This year’s report presents evidence that Arab States face significant challenges in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 targets related to hunger, food security, and nutrition, as undernourishment, moderate or severe food insecurity, and malnourishment are increasing. Child wasting and overweight are higher, and adult obesity is double the global average. LDCs and conflict-affected countries suffer from even more severe hunger and malnutrition, including child stunting, wasting, and women’s anaemia. The report also provides the first assessment of the cost and affordability of a healthy diet since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shows a growing trend in the price of nutritious diets in recent years and that more than half the Arab population cannot afford a healthy diet. The Ukraine crisis, which has triggered food shortages and increased food price inflation, further adds to the burden on the region. This year, the report focuses on how trade can enable regional food security and nutrition. Arab countries rely significantly on imports for the essential food items necessary for diverse and healthy diets that they cannot locally produce in sufficient quantities due to limited natural resource endowments. It discusses the role of trade and trade facilitation as essential enablers of all four dimensions of food security and nutrition. It also underlines how tariffs and non-tariff measures influence the economic access to food in the area. On the other hand, countries that depend on trade may become more exposed to outside shocks, as the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis have highlighted. The report assesses Arab countries’ vulnerabilities, such as import dependency and lack of supplier diversification. To reduce the exposure to such external shocks, international trade must be carefully managed, sources of imports should be diversified, and international trade relations must be expanded to include new partners and markets. The report concludes with further policy recommendations that aim for the better integration of trade into food security and nutrition policies in the region.
This report examines data available prior to the Covid-19 pandemic that affected the region and the world in 2020. By 2019, the Arab Region was already off track to achieve hunger and nutrition-related SDG targets by 2030. In fact, after good progress during past decades, since 2015-17 the number of undernourished people in the region has been increasing steadily. In 2019, the number of hungry people stood at 51.4 million, or 12.2 percent of the region’s population. If such trends continue, even ignoring the potential impact of Covid-19, the number of undernourished in the region will exceed 75 million people by 2030.
Today, collective action on challenges ranging from climate change mitigation to peace and security is frustratingly slow or stymied altogether. Lack of trust and polarization--both associated with insecurity--exacerbate the gridlock. Shared, interlinked global challenges, like the pandemic and its recovery, are outpacing our willingness and our institutions’ capacities to respond to them. Why, despite all our riches and technologies, are we so stuck? How do we get unstuck? Is it possible to mobilize action to address globally shared challenges in a world that is intensively polarized? The 2023-2024 Human Development Report explores these issues and offers a platform for strategic discussion on how to move beyond narrow zero-sum thinking and support cooperation even as we have diverging interests and views. The e-book for this publication has been converted into an accessible format for the visually impaired and people with print reading disabilities. It is fully compatible with leading screen-reader technologies such as JAWS and NVDA.
Given the scarcity of land and water resources, global strategies to increase food production should focus efforts on increasing production per unit resources, i.e. the combined increase of production per unit land surface (yield expressed in kg/ha) and the increase of production per unit water used (water productivity expressed in kg/m³). The FAO portal to monitor WAter Productivity through Open access of Remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR) uses satellite information to compute and map key variables related to water and agriculture, such as evapotranspiration, biomass production and water productivity. The provision of near real time information through such open access data portal enables a range of service-providers to assist farmers attain more reliable yields and to improve their livelihoods; irrigation operators have access to new information to assess the performance of systems and to identify where to focus investments to modernize the irrigation schemes; and government agencies will be able to use the information to monitor and promote the efficient use of natural resources. This report presents the work undertaken to identify key stakeholders in the agriculture and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector and the capacity needs of farmers to improve water productivity in a sustainable manner, through two components; the first surveys the role and capacities of various stakeholders in the ICT and agriculture sector in Lebanon, and the second presents and analyzes the results of a survey into the capacity needs of farmers in relation to the use of ICT in agriculture in the Bekaa valley.
