Agricultural Development
Featured blog
Identifying guidelines for the design of conditional credit programs to promote sustainable agricultural practices in Latin America
The complex challenge of increasing food production while mitigating carbon dioxide emissions, building resilience to climate change, and reducing the burden of agriculture on natural resources requires innovative approaches. Promising strategies include increasing access to mechanization and adopting modern fertilization processes that contribute to climate change adaptation efforts, or the use of improved seeds.
Re-Examining Financing for Food Security: 2024 SOFI Report Released
As the world edges closer to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal deadline, progress on achieving Zero Hunger has stalled, according to the FAO’s 2024 flagship report, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.
As many as 757 million people may have experienced hunger in 2023, while 2.33 billion experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. In 2022, as many as 2.8 billion were not able to afford a nutritious diet. The situation is particularly dire in low-income countries, especially for rural populations, women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples.
Reviving public extension for climate-resilient agriculture: Lessons and insights from India, Indonesia, and Nepal
With global temperatures already 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, climate change is having major impacts on agriculture that fall disproportionately on the Global South—from crops, to livestock, to aquaculture. Agricultural systems endure frequent heat waves, flooding, and drought—often all in one season. Climate-related extreme weather events such as intense rainstorms pose a serious threat to crops.
FEWS Net Gaza Update: Food Aid Increases in April But Food Supplies, Access Remain Low
Despite an increase in food aid delivered to the region, the food security situation in the Gaza Strip remains dire, according to an updated FEWS Net report released in late April.
Soaring cocoa prices: Diverse impacts and implications for key West African producers
Cocoa bean prices have been rising since the last quarter of 2023, hitting a record high of $10.97 per kilogram on April 19 (Figure 1). The price spike is due to a significant drop in bean production by major global suppliers—four key producing nations in West and Central Africa account for more than 60% of the world's supply of cocoa beans: Cote d’Ivoire (with 38% of the global production in 2022), Ghana (19%), Nigeria (5%), and Cameroon (5%).1