Developed in collaboration with United Nations agencies, civil society and other organizations, the United Nations challenge badges are intended to raise awareness, educate and motivate young people to change their behaviour and be active agents of change in their local communities. The challenge badge series can be used by teachers in school classes and by youth leaders, and especially Guide or Scout groups.

Since the 1960s, FAO has taken the lead in the fight against hunger in Somalia, supporting the Government and rural communities in times of crisis as well as in pursuit agricultural development goals. Special attention is devoted to helping rural communities withstand recurrent shocks, such as drought, flooding, and plant and animal pests and diseases. Through resilience programming, FAO balances technical support with the provision of quality inputs to prevent or lessen the impact of shocks to livelihoods and keep development gains intact.

We aim at increasing the impact of poverty-reduction strategies on poor smallholder farmers through investments in water, by recognizing the diversity and complexity of their conditions and tailoring interventions accordingly.

This paper discusses – at the sub-basin level – the regional differences and comparative advantages for agricultural development and water resources utilization in the Nile Basin. It looks at options for development, projected in the regional context, and the importance of agricultural water use for social and food security in the different parts of the basin.

The continuing and rapid degradation of rural watersheds has been a major concern for governments and civil society in Asia and the Pacific region. A root cause is the segmented management of land and water resources. This has been exacerbated by the cumulative and linked effects of an increase in demand for food, fuel and water due to population growth, competition for scarce land resources from biofuel production and a shift in preference for protein-rich diets. The expected adverse impact of climate change in the coming decades will most likely worsen the situation.

The Agricultural Water Solutions Project aims to unlock the potential of smallholder farming by identifying, evaluating and recommending a variety of agricultural water management (AWM) solutions - including technologies as well as the necessary supporting policies, institutions, financing arrangements and associated business models. This is being achieved through a series of interlinked activities in the seven project sites in Africa (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia) and in India (Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal).

حمّل التقرير الحفظ والتوسع من الناحية العملية: الذرة والأرز والقمح .متوفر باللغة الإنكليزية فقط.

Este mes, la celebración anual del Día Mundial del Agua tendrá lugar el 22 de marzo. El tema del Día de este año es Agua para las ciudades: respondiendo al desafío urbano. En el presente número examinamos algunos de los retos planteados por los recursos hídricos a causa de la rapidez de las migraciones, y estudiamos una posible solución para intensificar el aprovechamiento de dichos recursos.

This issue of Unasylva contains, as promised in the previous edition, additional articles on sustainable mountain development. These articles help to complete the focus on the topic and should also help to promote interest in the recently declared International Year of the Mountain (2000) for which FAO has been designated lead agency status within the United Nations system.