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Book (series)Working paperAccess to Seeds and Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
Their Role in Improving Rural Livelihoods in Lao PDR
2007Also available in:
No results found.Laos depends heavily on rice based agriculture systems and there is evidence that the traditional diversified diet and income base is being eroded, resulting in a negative effect on the livelihoods of the people. The opportunity to gather food in forests is diminishing and dietary diversity is being narrowed. In order to gain a better understanding of the relationship between this situation and access to and use of PGRFA, a project entitled “Plant Genetic Access and Utilization: Understanding an d Contributing to Sustainable Livelihoods in Lao PDR” was carried out in the Vientiane province (May 2005 to February 2006). -
Book (stand-alone)Technical bookHome gardens key to improved nutritional well-being 2006
Also available in:
No results found.FAO recognizes that healthy, well-nourished people are both the outcome of successful social and economic development and constitute an essential input to the development process. Achieving nutrition related goals requires that national and sectoral development policies and programmes are complemented by effective community-based action aimed at improving household food security and promoting the year-round consumption of nutritionally adequate diets. These activities are being actively pursued by FAO as part of its field programme. This report provides an account of one such pilot project in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The objective was to promote integrated home gardening, including small livestock and aquaculture. The project activities targeted poor and food-insecure families with under-five-year-old children with moderate or severe undernourishment. Post-project evaluations found increased production of vegetables, fruits, poultry and fish among the targeted households a nd a decline in the rates of undernutrition in children under five years of age. The project demonstrates an effective and sustainable method for improving nutritional standards of low income rural families through integrated household food production, which can be extended to the national level. -
DocumentTechnical reportInformation Failures in Livestock Markets: Evidence from Lao PDR
Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative: A Living from Livestock
2008Also available in:
No results found.Rural populations in developing countries are often highly dependent on livestock for nutrition, agricultural services, and direct income. However, as economies develop and as income rises, demand for animal products increases, offering otherwise relatively isolated farmers a way to participate in urban growth through food markets. But market participation is seriously complicated by information failures across informal supply chains that link rural household producers to urban consumers. Becaus e middlemen often transfer animals to wholesale and retail markets, smallholder products are pooled and adverse selection results, i.e. there is no incentive for smallholders to invest in improving the quality of their product. This puts a serious constraint on the economic benefits producers can reap from growing markets, and also poses a threat to animal health and food safety, essential quality characteristics from a public health perspective. Fortunately, there are policies available that fa cilitate the flow of product information and help correct these market failures, such as branding by origin, government certification, and/or micro-contracting.
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Book (series)FlagshipThe State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023
Urbanization, agrifood systems transformation and healthy diets across the rural–urban continuum
2023This report provides an update on global progress towards the targets of ending hunger (SDG Target 2.1) and all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2) and estimates on the number of people who are unable to afford a healthy diet. Since its 2017 edition, this report has repeatedly highlighted that the intensification and interaction of conflict, climate extremes and economic slowdowns and downturns, combined with highly unaffordable nutritious foods and growing inequality, are pushing us off track to meet the SDG 2 targets. However, other important megatrends must also be factored into the analysis to fully understand the challenges and opportunities for meeting the SDG 2 targets. One such megatrend, and the focus of this year’s report, is urbanization. New evidence shows that food purchases in some countries are no longer high only among urban households but also among rural households. Consumption of highly processed foods is also increasing in peri-urban and rural areas of some countries. These changes are affecting people’s food security and nutrition in ways that differ depending on where they live across the rural–urban continuum. This timely and relevant theme is aligned with the United Nations General Assembly-endorsed New Urban Agenda, and the report provides recommendations on the policies, investments and actions needed to address the challenges of agrifood systems transformation under urbanization and to enable opportunities for ensuring access to affordable healthy diets for everyone. -
Book (stand-alone)General interest bookFood policies and their implications on overweight and obesity trends in selected countries in the Near East and North Africa region
Regional Program Working Paper No. 30
2020Also available in:
No results found.Regional and global trends in body weight show that the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region countries, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries, have the highest average body mass index and highest rates of overweight and obesity in the world. There exist several explanations that expound the high rates of overweight and obesity in most NENA countries, including the nutrition transition, urbanization, changes in lifestyle, and consequent reduction of physical activities. This study examines the implication of food policies, mainly trade and government food subsidies, on evolving nutritional transitions and associated body weight outcomes. We examine the evolution of trade (food) policies, food systems, and body weight outcomes across selected countries in the NENA region – Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. In particular, we investigate the implications of important trade (food) policies in shaping diets and food systems as well as their implications on public health outcomes, mainly the rising levels of overweight and obesity in the NENA region. We provide a simple conceptual framework through which trade policies (tariff rates) and domestic government food policies (subsidies) may affect food systems and nutritional outcomes. An important and innovative feature of this study is that it compiles several macro- and micro-level datasets that allow both macro and micro-level analyses of the evolution of trade (food) policies and associated obesity trends. This approach helps to at least partly overcome the data scarcity that complicates rigorous policy research in the NENA region. Overweight and obesity rates have almost doubled between 1975 and 2016, with varying rates and trends across regions. For instance, whereas body weight in the NENA region was comparable with that found in high-income countries in the early years, after the 1990s regional overweight and obesity rates became much higher than those in high-income countries. Specifically, while most high-income countries are experiencing a relative slowing of increases in overweight rates, the trend for the NENA region continues to increase at higher rates. The evolution of overweight rates for the GCC countries are even more concerning. These trends are likely to contribute to the already high burden of non-communicable diseases in the NENA region. Contrary to the conventional view that overweight and obesity rates are urban problems, our findings show that rural body weight has been rising over the past few decades, sometimes at higher rates than in urban areas. -
Book (series)NewsletterSpecial report – 2023 FAO Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM) to the Republic of the Sudan
19 March 2024
2024Also available in:
No results found.Between 2 and 17 January 2024, following a request by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoA&F), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in close cooperation with the Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS) and the State Ministries of Agriculture, carried out its annual Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM) to estimate the 2023 crop production and assess the food supply situation throughout the 18 states of the country. The report's recommendations are to provide immediate response to the needs of the population most affected by acute food insecurity as well as to support the recovery of the agriculture sector, increasing food production and farmers’ incomes, and enhancing efficiency along the value chain to reduce production costs.