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.

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.