The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and FAO have a significant history of cooperation. For more than 50 years, FAO assistance has spanned the full spectrum of agricultural and rural development, with interventions carefully selected to meet top priority areas identified by the country and its regional setting. Some notable features of cooperation include the formulation of policy and regulatory frameworks, including national capacity development, and technical assistance to high-value horticulture.

Эта книга – рассказ о 70-летней истории ФАО, об основных действующих лицах и об их работе. Мы разыскали в архивах ФАО неопубликованные черно-белые фотографии и составили из них альбом, иллюстрирующий ранние годы становления Организации. Книга также представляет собой отчет о десяти важнейших достижениях ФАО, в числе которых: искоренение чумы крупного рогатого скота, подписание договора о генетических ресурсах растений, жизненно важное соглашение о сохранении биоразнообразия на планете и кодекс в едения ответственного рыболовства, необходимый для сохранения морской экосистемы.

Canada has long been an active and generous resource partner, working closely with FAO in support of a wide range of shared food security and agricultural development goals. Mutual priority themes include child and maternal nutrition, land tenure and resilience building – with much of Canada’s recent cooperation with FAO having been in response to emergencies where host governments have prioritized FAO’s recovery projects. Canadian expertise and staffing resources are also an important asset for FAO.

Bhutan joined FAO in 1981 and a country office was established in the mid-1980s. Since then, FAO has implemented close to 100 projects. Cooperation began with on-the-ground agricultural development activities based on ad hoc government requests, shifting more recently to policy and legislative support; information exchange and capacity building; partnership building and regional collaboration; and emergency and rehabilitation assistance. Current cooperation with this small, landlocked country al so features natural resource management and rural development.

Since Comoros joined the Organization in 1977, a variety of interventions have been delivered across the food and agriculture sector. Assistance has included capacity building, institutional strengthening and policy formulation as well as direct support to development projects. Current cooperation efforts are geared towards increasing agricultural production, particularly food products, and protecting natural resources – with an emphasis on agroforestry development. Strengthening agricultural data collection and information systems is another priority area.

This book tells the story of these seven decades of the history of FAO, its protagonists and their endeavours. We have dug into the FAO archives to bring to light unpublished black and white images, which form a portfolio of evocative images of the early years of the Organization.

Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L). Wilczek) is becoming an important grain legume in Nepal. It can be grown as an additional crop after harvesting winter crops such as winter wheat, winter legumes and oilseeds and before planting main season rice from the low-altitude Terai through to the middle hills of Nepal. Replacing short fallows in the spring, it provides additional high quality food, enhances soil fertility and increases the yield of the following crop.

The role of urban agriculture in global food security is a topic of increasing discussion. Existing research on urban and peri-urban agriculture consists largely of case studies that frequently use disparate definitions of urban and peri-urban agriculture depending on the local context and study objectives. This lack of consistency makes quantification of the extent of this practice at the global scale difficult.

Recent food crises have highlighted the need to better understand the between-year variability of agricultural production. Although increasing future production seems necessary, the globalization of commodity markets suggests that the food system would also benefit from enhanced supplies stability through a reduction in the year-to-year variability.