HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS
Ministers of Agriculture and Ministers of Trade met on 3 October 2016 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome to debate and exchange views on policies and strategies within the context of ‘Long-term Commodity Price Trends and Sustainable Agricultural Development’. This report presents the topics of discusson of the Ministerial Meeting.
Unsustainable water use (over-drafted aquifers, seasonally dry rivers, disappearing lakes and wetlands) is a problem across the world. This is especially true in the NENA region, which includes many of the most water-short countries in the world. This review indicates that there are rather few examples of carefully documented impacts of hi-tech irrigation, while there are many examples of projects and programs that assume that water will be saved and productivity increased. The conclusion of this report is that restoring a balance between sustainable supply and consumption of water requires first physical control of the water resource by government or other agencies responsible for sustainable use, followed by interventions to reduce allocations. Within the allocated and controlled quotas, hi-tech irrigation will evolve and spread to the extent that it makes sense for the farmer who wishes to take advantage of the various benefits of hi-tech irrigation.
The objective of the assessment is to analyse the agricultural and rural sector of Zimbabwe from a gender perspective at the macro (policy), meso (institutional) and micro (community and household) levels in order to identify gender inequalities in access to critical productive resources, assets, services and opportunities. In particular, the assessment identifies needs and constraints of both women and men in selected FAO areas of competence as well as priorities and gaps. Also, it provides recommendations and guidance to promote gender sensitivity of future programming and projects.
This publication offers facilitators technical guidance to manage field farm schools to support local famers in all aspects of rice crop management. Technical knowledge gained by farmers will revitalize the rice industry in Fiji and assist food security by alleviating dependance on rice imports.
