Global

This report of an expert meeting that gathered over fifty experts and focused on best practices and methodological issues related to crop monitoring and food security. Estimates and forecasts of crop area and yield are of critical importance to policy makers for the planning of agricultural production and monitoring of food supply. The possible links between poverty and crop yields, which depend upon a variety of factors such as cultivation practices, availability of irrigation, access to resources to buy agricultural inputs for adoption of new technology, cannot be fully understood without reliable estimates of crop area and yields. »

This blog by Joseph Glauber , Senior Research Fellow at IFPRI, asks the question: are lower prices a good thing for the world? The author highlights that lower food prices could mean that households will have more money to spend on food and other household expenditures, but the impact for many will likely be small. »

This book “Cities and agriculture: developing resilient urban food systems” by the RUAF Foundation, provides urban planners, specialists, local policy makers and urban development practitioners with an overview of crucial aspects of urban food systems based on up-to-date review of research results and practical experiences in both developed and developing countries. »

This publication presents seven case studies in innovative use of emerging technologies to significantly improve the living standards of farming communities. Information and communication technologies have provided opportunities to address challenges to improve agricultural production and productivity, and enhance value chains. »

This discussion brief by the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative (SIANI) is based on the workshop “Can agroforestry address food security concerns in a changing climate?”. The workshop brought together leading scholars-practitioners from five parts of the world – Sweden, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Ecuador – to share knowledge of and aspirations for agroforestry systems. »

This document analyses linkages and complementarities between social protection and nutrition, laying out the common ground between the two. It identifies general principles which should guide the design and implementation of social protection interventions in order to maximize their positive impact on nutrition. Common social protection instruments are analysed for their specific linkages with nutrition and concrete suggestions are made on how to best use them in order to achieve improved nutrition. »