particularly in rural areas, still lack social protection coverage. Benjamin Davis, Strategic Programme Leader ad interim of the FAO Strategic Programme on Rural Poverty Reduction together with Natalia Winder Rossi, Social Protection Team Leader of the FAO Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division explain how enhancing social protection systems in rural areas can contribute to reducing poverty and ending hunger. They describe the FAO policy work, including key policy messages. See all videos in the Policy and Governance series :  AR  CH  EN [...]