Detailed comparative analysis of basic lines of agrarian transformations in China and Russia has been done, its results have been analysed. Not only conceptual differences of the agrarian policy in those countries are demonstrated, but also consequences of concrete political decisions for the development of the branch. The differences are stipulated mainly by two groups of factors. The first of them is the opposite approaches to transforming land relations and the entire system of agrarian relations.

Internationally, there is interest in increasing the trade in ‘green’ market products, such as organic, fair trade, reduction of deforestation and forest degradation/reduction of deforestation and forest degradation+ for reduced deforestation and mitigation of climate change, and environmental goods and services. This crucially needs to be extended to the many poor, hungry and marginalized smallholder farmers in developing countries.

BACKGROUND: Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) addresses the challenge of meeting the growing demand for food, fibre and fuel, despite the changing climate and fewer opportunities for agricultural expansion on additional lands. CSA focuses on contributing to economic development, poverty reduction and food security; maintaining and enhancing the productivity and resilience of natural and agricultural ecosystem functions, thus building natural capital; and reducing trade-offs involved in meeting these goals.

BACKGROUND: Ethiopia encompasses an extraordinary number of ecological zones and plant diversity. However, the diversity of plants is highly threatened due to lack of institutional capacity, population pressure, land degradation and deforestation. An adequate documentation of these plants also has not been conducted. The farmers in Ethiopia face serious and growing food insecurity caused by drought, land degradation and climate change. Thus, rural communities are dependent on underutilized wild edible plants to meet their food and nutritional needs.

Agriculture is considered one of the vital activities in Egypt; it consumes about 83� % of the Egyptian Nile water quota. This activity is becoming negatively affected by water pollution causing negative repercussion on land productivity and subsequently food security. This paper assesses the water quality for agriculture along the mainstream of the Nile in Egypt through spatial distributions modelling of total dissolved solids (TDS), using spatial statistical analysis.

In the Mediterranean region, crop productivity and food security are closely linked to the adaptation of cropping systems to multiple abiotic stresses. Limited and unpredictable rainfall and low soil fertility have reduced agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. For this reason, crop management technologies have been developed, with a special focus on the Mediterranean region, to enhance crop production by increasing land productivity and sustaining soil fertility under influence of climate changes and population increases.

In recent years, the concept of ‘food sovereignty’ has gained increasing ground among grassroots groups, taking the form of a global movement. But there is no uniform conceptualization of what food sovereignty constitutes. Indeed, the definition has been expanding over time. It has moved from its initial focus on national self-sufficiency in food production (‘the right of nations’) to local self-sufficiency (‘the rights of peoples’). There is also a growing emphasis on the rights of women and other disadvantaged groups, and on consensus building and democratic choice.

In order to identify sustainable management solutions for small-scale farmer agroecosystems, a better understanding of these dynamic forest–farmland systems, existing farming and forestry strategies, and farmer perspectives is important. We examined the relationship between agricultural land use patterns and farmers’ practices and identified existing and potential characteristics of healthy agroecosystems at local scale in the context of village communities in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

En este libro se cuenta el relato de estas siete décadas de historia de la FAO, de sus protagonistas y de sus hechos. Se han rescatado del archivo de la FAO imágenes inéditas en blanco y negro de los primeros años de la Organización que configuran un portfolio de intensas y hermosas imágenes.

Depuis que l’État des Comores est devenu membre de l’Organisation, en 1977, diverses interventions ont été mises en oeuvre dans le secteur de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture. L’assistance a concerné le renforcement des capacités et des institutions et la formulation des politiques, et un appui direct a été fourni pour des projets de développement.

Belarus and FAO have been implementing a number of development programmes to encourage agro-industry growth, rural development and trade facilitation since 2005, when the country became a member of FAO. In providing assistance, FAO is and will be focusing on increasing efforts to prevent the African Swine Fever, to help eliminate obsolete pesticides, to harmonize the standards of quality for agricultural products with the European standards, to develop climate change projects and to provide training to the Belarusian agricultural specialists.

Poland was one of the 44 founding members of FAO, participating in the Hot Spring Conference in 1943 as well as in the FAO founding conference in Quebec City on 16 October 1945. FAO’s shared history of cooperation with the Government of Poland has focused on projects that improve the safety and efficiency of the Polish food system. In recent years, Poland has transitioned from a recipient to a donor country, recently funding an FAO study on best practices for emergency preparedness.