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What role can agricultural extension and advisory services play in realizing gender equality and improved nutrition?











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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Brochure
    Making extension and advisory services nutrition-sensitive
    The link between agriculture and human nutrition
    2021
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    Human nutrition is vital for agriculture. Many smallholder farmers are food-insecure and suffer chronic or acute forms of malnutrition. This can permanently harm the physical and cognitive growth of children, while reducing productivity as household members are less able to carry out agricultural work. Agriculture is vital for human nutrition. Nutrition has long been considered mostly a health issue. However, agriculture plays an essential role in ensuring nutritional wellbeing not only for rural populations, but also for society as a whole. Beyond producing food in sufficient quantity, agri-food systems should also:
    • provide diversified, safe and nutritious foods;
    • improve rural incomes and resilience, and thus enhance access to healthy diets;
    • make foods that contribute to healthy diets available and accessible at national and sub-national levels.
    To this end, we must build the capacities of farmers, agriculture extensionists, consumers and others, encourage innovation, investments and enabling policies, and address gender issues. Nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) uses a food-based approach to agricultural development to make the global food system produce better nutritional outcomes.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Technical book
    Towards gender-responsive agricultural extension services in Albania
    Assessment report
    2024
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    This publication assesses the extent, progress and challenges of providing gender-responsive agricultural extension services in Albania based on the FAO Gender and Rural Advisory Services Assessment Tool (GRAST) methodology. Even though agriculture is an important sector of the economy that accounts for 36 percent of overall employment in the country, informality is high and the engagement of low-skilled rural women in labour intensive activities is significant. Women in the context of family farms, are often considered to be unpaid “farm helpers”. This assessment identifies the key gaps at national, organizational and field levels that hinder the achievement of the relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the country’s progress towards inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems. In particular, the absence of evidence-based and sex-disaggregated data does not allow developing gender responsive services driven by a sound understanding of the gender-specific barriers that prevent farmers from accessing and benefiting from such services. Moreover, the lack of well-articulated and mainstreamed gender and social inclusion policies for targeting and reaching diverse women and men clients reduces progress towards national goals and commitments. Addressing rural women’s access to information, knowledge and services is essential for ensuring gender equality, reaching farm efficiency, sustainability and productivity, and contributing to the enhancement of livelihoods.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Technical book
    Gender-responsive digital extension and advisory services in Bangladesh and India 2025
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    Digital technologies are rapidly transforming how agricultural knowledge and services are delivered, offering promising avenues to bridge gaps in access to information, markets, and decision-making for rural populations. In South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh and India, digital extension and advisory services (EAS) are increasingly being adopted to support smallholder farmers. However, these innovations often fail to adequately account for gender-based disparities in access, use, and benefit. This risks the further exclusion of women from agrifood system opportunities.Despite their central role in agriculture, rural women in both countries continue to face systemic challenges, including limited land ownership, low digital literacy, mobility restrictions, and social norms that hinder their participation in extension services. The gender digital divide, which is further widened by lower mobile phone ownership and internet use among women, remains a major barrier to realizing the full potential of digital EAS in supporting equitable and inclusive agricultural development.This study examines the gender responsiveness of digital extension and advisory services in Bangladesh and India. It draws on literature reviews, stakeholder surveys, and field research with women farmers and service providers. By applying a conceptual framework that evaluates five dimensions (access, relevance, needs assessment, intentionality, and learning mechanisms), the study analyzes both enabling environments and practical interventions that shape women’s digital engagement in agriculture.

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    Book (series)
    Flagship
    The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021
    Transforming food systems for food security, improved nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all
    2021
    In recent years, several major drivers have put the world off track to ending world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. The challenges have grown with the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures. This report presents the first global assessment of food insecurity and malnutrition for 2020 and offers some indication of what hunger might look like by 2030 in a scenario further complicated by the enduring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes new estimates of the cost and affordability of healthy diets, which provide an important link between the food security and nutrition indicators and the analysis of their trends. Altogether, the report highlights the need for a deeper reflection on how to better address the global food security and nutrition situation.To understand how hunger and malnutrition have reached these critical levels, this report draws on the analyses of the past four editions, which have produced a vast, evidence-based body of knowledge of the major drivers behind the recent changes in food security and nutrition. These drivers, which are increasing in frequency and intensity, include conflicts, climate variability and extremes, and economic slowdowns and downturns – all exacerbated by the underlying causes of poverty and very high and persistent levels of inequality. In addition, millions of people around the world suffer from food insecurity and different forms of malnutrition because they cannot afford the cost of healthy diets. From a synthesized understanding of this knowledge, updates and additional analyses are generated to create a holistic view of the combined effects of these drivers, both on each other and on food systems, and how they negatively affect food security and nutrition around the world.In turn, the evidence informs an in-depth look at how to move from silo solutions to integrated food systems solutions. In this regard, the report proposes transformative pathways that specifically address the challenges posed by the major drivers, also highlighting the types of policy and investment portfolios required to transform food systems for food security, improved nutrition, and affordable healthy diets for all. The report observes that, while the pandemic has caused major setbacks, there is much to be learned from the vulnerabilities and inequalities it has laid bare. If taken to heart, these new insights and wisdom can help get the world back on track towards the goal of ending hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition in all its forms.
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    Booklet
    Corporate general interest
    Emissions due to agriculture
    Global, regional and country trends 2000–2018
    2021
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    The FAOSTAT emissions database is composed of several data domains covering the categories of the IPCC Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector of the national GHG inventory. Energy use in agriculture is additionally included as relevant to emissions from agriculture as an economic production sector under the ISIC A statistical classification, though recognizing that, in terms of IPCC, they are instead part of the Energy sector of the national GHG inventory. FAO emissions estimates are available over the period 1961–2018 for agriculture production processes from crop and livestock activities. Land use emissions and removals are generally available only for the period 1990–2019. This analytical brief focuses on overall trends over the period 2000–2018.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Technical book
    The future of food and agriculture - Trends and challenges 2017
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    What will be needed to realize the vision of a world free from hunger and malnutrition? After shedding light on the nature of the challenges that agriculture and food systems are facing now and throughout the 21st century, the study provides insights into what is at stake and what needs to be done. “Business as usual” is not an option. Major transformations in agricultural systems, rural economies, and natural resources management are necessary. The present study was undertaken for the quadrennial review of FAO’s strategic framework and for the preparation of the Organization Medium-Term plan 2018-2021.