Agriculture & Food Security

Event: Latin American and Caribbean Regional Online Real-time Conferences on Socio-economic Considerations Arising from Impacts of LMOs (Spanish) [viewed]

Organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), this online conference aims to continue the exchange of views and synthesis of information and experiences regarding socio-economic considerations arising from the impact of living modified organisms (LMOs) on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, especially with regard to the value of biological diversity to indigenous and local communities. Building on a series of previous online discussions, the conference is open to representatives from Parties, other Governments, relevant organizations and indigenous and local communities from the Latin American and Caribbean Region.  

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Global Land Forum Declaration Commits to Land Rights for Indigenous Peoples and Women [viewed]

ILC17 May 2013: At the Global Land Forum meeting held in Antigua, Guatemala, from 23-27 April 2013, members of the International Land Coalition (ILC) agreed to a series of commitments in the 'Antigua Declaration' related to securing tenure for responsible land governance.

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Event: 22nd Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry [viewed]

The Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has approved the dates of the next Committee on Forestry (COFO), set for 23–27 June 2014. The biennial session will be held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, and will bring together heads of forest services and other senior government officials to identify emerging policy and technical issues, to seek solutions and to advise FAO and others on appropriate action. Participants will also include representatives from other international organizations and non-governmental groups. Participation in COFO is open to all FAO member countries.  

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UN Complaints Mechanism on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Enters into Force [viewed]

OHCHR 26 May 2013: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has welcomed the entry into force of a new human rights mechanism that will permit individuals to seek justice in relation to economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR).

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Report of the Adaptation Fund Board's 20th Meeting Released [viewed]

Adaptation Fund6 May 2013: The Adaptation Fund has released the meeting report from the 20th meeting of the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB), during which it approved a new project in Argentina, and placed projects in Belize, Ghana and Uzbekistan in the pipeline.

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Conservation and Use of Plant Genetic Resources Advances in Mesoamerica [viewed]

ITPGR6 May 2013: As part of the 58th annual meeting of the Central American Cooperative Programme for the Improvement of Crops and Animals (Programa Cooperativo Centroamericano para el Mejoramiento de Cultivos y Animales (PCCMCA), held from 22-26 April 2013, working groups were established to address priorities and challenges in adapting to climate change in the region.

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Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change Focuses on Mainstreaming [viewed]

cba72 May 2013: The 7th Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA7) was organized around the theme 'mainstreaming CBA into national and local planning.'

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Global Land Forum Tackles Concept of Territorial Governance for Food Security [viewed]

ILC30 April 2013: The Global Land Forum, organized by the International Land Coalition (ILC) and held in Antigua, Guatemala, from 23-24 April 2013, brought together farmers, indigenous peoples, women's organizations, NGOs, research centers, trade unions, multilateral institutions and governments to discuss the political, economic, environmental and societal linkages between land governance, food security, poverty and democracy.

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Event: Land for Business–Business for Land [viewed]

The workshop on 'Land for Business – Business for Land: The Economics of Land Degradation' will serve as catalyst for private sector involvement in the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative. Corporate strategists, leaders in sustainability and other representatives of the business community will be asked to outline their needs within the context of further development of the ELD private sector work programme. The objectives of the workshop are to: Understand companies‘ needs; Profile the economic valuation of land and ecosystems services within business strategy development; Identify business sectors most affected by land degradation and explore how to document the impact of unmitigated risk on business strategy and value chains; Raise awareness of options for managing land degradation risk; Explore examples of sustainable land use in specific sectors and showcase enterprises implementing scalable, win-win solutions; Identify barriers to scaling up good practices and explore options to enable the private sector to invest in sustainable land management; and Identify a programme of work and sector leaders to be integrated into subsequent stages of the ELD Initiative. The workshop will take place in the context of the BONN PERSPECTIVES, an initiative of the City of Bonn and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia.  

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FAO Council Approves Partnership Strategies and Names 2015 International Year of Soils [viewed]

FAO26 April 2013: At its meeting in Rome, Italy, the governing Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) approved strategies related to strengthening FAO partnerships with civil society organizations and with the private sector.

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