RECENTLY PUBLISHED REPORTS FOR THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO)
“Sustainable food systems from a gender perspective”
The report is a collection of stories and the analysis of rural women’s economic empowerment through their participation in agricultural value chains. The field work took place in Bolivia, Belize and Guatemala, commodities surveyed included: quinoa, cassava and maize respectively. The researcher found that women are central through their participation in value chains and local markets, something that should be put into context and considered at the policy level to include women in nutrition sensitive value chains. Publication is in Spanish.
“Evaluation of FAO’s Contribution in Guyana”
This evaluation examined FAO’s cooperation in Guyana from 2012 to 2015. It found that FAO has made positive contribution to food security and agriculture in Guyana. It has supported the establishment of a system of sharing market information through cell phones, assisted in setting up the forestry commission and supported updating of policy on forestry and disaster risk management. It also found that FAO has supported grassroots work in inland agriculture and facilitated the establishment of forums between the government and indigenous people. It recommends that FAO should increase its presence in Guyana by expanding its country office portfolio, strengthening its work on nutrition and other areas like the support to the school meals programme.
“Evaluation of FAO’s contribution in Trinidad and Tobago”
In 2010, the Office of Evaluation (OED) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) began to independently assess the impact of various FAO programmes within member countries. OED reports directly to the Director General, as well as the FAO Council through the Programme Committee. In November 2014, the Programme Committee endorsed the selection of a group of Caribbean countries and Guyana for evaluation in 2015, including Trinidad and Tobago. The basis of the evaluation is the Country Programme Framework (CPF) which describes the scope of the assistance that FAO provides to a country. The Trinidad and Tobago evaluation covered the period of 2010-2015. The evaluation reviewed the work of FAO in Trinidad and Tobago, including its investments, technical assistance and collaboration with national and regional partners. The main aim of the evaluation is to inform the development of the new CPF cycle (beginning in mid-2015) for Trinidad and Tobago, as well as each of the targeted countries. The evaluation’s findings and recommendations will help to better orient FAO’s programme in the next programme cycle, and to make it more relevant to the priorities of the concerned governments. The evaluation also assessed the strategic relevance of FAO’s programmes in the national context, and of the initiatives implemented within the country. Furthermore, in the context of aid effectiveness, and of the international community’s concern over a country’s ownership of the development process, the evaluation aimed to emphasize the involvement of national partners in the evaluation process. In particular, it is anticipated that the concerned governments will ensure the appropriation of the evaluation results by the relevant national institutions, and promote their use at the national level.