Women make significant contributions to the rural economy in all developing country regions. Their roles differ across regions, yet they consistently have less access than men to the resources and opportunities they need to be more productive. Increasing women's access to land, livestock, education, financial services, extension, technology and rural employment would boost their productivity and generate gains in terms of agricultural production, food security, economic growth and social welfare.

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The ninth biennial issue of State of the World's Forests, published at the outset of 2011, the International Year of Forests, considers the theme 'Changing pathways, changing lives: forests as multiple pathways to sustainable development'. It takes a holistic view of the multiple ways in which forests support livelihoods. The chapters assembled for this year's State of the World's Forests highlight four key areas that warrant greater attention: regional trends on forest resources; the development of sustainable forest industries; climate change mitigation and adaptation; and the local value of forests.

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Against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty, this issue of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture highlights the major role and challenges facing fisheries and aquaculture worldwide. With a steadily rising demand for fish and fish products, the supply of fish as human food hit a record high in 2008, underlining its significance in contributing to food security and nutrition as a source of high-quality, affordable animal protein in particular.

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Access to natural resources has been a constant theme in debates on poverty alleviation strategies. In the last decade, with the renewed international commitment to poverty reduction, there have been significant theoretical and practical advances in the way poverty-environment linkages are considered in mainstream development policy.

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The fact sheet highlights the important role that forests play in climate change, and reviews the progression of UNFCCC negotiations on forests and deforestation.

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http://unfccc.int

The primary objective of this document is to provide an overview of forest and climate change issues, actions and areas for cooperation in the Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The country reports included within were prepared and presented at the FAO workshop on “Climate change impacts on forest management in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”, which was held in Sopron, Hungary from 14-16 April 2010.

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The Outlook brings together the commodity, policy and country expertise of both organisations, providing an assessment of agricultural market prospects for production, consumption, trade, stocks and prices of the included commodities.

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http://www.agri-outlook.org

As part of the Poverty Mapping Project, FAO  prepared a Food Insecurity, Poverty and Environment Global GIS Database (FGGD) for global analysis of food insecurity and poverty in relation to environment.

http://geonetwork3.fao.org/fggd/

This volume discusses drylands and their uses, with an emphasis on cereal production. It considers the roles of livestock, placing the various technologies and practices that enhance water availability to crops in drylands in their technical, agro-ecological and socioeconomic perspective.

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The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010) is the most comprehensive assessment of forests and forestry to date - not only in terms of the number of countries and people involved - but also in terms of scope. It examines the current status and recent trends for about 90 variables covering the extent, condition, uses and values of forests and other wooded land, with the aim of assessing all benefits from forest resources. Information has been collated from 233 countries and territories for four points in time: 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010. The results are presented according to the seven thematic elements of sustainable forest management.

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