World Agriculture Watch | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Agriculture is undergoing rapid transformation and this may affect its ability to respond to global challenges. Climate change, land and environmental degradation, food insecurity, watery scarcity and persistent poverty are threatening agricultural productivity. Agricultural systems must, therefore, adapt. Family farms have already proved to be competitive and sustainable when the conditions are right, but they need tailored investment policies and solutions if they are to flourish. World Agriculture Watch (WAW) works with country partners to bridge knowledge gaps with a view to better informing policy design, particularly in relation to family farmers.

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Meetings / Workshops / Events

17 October 2024 On Thursday, October 17, Marie Christine Monnier, WAW coordinator, participated in the session "Equitable Access to and Use of Land, Water , and Other Natural Resources" at the Global Family Farming Forum. She discussed the connection between the UN Decade for Family Farming (UNDFF) and the Rome Water Dialogue, emphasized the technical work of the FAO’s Land and Water (NSL) Division and highlighted the WAW approach to assess access and use natural resources by family farmers.
15 October 2024 Marie-Christine Monnier, WAW coordinator together with Antoine Lemaitre (FAO NSL Division), presented the newly published WAW operational guidelines at the Global Family Farming Forum at FAO headquarters in Rome.
3-5 October 2024 The WAW Secretariat was present at the Forum ODT 2024 which took place at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. The forum brought together experts and stakeholders to explore the role of agroecological principles in shaping food systems. In coordination with USSEIN and the FAO Green Cities Initiative, WAW presented the analysis of agriculture production systems around Kaffrine, Senegal, using the WAW methodology on October 3rd during the workshop 7 - local sourcing for healthy food in urban and peri-urban food systems.
19-21 March 2024 The WAW Secretariat participated in the 8th global conference of the World Rural Forum in the Spanish Basque country. The conference highlighted the role of family farming in sustainable development, with roundtables, workshops, exhibitions, and bilateral meetings to tackle present challenges and future prospects. The event also facilitated networking, updates to the WAW network, and discussions of collaboration opportunities.
14-18 October 2019 WAW Secretariat proposed to co-organize a side-event during the upcoming CFS (Committee on World Food Security) together with ILC and the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil. The topic will be “What data supports family farming?” and it is expected to shed light on the ongoing discussion about how data and information systems can help empower family farmers, target investments and public policies and contribute to the UNDFF goals.
May 2019 the international conference was held in FAO HQ for the official launch of the UN Decade of Family Farming. Tunisian partner of WAW presented its experience from the pilot phase.
25-29 March 2019 WAW Secretariat attended and actively participated to the meeting in Bilbao organized by World Rural Forum for the preparation of the launching of the UN decade of Family farming. The agenda of the Decade was discussed during the meeting.