One of the guiding mandates within the FAO Constitution is the following: “The Organization shall promote and, where appropriate, shall recommend national and international action with respect to: … the conservation of natural resources and the adoption of improved methods of agricultural production ...”. In many African countries, in addition to low yields, food production is limited by the availability of land and water resources.

In its recent examination of global water scarcity (1997) the United Nations system identified water quality as one of the key concerns in Asia in the next century. This concern is based on the fact that water quality degradation is so severe in many Asian countries that it is placing serious constraints on economic growth; it continues to be a serious problem for human health and it is causing widespread negative environmental effects.

Extensive grazing is the predominant form of land use on at least a quarter of the world’s land surface, in which livestock are raised on food that comes mainly from rangelands. Extensive grazing differs from crop or forestry production, in which the produce remains in situ whilst growing. Evaluation for extensive grazing, unlike that for cropping or forestry, must take into account the production of both grazing forage, termed primary production, and the livestock that feed on this forage, termed secondary production.

Meeting symbol/code: LARC 00 3

Our region is food insecure and a net importer of foods. It produces much less food than it requires due to many factors, such as limited arable land and shortage of water resources, and below world average agricultural productivity in many cases. In addition, the region suffers from excessive food losses and wastes. FAO estimated recently that food losses and waste in the world amounts to about 1.3 billion metric tons, and we estimate that our region’s share of these losses and wastes is very significant.

Revue internationale des forts et des industries forestires

Land Tenure Working Paper 17. This publication identifies and assesses issues related to land governance and provides examples of good governance in the Caribbean subregion. This working paper was done in light of FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources.

Document de travail sur les régimes fonciers 17. Cet article identifie et analyse des questions relatives à la gouvernance des terres et apporte des exemples de bonne gouvernance de la sous-région des Caraïbes. Cette étude a été conduite en vue de l’initiative de la FAO sur les Directives Volontaires sur la gouvernance responsable de la tenure des terres et des autres ressources naturelles. Disponible en anglais

This report presents the outcomes of the training workshop organized around the MASSMUS application presented is the first application in Shanxi Province in China in 2010.

The International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID) is an international independent multi-donor trust fund programme created in 1990 and first located at the World Bank. Since 1998, it has been hosted by FAO as a Special Programme. IPTRID aims to assist developing countries and countries in transition in building capacity for sustainable agricultural water management to reduce poverty and enhance food security, while conserving the environment.