Inclusive businesses (IBs), embodying partnerships between commercial agribusinesses and smallholder farmers/low-income communities, are considered to contribute towards rural development and agricultural sector transformation. Structured as complex organizational set-ups consisting of, and…

The climate disasters that made headlines in 2017 — monster hurricanes, devastating floods and unprecedented drought — will become commonplace in the coming decades as climate change intensifies. Decision-makers from urban planners to corporate executives are grappling with how best to adapt. Should…

A new study has quantified the economic impact of reducing avoidable food waste in Germany, Poland and Spain. The researchers modelled impacts on production, GDP and employment. The results show that reducing food waste from households has the greatest impact, although policy measures should be…

When people are forced to leave their homes, they usually also leave behind their means of economic activity. In their new location, they may not be able, or permitted, to work. This has wide-ranging implications. This issue includes 22 articles on the main feature theme of Economies: rights and…

This paper conceptually integrates resilience and nexus approaches, developing a combined framework and indicating how it could effectively be operationalized in cases from mountain and mangrove social‐ecological systems. In doing so, it advances understanding of complex social‐ecological systems…

The report — Mechanized: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture Value Chains—summarizes the findings of a systematic analysis of what countries at the forefront of progress in mechanization have done right. It analyzes which policy decisions were taken and which interventions were implemented to…

In recent years, interest has emerged in policy circles and among academics about the use of foreign aid to reduce international migration. Scholars have investigated this aid-migration nexus, but results have been mixed and questions remain. This paper contributes to the literature by comparing the…

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have released a report that analyzes the direct and indirect interlinkages between migration,…

The world can achieve slower climate warming, preventing temperatures from rising by more than 1.5˚C, a global scientific panel says. But time is short.

North Africa was the birthplace of the Arab uprisings in late 2010. This movement affected all the countries in the region, albeit to varying degrees. And while protestors asked in unison for deep political and economic changes, the various governments in North Africa responded differently to their…

This book provides a comprehensive review of Grain for Green, China’s nationwide program which pays farmers to revert sloping or marginal farm land to trees or grass. The program aims to improve the ecological conditions of much of China, and the socioeconomic circumstances of hundreds of millions…

ECLAC and FAO’s new Atlas of Migration in Northern Central America shows that the majority of migrants from the countries of the Northern Triangle -Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador- come from rural areas. The report, which analyzes the main characteristics of migration in the subregion, was…

Original Research Article published in the latest Journal of Arid Environments

The challenge to increase food production is greater than ever, as the worlds population is set to increase to a predicted nine billion by 2050 (United Nations, 2008), requiring a 70 to 100% increase in global food production (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2009a; World Bank, 2008). The primary…

Stanford researchers capture Central Asia’s 'de-greening' over millions of years into a modern-day desert. The new study chronicles how central Asia dried out over the last 23 million years into one of the most arid regions on the planet. The findings illustrate the dramatic climatic shifts wrought…

The Sixth Global Forum on Gender Statistics discussed ways to improve the collection, production, dissemination and use of data on gender to support progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls). The UN Statistics…

The links between climate change, economic development and poverty reduction have gained increasing attention over recent years in both the academic and policy literature.

Over the last decade, a large share of the population in the Europe and Central Asia region has benefited from economic advances generated by strong growth in their communities. New opportunities have opened up in labor markets and entrepreneurship, new infrastructure and services have come about,…

Integrated Drylands Development Programme (IDDP) is the UNDP's integrated approach to poverty alleviation and sustainable land management in the drylands.

The World Disasters Report, themed ‘Resilience: saving lives today, investing for tomorrow,’ was issued by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). It identifies the need to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable and at-risk communities by investing in resilience…

Titled ‘Resilience scan April-June 2016: A review of literature, debates and social media activity on resilience,’ a report by the UK Overseas Development Institute (ODI) summarizes writing and debates in the field of resilience during the second quarter of 2016, focusing primarily on developing…

Agriculture and rural development (ARD) are key to addressing the root causes of migration. By 2050, over half of the population in the least developed countries will still live in rural areas. Three-quarters of the extreme poor base their livelihoods on agriculture or other rural activities. In…

This publication is a collection of articles written by economists, sociologists, and gender specialists and practitioners from twelve post-Soviet countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. It is unique in its effort to review and analyze the issues that are at the intersection of…

FAO recognizes the potential of rural women and men in achieving food security and nutrition and is committed to overcoming gender inequality, in line with the pledge to “leave no one behind”, which is at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda. The publication…

The consequences of climate change are already being felt all over the globe. But some regions are particularly affected. These so-called “hotspots” are areas where strong physical and ecological effects of climate change come together with large numbers of vulnerable and poor people and communities…