This issue of Unasylva focuses on the special challenges concerning the conservation and use of trees outside forests.

The document is a compilation of detailed statistics on farming, livestock, fishery, forestry and nutrition in Asia-Pacific countries for the above period. The seventeenth issue of the series shows the changes in land use, farm inputs, and production indices for staple food crops - rice, wheat, maize, millet, cereals, cassava, a range of root and tuber crops, pulses, edible oil and fibre crops, fruit and cash crops like rubber and coffee. It also compares changes in livestock, fisheries and forestry production, agricultural trade and nutritional availability and intake for this period.

In the 1950 World Census of Agriculture it is intended that each government will obtain accurate and comparable information on its agriculture, including agricultural holdings, the number and characteristics of the people who secure their livelihood from agriculture, areas under crops and numbers of livestock and the volume of production.

Issues relating to land and land reform have been moving up the agenda of rural poverty and food security in recent years with the increasing acceptance that the prerequisites for broad-based and equitable development include the essential need for people to have access to land and other natural resources. Access needs to be on an equitable basis allowing the poor and the disadvantaged, including women, to secure the assets needed for them and their families to generate sustainable livelihoods.

Women make significant contributions to the rural economy in all developing country regions. Their roles OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE differ across regions, yet they consistently have less access than men to the resources and opportunities they need to be more productive. Increasing women’s access to land, livestock, education, financial services, extension, technology and rural employment would boost their productivity and generate gains in terms of agricultural production, food security, economic growth and social welfare.

Meeting symbol/code: ALAWUC/NE/12

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Meeting symbol/code: ALAWUC/NE/10