The need to urgently transition food systems to net-zero, nature-positive that can nourish all people, leaving no one behind is more critical than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has furthered deepened complex challenges we already face from hunger and nutrition, climate and nature, and societal inequity. Innovation offers a profound opportunity to achieve these transitions and help unlock challenges across food systems.
These proceedings relate to a regional workshop which was held in Muscat, Oman, in January 2008.
The Fall Armyworm first landed in West Africa in 2016 and has now spread over the whole continent. It has been recently reported in Yemen and India, and is most likely to spread in South east Asia and South China. This pest invades fields and cause significant damage to crops, if not well managed. FAO’s efforts to support farmers in the affected areas include amongst others the FAO Programme for Action, a global coordination project that brings together development and resource partners to maximize coordinated results and minimize duplications.
This publication aims to inform the debate on the status of food security in Arab countries, and provide policy options for enhancing food security in the future, in line with the overarching directions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Given the heterogeneity of the Arab region, both in terms of natural endowment, particularly in water resources, and economic capabilities, the report’s analysis divides the region into four subregions, each consisting of a more homogeneous group of countries.
This regional workshop was designed to strengthen the capabilities of representatives of NIFUs for analyzing the situations of their NAIS, and to use their national experiences to identify strengths, weaknesses, and threats/challenges affecting seven key areas influencing development of NAIS, namely: (i) strategy/policy, (ii) institutional aspects, (iii) stakeholders, (iv) content, (v) people, (vi) infrastructure, and (vii) financial aspects. Possible solutions for the key weaknesses and threats /challenges were defined by participants.
This brochure presents the five-year TAP-AIS project (2019-2024) funded by the European Union under the DeSIRA Initiative and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The project has the main objective to strengthen capacities to innovate in national agricultural innovation systems (AIS) in the context of climate-relevant, productive, and sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific.
Over the past few decades, some countries in Asia have been more successful than others in addressing poverty and malnutrition. The key question is what policies, strategies, legislation and institutional arrangements have led to a transformed agricultural sector, effectively contributing to poverty alleviation and addressing malnutrition. The great majority of national policymakers within and outside the Asia-Pacific region are keen to understand the causes of agricultural development and transformation in successful countries in Asia.
In Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), agricultural innovation has the potential to improve livelihoods of farmers and rural people, improve food and nutrition security, and allow for sustainable management of natural resources. In order to enable innovation, a well-functioning national Agriculture Innovation System (AIS) should encourage better coordination among the different stakeholders, including national organizations and the private sector.
The experiences shared in this book of Conversations of Change capture the outcomes of three years’ work conducted by the eight CDAIS country teams from Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos and Rwanda. Collected between January and March 2019, they provide insights and perspectives of different actors engaged in the different capacity strengthening processes, within individuals and innovation niche partnerships, and at organisational and national level.
This report introduces the reader to the concept of agricultural innovation systems (AIS) and the TAP-AIS project being implemented by FAO in nine countries, including Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The results of the AIS assessment for Lao PDR are presented, highlighting key barriers and opportunities for agricultural innovation in the country.