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A food system comprises the entire range of actors and interlinked activities related to food production, processing, distribution, marketing and trade, preparation, consumption, and disposal. When a food system operates without compromising the needs of future generations, it is considered to be a “Sustainable Food System.” The present-day food systems in Sri Lanka are diverse, and the natural and physical environment, infrastructure, institutions, society and culture, and policies and regulations within which the food systems operate, as well as the technologies employed, have shaped their outcomes. Agricultural research is a key factor in terms of innovation and technological advances...
Sustainability is about the effective management of nonrenewable and nonreplenishable natural resources. These resources are limited and critical to maintaining ecological balance. A collective effort is required to balance our socio-economic needs with environmental needs. This could be achieved by re-evaluating policies and actions as to how they affect the environment. Sustainability requires changes in traditional practices of doing things and refocusing ourselves to the needs of the earth. This handbook explores the role of sustainability in achieving social development, environmental protection, and economic development. These three areas constitute what is referred to as the triple bottom line (TBL). Sustainability management may help organizations and their global supply networks to re-evaluate their policies, processes, programs, and projects in terms of triple bottom line. Sustainability helps to facilitate planning, implementing, reviewing, and improving an organization's actions and operations to meet ecological goals.
The City Region Food Systems (CRFS) programme is a global initiative of FAO and RUAF that aims to support national and local governments and local food actors to build resilient city region food systems by strengthening rural–urban linkages and improving the resilience to climate and pandemic risks. This Handbook is designed for technical staff in local and national institutions, and practitioners in cities/city regions that are implementing the city region food system (CRFS) assessment and planning process. Its purpose is to help familiarizing with the CRFS approach and key terminology, and guide the implementation of an assessment and planning following different steps and modules. The Handbook is intended to be used in conjunction with the online Toolkit, which contains supplementary explanations, how-to tools, training materials, technical examples, and workshop resources related to activities within each project module. The Toolkit can be accessed on the CRFS programme website (https://www.fao.org/in-action/food-for-cities-programme/toolkit/introduction/en/).
Cinnamon is the common name for the spice obtained from the dried inner bark of several species of the genus Cinnamomum in the Lauraceae family. In world trade, Cinnamomum cassia (L.) J. Presl Cinnamomum burmannii dominate, but it is of a different quality to ‘true’ or ‘Ceylon’ cinnamon produced from Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume (C. verum J. Presl), with the latter much easier to process, giving a more delicate, sweeter flavor with nuances of clove, but more importantly with only traces (often below detection thresholds) of coumarin, compared with 5–7 g/kg in other species. Cinnamon has been a popular and expensive spice in many civilizations, including ancient Egypt, Rome and in 14...
Biological diversity is important for ecosystem function and services, which in turn is essential for human well-being. Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, international efforts have been made to achieve a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss. The loss continues, however. The Asia-Pacific region includes both developing countries with high biodiversity and developed countries with sophisticated data collection and analyses, but only limited information about the status quo of biodiversity in this region has been available. Many Asia-Pacific countries have rapidly grown their economies and social infrastructures, causing a loss of biodiversity and requiring...
At a time when much of humanity is already but one failed harvest removed from starvation, we cannot afford to ignore any potential danger to food security, especially when that danger poses a threat to rice, the staff of life for so much of the world. Crop Ferality and Volunteerism brings together research pioneers from various disciplines
Climate variability and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts continue to increase due to climate change. These changes will have significant impacts on low- and middle-income countries. Without transformative climate adaptation solutions, millions of smallholder farmers will face severe losses because of increased climate variability. The CGIAR Initiative on Climate Resilience (‘ClimBeR’) was designed to develop bold transformative climate actions by delivering science and innovation to transform food, land, and water systems that will help smallholder farmers and local communities better adapt to the impacts of climate variability. ClimBeR aims to increase the adaptive cap...
While the issue of invasive alien species (IAS) has important biological components, the human dimensions deserve much greater attention. Humans, with all their diversity of quirks, strengths, and weaknesses, are at the heart of the problem of IAS and, paradoxically, also at the heart of the solution. This compilation of papers delivered during a workshop on the human dimensions of the IAS problem, held in Cape Town, South Africa on 15-17 September 2000, covers some of the many causes, consequences and responses to this problem.
Crop wild relatives (CWR) are plant species which are more or less closely related to crops. They are a vital resource by providing a pool of genetic variation that can be used in breeding new and better adapted varieties of crops that are resistant to stress, disease, drought and other factors. They will be increasingly important in allowing crops to adapt to the impacts of climate, thus safeguarding future agricultural production. Until recently, the main conservation strategy adopted for CWR has been ex situ - through the maintenance of samples as seed or vegetative material in various kinds of genebank or other facilities. Now the need to conserve CWR in their natural surroundings (in si...