Background Notes on Sustainable, Productive and Resilient Agro-Food Systems: Value chains, human capital, and the 2030 Agenda

13/09/2019

Agricultural production more than tripled between 1960 and 2015, owing in part to productivity-enhancing technologies and a significant expansion in the use of land, water, and other natural resources for agricultural purposes. Today, more than ever, agriculture faces multiple and complex challenges. It has to provide sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet boosting demand by a growing and progressively more prosperous population, and ensure food security for all. Prepared to support the G20 Presidency of Japan and the G20 Agriculture Deputies, these three background notes provide an overview on the following interlinked issues: (i) the policy challenges for strengthening the participation of farmers into modern value chains and promoting value addition, inclusion, sustainability and rural economic growth; (ii) the need for a transformation in the skillset of agricultural workers and a renewed focus on human capital development in agriculture, and (iii) the contribution of agriculture to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2018

13/09/2018

Global agricultural trade has increased significantly in value terms since 2000. Its pattern has also changed – emerging economies and developing countries play a bigger role in international markets, and South–South agricultural trade has expanded significantly. Climate change is expected to affect agriculture, food security and nutrition unevenly across countries and regions. Changes in comparative advantage in agriculture around the world will also affect international trade. This edition of The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets focuses on the complex and underexplored intersection between agricultural trade, climate change and food security. The report makes an important contribution to the policy debates on climate change adaptation and mitigation under the Paris Agreement and the multilateral agricultural trade rules. The report discusses policies – both domestic support and trade measures – that can promote food security, adaptation and mitigation, and improve the livelihoods of family farmers around the world. Given both the slow- and rapid-onset impacts of climate change, policies that can significantly promote climate change adaptation and mitigation would benefit from deeper discussions in international fora on how to strengthen the mutually supportive role of trade rules and climate interventions

The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2018

13/09/2018

Global agricultural trade has increased significantly in value terms since 2000. Its pattern has also changed – emerging economies and developing countries play a bigger role in international markets, and South–South agricultural trade has expanded significantly. Climate change is expected to affect agriculture, food security and nutrition unevenly across countries and regions. Changes in comparative advantage in agriculture around the world will also affect international trade.

Food security and nutrition: Challenges for agriculture and the hidden potential of soil

13/09/2018

Report, prepared by FAO and the OECD with inputs from IFPRI, IFAD, the World Bank and WTO, submitted to the G20 Presidency of the Republic of Argentina in response to the Presidency’s request for information on future trends and challenges faced by global agriculture, with a special focus on the role of soils in promoting food security and the measures that could be undertaken to facilitate sustainable soil management.

The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2015–16

13/09/2015

Global trade in agricultural and food products has grown rapidly in recent decades, with countries becoming more engaged in this trade, whether as exporters or importers. This trend is expected to continue over the coming decades. As a consequence, trade will play an increasingly important role in influencing the extent and nature of food security across all regions of the globe.