Recommended reads ahead of the Food Systems Summit – Action track 3: Boost nature-positive production
26/08/2021
Action Track 3 will work to optimize environmental resource use in food production, processing and distribution, thereby reducing biodiversity loss, pollution, water use, soil degradation and greenhouse gas emissions.
Ahead of the Food Systems Summit, browse a list of FAO publications related to Action track 3: Boost nature-positive production.
Biodiversity-related
The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people
This edition assesses progress to date in meeting global targets and goals related to forest biodiversity and examines the effectiveness of policies, actions and approaches, in terms of both conservation and sustainable development outcomes.
The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture
This publication presents the first global assessment of biodiversity for food and agriculture worldwide, including plants, animals and microorganisms at genetic, species and ecosystem levels, present in and around crop, livestock, forest and aquatic production systems.
Climate change-related
Building Agricultural Resilience to Natural Hazard-induced Disasters: Insights from Country Case Studies
This report argues for a shift from coping with the impacts of disasters to an ex-ante approach that focuses on prevention, mitigation and recovery. It recommends that governments provide consistent information and training for farmers to cope with natural hazard risks.
Scientific review of the impact of climate change on plant pests – A global challenge to prevent and mitigate plant-pest risks in agriculture, forestry and ecosystems
This study warns that climate change may increase the risk of pests being introduced to new areas. It recommends conducting pest risk analyses and strengthening international cooperation as preventive measures to protect plant health.
Indigenous Peoples-related
Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems: Insights on sustainability and resilience from the front line of climate change
This publication includes a compilation of eight Indigenous Peoples food systems' profiles carried out across the world. Attention is given to their climate resilience and sustainability elements, portraying Indigenous Peoples’ food systems contributions to the global debate on sustainable food systems.
White/ Whipala Paper: Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems
This paper incorporates inputs from more than 50 Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations and presents the characterization of Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems.
Soil, land and water-related
The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2020
This edition presents new estimates on the pervasiveness of water scarcity in irrigated agriculture and of water shortages in rainfed agriculture, as well as on the number of people affected.
Global assessment of soil pollution: Report
World soil health is under pressure from erosion, loss of soil organic carbon and biodiversity, pollution, and salinization. This report presents the status and drivers of global soil pollution, as well as recommendations to address the issue such as using bioremediation technologies.
State of knowledge of soil biodiversity - Status, challenges and potentialities – Report 2020
The report presents the state of knowledge on soil biodiversity, the threats to it, and the solutions that soil biodiversity can provide to problems in different fields, including agriculture, nutrition and pharmaceuticals.
Progress on change in water-use efficiency. Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.4.1. 2021
The report provides the information needed to establish, implement and strengthen data-based policies relating to water-use efficiency, and offers an interpretative insight into the SDG indicator tracking progress in this area.
Progress on level of water stress. Global status and acceleration needs for SDG indicator 6.4.2. 2021
Indicator 6.4.2 tracks how much freshwater is being withdrawn by all economic activities, compared to total renewable freshwater resources available. In this report, you can learn more about progress on the level of water stress globally, by country and by major basin.
Nature-Positive Agriculture and Natural Resources Management
These three reports lay out the potential of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in agriculture to deliver nutrition for people worldwide while restoring nature and the climate – contributing to multiple imperatives of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
- Nature-based solutions in agriculture: Sustainable management and conservation of land, water and biodiversity
- Nature-based solutions in agriculture: The case and pathway for adoption
- Nature-based solutions in agriculture: Project design for securing investment
Further reading
Publications
- Building climate resilient dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral production systems – An approach for context-dependent economic, social and environmentally sustainable transformations
- Climate resilient practices – Typology and guiding material for climate risk screening
- FAO strategy on mainstreaming biodiversity across agricultural sectors
- Incorporating climate change considerations into agricultural investment programmes
- Greenhouse gas emissions from food systems: building the evidence base (JOURNAL article)
- The impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security 2021
- Global Soil Organic Carbon map (GSOCmap) Version 1.5 – Technical report
- The potential of agroecology to build climate-resilient livelihoods and food systems
- Nature-Based Solutions for agricultural water management and food security
- Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in practice in the Kagera basin - lessons learned for scaling up at landscape level
- Environment and Natural Resources Management Working Papers
- Keep soil alive, Protect soil biodiversity - GSOBI Outcome document
- ITPS Soil letters #1, #2, #3
- Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management
- Status of the World's Soil Resources
- Protocol for the assessment of Sustainable Soil Management
Web articles
- Building resilience faster: FAO’s work on water
- Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity
- Respecting, including and promoting Indigenous Peoples’ issues
- It’s alive! Soil is much more than you think
- Polluting our soils is polluting our future
- Innovation in understanding soils
Related websites
- FAO land and water website
- FAO and biodiversity website
- FAO and climate change website
- FAO energy
- FAO & the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture
- FAO Global Soil Partnership website
- FAO Soils Portal
- FAO World Soil Day website
Forthcoming
- The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW) 2021
- Global Forest Resources Assessment study: Managing forests for water
- The State of Food and Agriculture 2021
