Strengthening resilient agricultural livelihoods
Level 3 responses are activated in the most complex and challenging humanitarian emergencies, when the highest level of mobilization is required across the humanitarian system. Even before the conflict escalated, the country suffered high levels of p...overty, food insecurity, undernutrition and malnutrition, water shortages and land degradation. Yemenis are also facing armed conflict, displacement, risk of famine and disease outbreaks.
more
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched a new Framework for Environmental and Social Management (FESM) to ensure that both people and the environment are protected from any potential impacts of FAO programmes and projects.
“This Framework ensures that our proj...ects do both “no harm” and support the transformation to more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems by upholding the highest international standards for risk management,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu explained during a virtual event.
The Framework, which includes key elements of a people-centered approach and establishes environmental and social performance requirements for FAO programming, is also intended to ensure that all stakeholders, including local and indigenous communities, have ample opportunities to actively participate in projects’ activities and to voice their concerns about them.
more
This report sets out the compelling case for repurposing harmful agricultural producer support to reverse this situation, by optimizing the use of scarce public resources, strengthening economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and ultimately driving a food systems transformation that can suppor...t global sustainable development commitments.
more
Updated version June 2015
(Synthesis Report 2021) [EN] - World Analysis on World about Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Drought, Flood and more; published on 09 Dec 2021 by FAO
FAO’s component of the Global COVID-19 Humanitarian Response Plan
18.5.2020
The Quadripartite Organizations – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE), and the World Health Organization (WHO) – collaborate to drive the change and tra...nsformation required to mitigate the impact of current and future health challenges at the human–animal– plant–environment interface at global, regional and country level.
more
The Investment guidelines for youth in agrifood systems in Africa, developed jointly by FAO and the African Union Commission (AUC) through a multi-stakeholder and participatory process, highlight the importance of youth as change agents and key stakeholders contributing to sustainable agrifood syste...ms. The guidelines aim to accelerate investments in and by youth in agrifood systems by providing practical guidance - including tools and examples - to design, develop, implement, monitor and evaluate youth-focused and youth-sensitive investment programmes and to engage youth fully as partners in the entire process.
more
Projects from around the world
As the number of transboundary pest and animal and foodborne disease outbreaks rises, so does the number of people who are chronically hungry due to these and other factors. The correlation can be explained by the link between our health and that of the planet. We rely on land and sea for the produc...tion of safe and quality foods for our daily nourishment. Pests and disease epidemics negatively impact the quality, quantity and safety of our food sources, and cripple economic growth and efficiencies in production. Furthermore, the epidemic and endemic levels of the pathogens and disease vectors can be difficult to control. This is why FAO stresses and promotes the special efforts required for cost-effective preventive measures rather than the more expensive control, disinfestation, treatment and disposal measures. When preventive measures are late or difficult, preparedness and contingency plans must be in place to enable rapid response. Early warning systems, based on close monitoring, surveillance, and timely reporting are fundamental to warn and empower communities to safeguard their livelihoods and assets by enhancing disease and pest prevention measures and for government services to take immediate measures to protect communities and national economies.
more
The guide book provides a set of tools and methods to assess existing structures and capacities of national, district and local institutions with responsibilities for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in order to improve their effectiveness and the integration of DRM concerns into development planning,... with particular reference to disaster-prone areas, vulnerable sectors and population groups.
The strategic use of the Guide is expected to enhance understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing existing DRM institutional structures and their implications for on-going institutional change processes. It will also highlight the complex institutional linkages among various actors and sectors at different levels.
more
The Global Early Warning – Early Action (EWEA) report on food security and agriculture is developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The report is part of FAO’s EWEA system, which aims to translate forecasts and early warnings into anticipatory action.
In recognition of the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), its increasing threat to human, animal and plant health, and the need for a One Health approach to address this issue, the 39th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) agreed it was important for the food safety comm...unity to play its part and re-established the ad hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance (TFAMR) ). The objectives of the Task Force were
to revise the current Codex Code of Practice to Minimise and Contain Antimicrobial Resistance and to develop new guidance on surveillance programmes relevant to foodborne AMR.
more
During fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) production, water is used for a variety of purposes. Even the water was conventionally treated and disinfected, it may still potentially contain human pathogens, albeit at low concentrations. A risk assessment, appropriate to the national or local production c...ontext, should be conducted to assess the potential risks associated with a specific water source or supply in order to devise the appropriate risk mitigation strategies.
Since the 48th session of Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) noted the importance of water safety and quality in food production and processing, FAO and WHO has undertaken the work on this subject. This report describes the output of the third in a series of meetings, which examined appropriate and fit-for-purpose microbiological criteria for water used with fresh fruit and vegetables. The advice herein will support decision making when applying the concept of fit-for-purpose water for use in the pre- and post-harvest production of fresh fruit and vegetables.
more
At its 48th session of Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), the Committee noted the importance of water quality and safety in food production and processing. CCFH requested the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide guidan...ce for those scenarios where the use of “clean water” (i.e. water that does not compromise the safety of the food in the context of its use) was indicated in Codex texts and on
where it is appropriate to use “clean water”. In particular, guidance was sought for the use of irrigation water and “clean” seawater and on the safe reuse of processing water.
more
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has launched a new Compendium of forgotten foods in Africa which is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive collection of 100 African forgotten food crops.
Also referred to as neglected, underutilized or orphan crops, these species offer valua...ble benefits, including nutrition and diet diversification, while supporting resilient, climate-smart agriculture but they are at risk of being lost as foods such as maize, rice and wheat dominate African diets.
The compendium list includes details on each crop's botanical classification, agroecological suitability, agronomic requirements, traditional and medicinal uses, value-added prospects and nutritional content. Among the entries are: African locust beans, African nightshade, baobab, Bambara nut, bush mango, cassava, fonio, marula, moringa, teff and tigernut.
Produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s Regional Office for Africa with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Compendium is a direct response to the UN Food Systems Summit and the Call for Collective Action in the Global Manifesto on Forgotten Foods.
Embracing both agricultural heritage and innovation can transform agrifood systems across Africa. By cataloguing these forgotten or underutilized crops, traditional knowledge is being honoured in the push to unlock the potential for better nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and resilience against the climate crisis.
In a joint foreword to the publication, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel and FARA Executive Director Aggrey Agumya urged the mainstreaming of forgotten foods into African agrifood systems.
more
The GAP articulates five objectives for tackling AMR, and sets out the tasks required to achieve them, highlighting
roles and responsibilities for country governments, the One Health Tripartite organizations (FAO, OIE and WHO) and other national and international partners. To ensure that all stakeh...olders assume their roles and responsibilities, and to assess whether they are collectively effecting the necessary change in AMR, the implementation of the GAP needs to be routinely monitored and evaluated. To that end, the Tripartite organizations co-developed a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for the GAP, as outlined in this document
more
The COVID-19 pandemic has put significant pressure on health systems all around the world. The drastic measures established to contain its spread are creating serious impediments to economic activity (including agrifood systems) and, consequently, to livelihoods and food security and nutrition.