FAO in North America

Guidelines for charting a hunger-free world

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on May 11, 2012

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva hailed today’s endorsement by the Committee on World Food Security of voluntary guidelines to improve the way countries govern access rights to land, fisheries and forest resources as a “historic milestone not only for the way in which land tenure is managed, but also for international consensus-building”.

Agreement on the guidelines shows that effective, concrete co-operation on sensitive issues central to food security and economic development is possible, offering cause for optimism as we address other challenges on the path to a world free from hunger.

Next up on the global agenda: establishing principles for responsible agricultural investment.

Read Graziano da Silva’s post on the Guardian’s Poverty Matters blog. Participants in the process leading up to today’s announcement discuss the significance of the guidelines and the next steps in the video below:

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Landscapes for people, food and nature

Submitted by Rachel Friedman on February 3, 2012

On Monday, the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative launched a new blog to highlight efforts to support integrated agricultural landscapes. As one of the nine co-organizing agencies, FAO will be contributing to various components of the initiative, including the new blog. Intended to serve as a forum for discussion and to showcase the work of the initiative partners and other practitioners of landscape approaches, the blog is organized around three themes: Landscape of the Week, Exploring the Evidence, and Voices from the Field. With a variety of authors from community organizations and NGOs to research institutions and development agencies, there should be  a variety of perspectives.

Check out today’s blog post by Ann Tutwiler, FAO’s Deputy Director-General for Knowledge, to read about FAO’s work related to integrated landscape approaches.

Readers with experience in integrated agricultural landscapes and related areas are invited to share their perspectives with the blog community.

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Looking at land rights

Submitted by Rachel Friedman on February 3, 2012

Landesa, a rural development institute focused on land rights issues, has developed a couple of infographics illustrating the impact of secure land tenure. According to their research, nearly one billion people, who depend on the land for their livelihoods, lack established rights to this land. This was a hot topic during 2011, and earlier in the year FAO published a report on tenure and international land investments, compiled by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition.

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How can women’s land rights be secured?

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on January 25, 2012

Photo: ©FAOThe International Land Coalition (ILC) Land Portal and FAO’s Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition are currently hosting an online discussion – “How can women’s land rights be secured?” The organizers hope the discussion will enrich the debate in New York at the 56th Commission on the Status of Women (27 February to 9 March, New York), which is focusing this year on the empowerment of rural women.

The ILC, FAO and the International Fund for Agricultural Development are organizing a side-event – “How can women’s land rights be secured? Learning from successful examples” – at the CSW on 1 March 2012.

Have examples to share of women successfully claiming their land rights? Effective policies and tools that can be replicated? Join the lively discussion already under way.

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Experts discuss price volatility, land tenure and farmland investment deals

Submitted by Teresa Buerkle on October 19, 2011

©FAO/Alessia PierdomenicoThe UN Committee on World Food Security meeting at FAO Headquarters in Rome this week is discussing two new reports from its High Level Panel of Experts on food security and nutrition – one on Price Volatility and Food Security and the other on Land Tenure and International Investments in Agriculture.

In related news, Tanzania and other countries are piloting an innovative approach to assessing the economic value of land, which has been developed by the OSLO (Offering Sustainable Land-Use Options) Consortium. The objective is to fully measure the total economic value of land with its wide-ranging benefits for human development in order to stimulate investments and promote responsible land management.

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