Knowledge Portal

This article in Global Food Security focusses on improved decision-support for agricultural droughts that threaten the livelihoods of people living in vulnerable regions. The authors claim that new strategic partnerships are required to link scientific findings to actual user requirements of governments and aid organizations and to turn data streams into useful information for decision-support. Furthermore, they list several »

This paper (PDF) by Aidenvironment, NewForesight and IIED presents the value proposition of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and the challenges they face in obtaining scale and impact in sectors dominated by unorganized smallholders. It explores their potential role in scaling sustainability within a more holistic sector transformation model. »

Oxfam’s ‘Behind the Brands’ assesses the companies’ policies and commitments to improve food security and sustainability. It looks at how well they perform on issues relating to transparency, women, workers, farmers, land, water, and climate. In the latest ‘scorecard’ of March 2015, which rates the agricultural sourcing policies of the top 10 international food and »

This working paper (PDF) by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN) provides a roadmap for the Financing for Sustainable Development discussions in the lead-up to the Addis Conference. The paper focuses on a broad array of issues and examines some of the key questions involved in designing new institutions to handle the long-term, complex investments needed for key sustainable development priorities. Chapter 5.3 covers Sustainable agriculture, food systems, and improved nutrition. »

Drawing on data collected from policy documents, interviews and participant observation, this book by Jessica Duncan examines the re-organization and functioning of a UN Committee that is coming to be known as a best practice in global governance. Framed by key challenges that plague global governance, the impact and implication of increased civil society engagement are examined by tracing policy negotiations within the CFS, in particular, policy roundtables on smallholder sensitive investment and food price volatility and negotiations on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, and the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition. »

This publication seeks to understand how public-private-producer partnerships (PPPPs) in agricultural value chains can be designed and implemented to achieve more sustained increases in income for smallholder farmers. PPPPs also explicitly involve farmers (or producers), hence the fourth ‘P’ is added to the more familiar designation of ‘public-private partnerships’. »