Undff Regional Action Plan For Strengthening Family Farming In South Asia 2021 2028

The Regional Action Plan for strengthening family farming in South Asia has been elaborated through a participatory and multi-stakeholder approach in the framework of the UN Decade of Family Farming and in close collaboration with SAARC Agriculture Center, the Asia Farmer Association for Sustainable Rural Development and the International Cooperative Alliance – Asia Pacific. Consultations with farmers’ organizations, cooperatives and other relevant stakeholders at country level first helped identifying and prioritizing key interventions for the region along the seven pillars of the Global Action Plan. These initial inputs then contributed to the overall drafting of the contextualized pillars led by recognized experts from the region. The draft pillars were presented during a first regional virtual consultation on UN Decade of Family Farming: Formulating Strategies and Action Plan to Strengthen Smallholder Family Farmers in South Asia held on the 5–6 November 2020. A follow up regional consultation meeting on review and finalization of the Regional Action Plan for strengthening family farming in South Asia was then organized on 29 July 2021. The objective was to present, discuss and validate the draft Regional Action Plan for strengthening family farming in South Asia. This Regional Action Plan aims at facilitating and accelerating the process of developing national action plans through inclusive multi-stakeholder processes, not only putting family farmers at the centre but recognizing them as critical partners.

This book is an output of a regional experts’ consultation meeting on “UN Decade of Family Farming: Formulating Strategies and Action Plan to Strengthen Smallholder Family Farmers in South Asia”, 5-6 November 2020 organized by SAARC Agriculture Center (SAC), Bangladesh in collaboration with Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA), Philippines, and the International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP), India, and the technical assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO RAP) Thailand. This book is the concrete result of active engagement and participations of SAARC Member States’ National Focal Point Experts, invited UNDFF experts, authors, and participants. This book focuses on- family farming’s constraints, challenges, opportunities, and government policies to contribute on attaining the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at country and South Asia regional levels.

The Global Action Plan of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019–2028 (UNDFF) recognizes the need to promote rural communication services (RCS) to advance sustainable food systems. RCS comprise demand-led communication processes, media applications and institutional arrangements to respond to the needs of family farmers and rural populations in a sustained and inclusive manner. This report presents a comprehensive summary of the virtual UNDFF Forum on Inclusive Rural Communication Services for Family Farming, which took place on 11 July 2022. Organized by FAO’s Communication for Development (ComDev) team, in collaboration with specialized communication entities, the forum marked the global culmination of an extensive consultative process. The report captures the key outcomes, insights, and strategic recommendations from these global and regional processes, offering guidance for promoting and advancing RCS for family farmers.

The Global Action Plan of the UN Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF 2019-28) recognizes the need to promote rural communication services (RCS) to advance sustainable food systems. RCS comprise demand-led communication processes, media applications and institutional arrangements to respond to the needs of family farmers and rural populations in a sustained and inclusive manner. This report summarizes the results and takeaways of online consultations and a virtual Regional Forum on RCS for Family Farming in Asia and the Pacific, organized in 2022 by ComDev Asia (CDA), a regional communication initiative, in collaboration with FAO, farmers’ organizations, rural institutions and communication networks.

The Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism (FMM), as FAO’s main pooled multi-partner flexible funding instrument, enables resource partners to contribute voluntary and less-earmarked financial resources to support the delivery of programmatic results under FAO’s Strategic Framework. This report highlights the key achievements of the FMM in 2020, both in terms of its accomplishments as a funding mechanism and the delivery of transformative results on the ground through FMM-funded Programmes and Subprogrammes.

The world ocean is a life-supporting system for humanity, yet it remains largely unknown. Based on data collected from around the world, the Global Ocean Science Report 2020 offers a global record of how, where and by whom ocean science is conducted. It monitors our capacity to understand the ocean and seize new opportunities. More generally, the Report underlines the essential role of ocean research and international cooperation for all key issues of the 21st century.

On 8 March 2020, the Philippine government declared the State of Public Health Emergency to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). On 13 March 2020, the Government imposed enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over Luzon. Subsequently, similar measures were imposed throughout the country, including in Mindanao, and especially in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Although the COVID-19 epidemic is primarily a public health concern, the necessary measures enacted to contain the spread of the virus, especially the restrictions placed on the movement of people and goods, were likely to have a significant impact on all levels of the agricultural market chain. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) decided to conduct a rapid assessment on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on food security and nutrition. The results of the impact assessment was envisioned to inform key government agencies in identifying the appropriate measures and programs that will ultimately help ensure food security for all, at all times.

This publication demonstrates the benefits of neglected and underutilized species, including amaranth, sorghum and cowpea, and their potential contribution to achieving Zero Hunger in South and Southeast Asia.