In Chadakori, Niger, the Dimitra clubs offered training sessions on composting techniques. Trained farmers were asked to share their knowledge to 5,000 attendees, 60% of which were women. Almost 800 compost pits were built, producing 20 tons of organic matter, introdcuing cost-savings and boosting the richness of farm fields. The FMM subprogramme inspired radio stations to broadcast the results, motivating other villages to also learn about composting. Thanks to the support of the FMM, FAO is promoting inclusive community engagement and women’s empowerment in Africa.
Rainfed agriculture accounts for more than half of the world’s food production but is facing increasing precipitation variability, driven by climate change. Achieving zero hunger will require improvements in rainwater management to increase productivity. About 45 percent of global rainfed cropland is still under low-input production systems. These are concentrated mostly in lower-income countries, which face multiple challenges in addressing the growing water shortages. Improved water management practices must be combined with the best agronomic practices for enhanced effectiveness.
Coffee is one of the key agricultural commodities in the Government of Uganda’s pursuance of economic growth and job creation, especially for the rapidly expanding youth population. A significant number of job opportunities exist for young people along the coffee value chain, not only in production but increasingly in processing, trade and marketing, as well as service provision.
This brief explores the evidence on the relationships between food aid transfers and investments in climate adaptive agriculture using data from Ethiopia, Malawi and United Republic of Tanzania. Four climate adaptive agricultural investments are considered, namely: adoption of cereal-legume intercropping, use of organic fertilizers such as manure and compost, construction of soil and water conservation structures in fields, and investments in livestock diversification.
Livelihoods are rural people’s greatest defense against hunger and malnutrition. Crises undermine rural livelihoods and erode people’s capacity to cope with the next shock. In humanitarian contexts, FAO brings wide-ranging technical expertise and operational experience to the fore to safeguard livelihoods and enable crisis-hit and at-risk people to access and start producing food as quickly as possible. Protecting livelihoods by providing emergency agricultural assistance from the onset of a crisis is crucial to save lives, while enabling people to produce food and earn an income.
Climate change is causing unprecedented damage to our ecosystem. Increasing temperatures, ocean warming and acidification, severe droughts, wildfires, altered precipitation patterns, melting glaciers, rising sea levels and amplification of extreme weather events have direct implications for our food systems. While the impacts of such environmental factors on food security are well known, the effects on food safety receive less attention.
Innovation platforms are fast becoming part of the mantra of agricultural research and development projects and programs with an innovation objective.
La presente guía tiene como objetivo apoyar modelos de negocio que integran a pequeños productores dentro de cadenas de valor con base en el principio que deben existir beneficios mutuos tanto para los productores como para los compradores. La presente guía busca apoyar a practicantes del sector público y privado y a tomadores de decisiones en el diseño e implementación de proyectos que promueven la integración inclusiva de los pequeños productores a mercados.
Multi-stakeholder platforms have become mainstream in projects, programmes and policy interventions aiming to improve innovation and livelihoods systems, i.e. research for development interventions in low-and middle-income contexts. However, the evidence for multi-stakeholder platforms' contribution to the performance of research for development interventions and their added value is not compelling. This paper focuses on stakeholder participation as one of the channels for multi-stakeholder platforms' contribution to the performance of research for development interventions, i.e.
Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), or FAW, is an insect native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. In the absence of natural controls or good management, it can cause significant damage to crops. It prefers maize, although it can feed on more than 80 additional species of crops including rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton.