brief and reports
[2019] In this publication, FAO and IFAD highlight how family farmers can help in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as they launch the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028. In both developed and developing countries, family farming represents the predominant form of food and agricultural production. Given the enormous diversity of family farmers around the world, there is no single definition of family farming.[2016] El Foro Regional de Comunicación para la Agricultura Familiar y el Desarrollo Rural Sostenible se realizó en Quito, Ecuador, del 7 al 8 de noviembre 2016. El Foro fue organizado por el Centro Internacional de Estudios Superiores de Comunicación para América Latina (CIESPAL), junto con la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO) y la Reunión Especializada en Agricultura Familiar del Mercosur (REAF), con la colaboración de la Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias (AMARC).
Con el objetivo de impulsar la agenda política en comunicación para la agricultura familiar y el desarrollo rural sostenible, los participantes del Foro aprobaron una serie de recomendaciones y generaron propuestas de acciones conjuntas en apoyo a los servicios inclusivos de comunicación rural en América Latina y el Caribe.
[2016] Supporting dialogic communication and knowledge sharing processes is a powerful means of helping farmer organizations, indigenous peoples, rural communities and civil society organizations to make their voices heard and be part of the development agenda. Rural communication services and policies can translate farmers’ right to communication into fair and transparent regulatory frameworks that will allow equitable access to information and communication services in rural areas and ensure the active participation of smallholder and family farmers. During the International Year of Family Farming, FAO convened an international Forum on Communication for Development & Community Media for Family Farming (FCCM), in collaboration with the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC). The Forum participants addressed opportunities for promoting rural communication services as sustained, inclusive and efficient communication processes involving family farmers and the rural population, and considered how to better integrate these services into agricultural policies.
[2015] Healthy soils are crucial for ensuring the continued growth of natural and managed vegetation, providing feed, fibre, fuel, medicinal products and other ecosystem services such as climate regulation and oxygen production. Soils and vegetation have a reciprocal relationship. Fertile soil encourages plant growth by providing plants with nutrients, acting as a water holding tank, and serving as the substrate to which plants anchor their roots. In return, vegetation, tree cover and forests prevent soil degradation and desertification by stabilizing the soil, maintaining water and nutrient cycling, and reducing water and wind erosion. As global economic growth and demographic shifts increase the demand for vegetation, animal feed and vegetation by products such as wood, soils are put under tremendous pressure and their risk of degradation increases greatly. Managing vegetation sustainably—whether in forests, pastures or grasslands—will boost its benefits, including timber, fodder and food, in a way meets society’s needs while conserving and maintaining the soil for the benefit of present and future generations.
[2015] This policy document summarizes key observations and recommendations for policymakers made during the 24th e-Agriculture online forum, which took place from 22 September to 6 October 2014. The e-Agriculture Community of Practice organized the forum, as part of a series of virtual consultations and face-to-face participatory discussions on the theme:“Communication for Development, community media and ICTs for family farming and rural development,” organized by FAO and AMARC.
From August 25th to September 12th, the Food and Agriculture Organization, in collaboration with the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) hosted a regional virtual consultation on Communication for Development, community media and ICTs for family farming and rural development in Africa. Participants were invited to share their ideas and opinions and most of all, to help in forging the way forward for Communication for rural development in the region. This is the consultation final report. 
From August 25th to September 12th, the Food and Agriculture Organization, in collaboration with the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) hosted a regional virtual consultation on Communication for Development, community media and ICTs for family farming and rural development in Asia. Participants were invited to share their ideas and opinions and most of all, to help in forging the way forward for Communication for rural development in the region. This is the consultation final report. 
[2009] This report synthesizes the experiences shared by over 150 participants in a virtual consultation on the potential and role of communication applied to issues such as climate change, natural resource management, risk reduction and food security, with a special focus on the Latin American context. The virtual consultation, held in June-July 2008, was organised by the FAO Communication for Sustainable Development Initiative (CSDI), in collaboration with Onda Rural, the World Association of Community Radios for Latin America and the Caribbean (AMARC ALC), the Latin-American Association of Radial Education (ALER), and the Communication for Development Platform of Central America and Mexico.
The discussion highlighted the role of ComDev in strengthening capacities of rural communities and vulnerable people to cope with the adverse effects and challenges derived by climate change.
The document is available only in Spanish
[2010] This document contains the proceedings of a technical session on Communication held at the Third International Workshop on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) to Climate Change (February 2009 Dhaka, Bangladesh). The main purpose of the session was to assess and fully illustrate the role of ComDev in expanding the scope for stakeholders' participation, dialogue, and decision making.CSDI specialists shared their field experiences and discussed findings on good practices in the use of ComDev for CBA. Lessons learned show that ComDev in CBA can: facilitate participatory research and horizontal knowledge sharing; improve the quality of advisory services for technology innovation; enhance adaptation processes and disaster risk management; bridge the gap between global environment information and local communities' knowledge; strengthen policy dialogue between institutions and small farmers.
[2006] The first World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) took place in Rome, Italy, on October 25–27, 2006 and was organized by FAO, the World Bank, and The Communication Initiative. It was an unprecedented opportunity to gather three types of stakeholders who rarely interact: academics, practitioners, and policy and decision makers. The interaction and exchange of perspectives among these three groups served to enhance the overall understanding of the field of Communication for Development by a broader audience, and to promote it in the overall agenda of development and international cooperation.These proceedings contain the wealth of knowledge included in the presentations, panel sessions, and plenary discussions that took place in Rome, which were organized around three major thematic areas: health, governance, and sustainable development.