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This document containing the FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on agro-environmental policies is mainly directed at people in charge of making and implementing policies on agriculture, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture in Latin America and the Caribbean. The guidelines are the result of an extensive consultation process and debates carried out through the project “Strengthening Agroenvironmental policies in Latin America and the Caribbean Through Dialogue and Exchange of National Experiences,” implemented by Brazil between 2012 and 2015 in the framework of South-South Cooperation, with the collaboration of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Nicaragua in the fi rst stage, and Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama and Paraguay in the second stage.

One fundamental goal of FAO and Brazil is to support countries to develop strategies, methods and tools aimed at improving food security and overcoming poverty in the framework of sustainable development. The formulation of Guidelines is one of the mechanisms adopted to provide such support. This document of Voluntary Guidelines on agro-environmental policies proposes a set of principles and strategic guidelines for the implementation of sectoral actions through a governance system that strengthens local ownership and social participation. In this sense, these Guidelines are presented as an instrumental framework meant to contribute to and achieve the goals of the Global Agenda Post-2015.