This report presents the latest updates related to food security and nutrition in Europe and Central Asia, including estimates on the cost and affordability of healthy diets. It also explores how governments are supporting the food and agriculture sector and how to repurpose policies and incentives to make healthy diets more affordable and agrifood systems more environmentally sustainable. The new estimates confirm that the prevalence of hunger at chronic or severe levels is relatively low in the ECA region, through the prevalence of food insecurity at moderate or severe levels can be quite high. The region is seeing alarmingly high – and rising – rates of overweight and obesity. The COVID-19 pandemic has added 25.5 million people in the region to the ranks of the moderately or severely food insecure, leaving them without access to safe, nutritious and adequate food. The war in Ukraine has made the situation worse. Almost all ECA subregions are experiencing increased costs and reduced affordability of healthy diets because of higher food prices and lower incomes. This report contains an in-depth analysis of the repurposing of food and agricultural policies to ensure the food systems transformation is better suited to addressing the “triple challenge” of achieving food security and good nutrition for better health, providing livelihoods to farmers and others connected to the sector, and reducing the nature and climate footprint of the sector. This report also reviews complementing policies within and outside of agrifood systems to assess whether repurposing efforts are impactful in the ECA region.
The continued poverty of the majority of the planet's inhabitants and excessive consumption by the minority are the two major causes of environmental degradation The present course is unsustainable and postponing action is no longer an option. Inspired political leadership and intense cooperation across all regions and sectors will be needed to put both existing and new policy instruments to work. ' From the Synthesis Global Environment Outlook 2000 (GEO-2000) is a comprehensive and authoritative review and analysis of environmental conditions around the world. It is the flagship publication of the world's leading environmental organization, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and is based on information provided by more than 30 regional and international collaborating centres. The book presents a region-by-region analysis of the state of the world's environment, highlighting key global concerns and making recommendations for policy action. The regions covered include Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, West Asia and the Polar Areas. Chapter 1: Global Perspectives describes the main drivers of environmental change, such as the economy, population growth, political organization and regionalization, as well as potential impacts of recent global developments including the growth of the consumer culture, trade and international debt. Chapter 2: The State of the Environment provides a global and region-by-region overview of the environment at the end of the second millennium. The chapter covers global issues such as ozone, climate change, El Nifio and nitrogen loading, and universal issues of land and food, forests, biodiversity, freshwater, marine and coastal areas, atmosphere and urban areas. Chapter 3: Policy Responses reviews the broad range of policy instruments and responses being used to address environmental issues, including multilateral environmental agreements, and analyses the difficulties of compliance, implementation and assessment. Chapter 4: Future Perspectives looks at environmental issues that will require priority attention in the 21st century and some alternative policy options that could be used in the regions. Chapter 5: Outlook and Recommendations makes recommendations for future action based on the environmental legacy left by past and present policy and management systems. GEO-2000 will be the benchmark reference and guide to the state of the global environment. Written in clear, non-technical language and supported throughout by informative graphics and tables, it is essential reading for all those involved in environmental policy making, implementation and assessment, and for researchers and students of regional and global environmental issues. Originally published in 1999
The fourth report in the Global Environment Outlook series provides a comprehensive, scientifically credible, policy-relevant and up-to-date assessment of, and outlook for, the state of the global environment. Environment for development is the GEO-4 underlying theme and the report pays special attention to the role and impact of the environment on human well-being as well as to the use of environmental valuation as a tool for decision-making. GEO-4's 2007 publication date marks the half-way point for the Millennium Development Goals, The environment, as well as being the subject of MDG 7, is also a thread that runs through all the goals. Includes Errata.
The Agricultural Outlook 2023-2032 is a collaborative effort of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It brings together the commodity, policy and country expertise of both organisations as well as input from collaborating member countries to provide an annual assessment of the prospects for the coming decade of national, regional and global agricultural commodity markets. The publication consists of 11 Chapters; Chapter 1 covers agricultural and food markets; Chapter 2 provides regional outlooks and the remaining chapters are dedicated to individual commodities.
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