The 2021 Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC 2021) highlights the remarkably high severity and numbers of people in Crisis or worse (IPC/CH Phase 3 or above) or equivalent in 55 countries/territories, driven by persistent conflict, pre-existing and COVID-19-related economic shocks, and weather extremes. The number identified in the 2021 edition is the highest in the report’s five-year existence. The report is produced by the Global Network against Food Crises (which includes WFP), an international alliance working to address the root causes of extreme hunger.
While smallholder farmers are the primary food producers in Southern Africa, contributing to 90 percent of food production in some countries, often systems in the region do not support profitability for them. WFP is working across Southern Africa to address bottlenecks in food systems to enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers. This factsheet gives an overview of WFP’s approach to smallholder farmers.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken by governments on social distancing and mobility restrictions have contributed to boosting the use of digital technology to bridge some of the physical access gaps. An increasing number of services and extension/information activities are delivered through digital tools and applications. E-commerce has also flourished. As a result, the potential of digital technologies has gained prominence in immediate response and recovery strategies and programmes.
The impact of global warming on crop growth periods and yields has been evaluated by using crop models, which need to provide various kinds of input datasets and estimate numerous parameters before simulation. Direct studies on the changes of climatic factors on the observed crop growth and yield could provide a more simple and intuitive way for assessing the impact of climate change on crop production.
Increasing trends of climatic risk pose challenges to the food security and livelihoods of smallholders in vulnerable regions, where farmers often face loss of the entire crop, pushing farmers (mostly men) out of agriculture in destitution, creating a situation of agricultural making agriculture highly feminization and compelling male farmers to out-migrate. Climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) are promoted to cope with climatic risks.
Selon les évaluations de la FAO, à l’échelle de la planète, 45 pays, dont 34 en Afrique et 9 en Asie, ont besoin d’une aide alimentaire extérieure. Les conflits et les chocs météorologiques demeurent des facteurs critiques qui contribuent aux taux actuellement élevés d’insécurité alimentaire grave. Les effets de la pandémie de covid-19 ont exacerbé les vulnérabilités et accru les besoins humanitaires.
The study utilized WFP’s Consolidated Livelihood Exercise for Analyzing Resilience (CLEAR) approach which contains a baseline of major livelihood zones all over the country. CLEAR has provided the backbone to build the Philippines’ first livelihood zone maps which aim to provide information for the diversification of economic activities, aimed to ensure that its food systems are secure, peace and hunger are addressed, and the country is on a continuous path to sustainable development.
The importance of extension services in helping smallholder farmers to address the many challenges of agricultural production cannot be over-emphasized. However, relatively few studies have been conducted that investigate how the capacities of agricultural extension agents can be built to more effectively assist smallholder farmers in managing climate risks and impacts. As climate change is a key threat to smallholder food production, addressing this issue is increasingly important.
This report summarizes studies conducted in a framework of TAP-AIS project implemented by FAO’s Research and Extension Unit, and funded by the European Union as a component of the European Union initiative on “Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture” (DeSIRA).
The study was conducted in Thakurgaon sadar Upazila to determine farmers’ perception of the extent and factors of ICTs effectiveness in transferring farming information. A total of 250 people who were already been taken services from different ICT center was selected as sample respondents following a random sampling technique. Primary data were collected using a predesigned interview schedule.