agricultural university

22 February 2019.    Launch of the State of the world's biodiversity for food and agriculture report Biodiversity for food and agriculture is among the earth’s most important resources. Thousands of species and their genetic variability make up the web of life and are indispensable to adapt to new conditions, including climate change. The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is committed to conserving biodiversity for food and agriculture and promotes its sustainable use for food security and human well-being and development worldwide, for current and future generations. Biodiversity for food security and nutrition. The first report on “The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture” is an essential step in creating a comprehensive picture of the state and use of this biodiversity, thus providing a strong foundation for the design of effective interventions towards more sustainable, resilient food systems. Five years in the making, the repor...

11-14 February 2019.  Jodhpur, India. The 13th International Conference on Dryland Development , with the theme "Converting Dryland Areas from Grey into Green", is organized by IDDC (International Dryland Development Commission) and the Arid Zone Research Association of India (AZRAI) and hosted by the ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI). Gajendra Singh Shekhawat‏   (Indian Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare) addressed the Inaugural Session Drylands cover about 41% of earth’s land area and are home to ~38% of world population. A majority (90%) of the people of this ecosystem live in developing countries. With fragile natural resource base, achieving food security in drylands has been a great challenge. With the threat of climate change looming large and additional threat of massive out-migration, the livelihoods of more than 2 billion people who live in these areas, will be further at risk . The efforts of the research and development commu...

7 February 2019 .  High-Level Conference on Forests at the heart of Sustainable Development The event shed light on the diverse social, economic and environmental benefits linked to the sustainable management of forests, as well as to highlight forests and trees’ contribution to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  The focus was given on illustrating the socio-economic benefits linked with forest resources as well as to underlining their crucial role in sustaining livelihoods and improving both rural and urban landscapes. The conference also provided an opportunity for institutional and multi-stakeholder exchange of views on the significance of forests for bringing about sustainable development, while raising public awareness about forest conservation and restoration, sustainable forest management and forest value chains, and the various socio-economic utilities of forest products and services. Panel 1: Uncovering forests' contribution to achieving ...

13 January 2019 . Hyderabad, India. The largest agriculture associations in Africa and Asia signed an agreement for diversifying major food staples. Associations including the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), Food Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) got together to form the Smart Food Executive Council. The Smart Food Executive Council has been formed under the aegis of the Smart Food Initiative that was launched in 2013 and stemmed from the strategic thinking around the need for food that fulfils the criteria of being good for the consumer, good for the planet and good for the farmer. A major objective under the initiative is to diversify staples which can have the strongest impact on nutritio...

Food systems of Indigenous Peoples who retain connection to long-evolved cultures and patterns of living in local ecosystems present a treasure of knowledge that contributes to well-being and health, and can benefit all humankind.  This book seeks to define and describe the diversity in food system use, nutrition and health in 12 rural case studies of Indigenous Peoples in different parts of the world as a window to global Indigenous Peoples’ circumstances.  A procedure for documenting Indigenous Peoples’ food systems was developed by researchers working with the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE) at McGill University, Canada, and the FAO.  The procedure was adapted and applied in case studies located in Canada, Japan, Peru, India, Nigeria, Colombia, Thailand, Kenya, and the Federated States of Micronesia . The collective intent of this documentation is to show the inherent strengths of the local traditional food systems, how people think ab...

The Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative shares a new open-access guide that collects lessons learned from four partner countries to help others harness agricultural biodiversity to transform the food system for development, food security and nutrition. At the recent 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference COP14 in Sharm El-Sheikh (COP14 of the CBD), the BFN team hosted a side event in which it launched an open-access toolkit entitled “Biodiversity Mainstreaming for Healthy ; Sustainable Food Systems”. This guide compiles case studies from all four countries, key resources and methodologies to share the knowledge accumulated by the BFN Partners, promoting the conservation and sustainable use of local biodiversity. It is free to view and download from the BFN website and CGIAR CGSpace Repository . Throughout its six years of experience in Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey , the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative ( BFN Project ) has pioneered a partner-based methodology...

2-14 December 2019. Katowice, Poland. COP24 is the informal name for the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. At COP23 in Bonn, the Agriculture Advantage event series was initiated by likeminded organizations, which brought together over 400 diverse stakeholders to put forward a vision and action agenda for transforming agriculture under climate change. In its second year at COP24, the series will focus on implementing the action agenda and realizing the vision for transformation. The event series will link multiple side events held during the 2 weeks of COP24 into a single theme, “Agriculture Advantage 2.0: Transforming food systems under a changing climate” , with the effect of a day-long conference, spread out over multiple days. The aim of the event series will be to step up actions to drive a transformation within global food systems that will help to achieve food security, adaptation to climate change, and mitigation of...

Li, X. and Siddique, K.H.M. 2018. Future Smart Food - Rediscovering hidden treasures of neglected and underutilized species for Zero Hunger in Asia , Bangkok, 242 pp. Book PDF Future Smart Food here Details about the book on the card page Policy Brief of Future Smart Food: Unlocking hidden treasures in Asia and the Pacific Executive Summary of Future Smart Food:Rediscovering hidden treasures of neglected and underutilized species for Zero Hunger in Asia To tap the high potential of NUS, FAO RAP has organized a Regional Expert Consultation on Scoping and Prioritizing NUS through an interdisciplinary priority-setting exercise in December 2016, in collaboration with the FAO Special Ambassador for the International Year of Pulses, ICARDA, ICRISAT, MSSRF-LANSA, ACIAR, Mahidol University, the University of Western Australia, ICIMOD, CATAS-TCGRI, CFF, national governments and research institutes of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietman and India , as well as civ...

22 November 2018 . Africana Flavours 2018, in celebration of the Brussels "week van de smaak" (week of the taste) organized an evening exploring vegetarianism in African food cultures . This event was organized by The Food Bridge vzw in collaboration with FAAB vzw, the BigPicnic project, O'Marche and GC De Platoo. Garden egg is an important crop in several African countries and is indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa.  There are two popular types of garden eggs, the green garden egg, which has a slightly bitter taste, and the milky coloured garden egg.  It can be eaten raw (with fried ground nuts/ groundnut butter) or used for sauces. Vegetarianism (or vegan) is one word that many still think is not synonymous with the African cuisine.  However, like most trends or lifestyles across the globe, vegetarianism is gradually becoming a part of the African food culture. This is more prevalent though, in diaspora communities and urban areas of Africa. Although some argue that Africa...