Rising global demand for vegetable oil during the last few decades has led to a drastic increase in the land area under oil palm. Especially in South- east Asia, the oil palm boom has contributed to economic growth, but it has also spurred criticism about negative environmental and social effects. Here, we discuss palm oil production and consumption trends and review environmental, economic, and social consequences in different parts of the world. The oil palm expansion has contributed to tropical deforestation and associated losses in biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
This article presents lessons from the rich adoption literature for the nascent research on adaptation. Individuals' adoption choices are affected by profit and risk considerations and by credit and biophysical constraints. New technologies spread gradually, reflecting heterogeneity among potential adopters, processes of learning and technological improvement, and policies and institutions. Adaptation is the response of economic agents and societies to major shocks. We distinguish between reactive and proactive adaptation.
Food systems contribute 19%–29% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, releasing 9,800–16,900 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2008. Agricultural production, including indirect emissions associated with land-cover change, contributes 80%–86% of total food system emissions, with significant regional variation. The impacts of global climate change on food systems are expected to be widespread, complex, geographically and temporally variable, and profoundly influenced by socioeconomic conditions.
Agricultural biotechnology and, specifically, the development of genetically modified (GM) crops have been controversial for several reasons, including concerns that the technology poses potential negative environmental or health effects, that the technology would lead to the (further) corporatization of agriculture, and that it is simply unethical to manipulate life in the laboratory. GM crops have been part of the agricultural landscape for more than 15 years and have now been adopted on more than 170 million hectares (ha) in both developed countries (48%) and developing countries (52%).
This report provides a synthesis of all findings and information generated through a “stocktaking” process that involved a desk study of Prolinnova documents and evaluation reports, a questionnaire to 40 staff members of international organizations in agricultural research and development (ARD), self-assessment by the Country Platforms (CPs) and backstopping visits to five CPs. In 2014, the Prolinnova network saw a need to re-strategise in a changing context, and started this process by reviewing the activities it had undertaken and assessing its own functioning.
To respond to threats of climate change, Benin has joined the international community in the development and implementation of climate policies.
This paper outlines key areas of intervention that are identified as the core of FAO's strategy on strengthening Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) across multiple areas of work (e.g. research and extension, agroecology, biotechnology, green jobs, resourcing etc.) for achieving sustainable rural development.
The aim of the rapid assessment is to support the transition from emergency post conflict recovery to a development approach. The completion of the water, sanitation, and hygiene, or WASH strategic framework in 2011 was intended to mark the beginning of this transition in the water resources sector. Among other things, the transition involved the adjustment of policy and strategy and possibly a rethinking of approaches as the government shifts from primarily supply-driven emergency and recovery assistance to sustainable development.
Súmario: 1 Antecedentes. 2 El hambre cero. 3 Conceptos y principios. 4 Estado y sociedad en la promoción de la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. 5 Desarrollos y desafíos en el combate a la inseguridad alimentaria y nutricional. 6 Características del sistema nacional de seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. 7 Directrices de la política nacional de seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. 8 Biocombustibles, cambios climáticos y seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. 9 Brasil en el escenario internacional. 10 Principales desafíos.
La Red Agricultura G-20 ha sido una iniciativa conjunta del Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA) y la Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA) de México, de cara a la VII Cumbre del Grupo de los 20 (G20). El objetivo de esta red virtual fue vincular a estudiantes, académicos y el sector civil para que expresaran sus opiniones y analizaran a profundidad los temas de la agricultura con miras al encuentro de líderes del G20, celebrado en la ciudad mexicana de Los Cabos en junio de 2012.