International Women's Day, 8 March 2023: women, communication, ICT, agriculture.

The United Nations theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) 2023 is “DigitALL – Innovation and technology for gender equality”. It aims to leverage the transformative power of inclusive digitalization and innovation for rural women and girls. International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day to commemorate and uphold women’s achievements and raise awareness on a reconfirming commitment to gender equality. It also marks a call to action for accelerating gender

Tips for engaging women in your radio program

Women play a central role in families, communities, and societies. But women and girls face struggles every day simply because of their gender. They may be limited in what resources they can access, where they can farm, if they can go to school, and what they can eat. In many places, women do not have control over the crops they grow or even their own bodies. It’s important to share

The WRF and the Forest and Farm Facility promote the catalytic role of cooperativism in empowering rural women

As a result of the project implemented in 2021 and 2022, the WRF and the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF), in close collaboration with six regional agricultural organizations in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, promote the central role that associations and cooperatives in the empowerment and resilience of rural women. The project identified and analyzed successful experiences to pinpoint the key elements for success, the main challenges, and the role of cooperatives

Rural people in Sudan call time on water wars

As the climate crisis takes hold, it’s said that the wars of the future will be over one of the most fundamental of human rights: water. In many parts of Sudan, these wars have already begun. Sudan lies in the semi-arid Sahel. Nomadic herders and their livestock have long crisscrossed these vast borderlands of the Sahara Desert. With an estimated 140 million animals, Sudan has one of the largest livestock sectors in

Agroecology Dialogue Series

The Agroecology Dialogue Series is an initiative of FAO and the Biovision Foundation in support of the Coalition for food systems transformation through Agroecology (Agroecology Coalition). It is organized as part of the Food Policy Forum for Change. The series consists of three thematic dialogues that aim to identify entry points, opportunities, building blocks, innovative approaches and institutional frameworks that can support the upscale of agroecology. Between 60 and 90 participants contributed to each dialogue from various backgrounds

A new lease on life for Internally Displaced Persons in Mozambique

After being forced to flee his home in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, Ali Ndalila was able to restart his livelihood with the help of FAO and its partners. When Ali Ndalila had to flee his home in Mozambique’s northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, he was heartbroken for many reasons. Not the least of them was abandoning the particularly bountiful harvest that followed a lucky wet season. The region is blessed

Resilience Food Stories: An agri-chef  in Kenya who grows his own food

“At 45 Degrees Kitchen, we believe food is the centre of everything we do as humans, whether at home with family and friends or at a fancy restaurant. 45 Degrees Kitchen is committed to food with integrity. We understand the connection between how food is grown or raised, how it’s prepared and how it tastes. Genuine raw ingredients come from our own garden and are sourced from organic farms in

The systematic integration of crops, shrubs and livestock (CSL)

The systematic integration of crops, shrubs and livestock (CSL) is a promising strategy for the sustainable intensification of agrosystems. In the face of declining land fertility, irregular rainfall and low input use, several technologies within this approach have been identified to improve producers’ income in the Sahel. Thus, the SustainSahelproject is co-conducting with farmers a network of agronomic trials associating trees and shrubs to evaluate and document their impacts on

Event Result: The dissemination of innovative technologies in Mali

After Senegal and Burkina Faso, the second event for disseminating innovative technologies was held in Mali from 17 to 21 October 2022. Several activities were on the programme: visits to test fields, training for drone pilots, and a farmers’ day, among others. In Mali, the plant Gliricidia Sepium is highly prized by farmers and is very effective in fertilising the soil and an excellent feed for livestock. However, not all

Introducing the updated feed ration calculator to innovation platforms - Field mission of University of Kassel

Work package 6: Co-creation of a feed ration calculation tool for ruminants. Presentation of the tool to representatives of national producer federations and innovations platforms in all three of the project’s focus countries. Following a first study with experts in Senegal on the applicability of a pilot ration calculator developed by the section Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel (‘Optimizing a feeding tool with nutritional details