Solution Exchange Forum on Agriculture, Food Security & Capacity Development

Because of the great strides that have been made in agricultural production technology over the last half a century, it is possible to produce enough food to feed a growing world population of over 6 billion people today. Paradoxically, today the total number of undernourished in the world has not diminished but instead increased to nearly 1 billion. While new challenges like climate change, the recurring food price crises since 2006, the global financial crisis of 2009 and the ongoing economic down-turn are certainly playing an important role in hampering progress in tackling food security, it is widely accepted that the chronic under-investment in small-holder agriculture, food security and rural development over the last three decades is one of the primary reasons behind this lack of progress.

While the world has the know-how to produce all the food that is needed for a growing population, progress will depend on our ability to significantly and sustainably increase investment in small-holder agriculture and programmes that make simple but improved agricultural production technologies accessible to the large numbers of poor farmers in developing countries that had been by-passed by the economic and technological progress that has taken place elsewhere.

This Solution Exchange Forum will feature solutions for food security improvement through agricultural capacity development in areas like agricultural technology, agribusiness, agro-based industries and rural development.

For further information on the Solution Exchange Forum on Agriculture, Food Security & Capacity Development, please contact: Karel Callens at Karel.Callens@fao.org