CENTER OF INFORMATION AND
KNOWLEDGE
FAO
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
FAO’s Mandate
(founded in 1945--Quebec City)
• Raise levels of nutrition and standards of
living
• Improve agricultural productivity
• Better the conditions
of rural populations
• Contribute to the
expansion of the
world’s economy
FAO What it is, What it does
Information
• FAO collects, analyses, interprets and
disseminates information
Advice
• FAO provides independent advice on
agricultural policy and planning
Neutral forum
• FAO offers a neutral forum for discussion
and formulation of policy, negotiation of
agreements and establishment of standards
Development
Assistance
• FAO provides practical help to developing
countries through technical assistance
 FAO’s role
One of the FAO’s major roles is
“ Putting information in reach”
FAO highlights information as one
of the priority areas in achieving
agricultural development and food
security
Market
Opportunities
How to reach information?
Policy Makers
Knowledge
Support Services
Farmers
Support
Services
 Diffusion of Information
http://www.fao.org/
The FAO web site contains approximately
50,000 web pages, over 100 databases, and
thousands of documents
Platform
WAICENT
 WAICENT (World Agricultural Information Center)
What is WAICENT?
Information is one of priority areas
in achieving agricultural development
and food security
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A corporate framework and platform for
agricultural information management
and dissemination
Objective
For enhancement of access to
timely and relevant technical
information by FAO member
nations and the general public
For encouragement of FAO
Member Nations to utilize
information as a key for
development
Consolidating more than 40 separate databases
under the umbrella of WAICENT
Statistical databases
FAOSTAT
(FAO Statistical Databases)
 FAOSTAT
(FAO Statistical Databases)
What is FAOSTAT?
Contents
Following areas of
agriculture, fisheries,
forestry and nutrition
A multilingual online
databases currently
containing more than
1 million time-series
records of international
statistics for more than
210 countries in the
areas of agricultures
Production
Trade
Food Balance Sheets
Producer Prices
Forestry Trade Flow
Land Use and Irrigation
Forest Products
Fishery Products
Population
Codex Alimetarius Food Quality Control
Fertlizers and Pesticides
Agricultural Machinery
Food Aid Shipments
Exports by Destination
Information Access Tools
David Lubin Memorial Library
 David Lubin Memorial Library
What is On-Line Library?
The library was established in Rome in
1952. it is considered one of the
world's finest collections in food,
agriculture and international
development
The On-Line site allows you to search its
extensive catalogue and FAO databases, as
well as providing links to both FAO and other
institutional electronic journals and other
sites of interest to FAO users.
Contents
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Agriculture
Food and Nutrition
Rural Development
Plant Production and Protection
Animal Production and Health
Agricultural Machinery
Agro-industries
Agro-forestry, Forestry, Fisheries
Sustainable Development
Statistics
Agricultural Economics and
other related subjects
Collections
Over one million volumes; the journal collection contains approximately 13,000 titles
of which 1,450 are electronic. The heavily used working collection consists of FAO
documentation, books and serials in FAO subject fields, a comprehensive reference
collection and specialized Branch Library collections in Fisheries and Forestry
Specialized Information System
GIEWS
 GIEWS (Global Information and Early Warning System)
Mission
Publications
To keep the world food supply/demand
situation under continuous review, issue
reports on the world food situation
(Food Outlook, Food Crops and
Shortages, etc.), and provide early
warnings of impending food crises
in individual countries.
 Food Outlook
 Food crops and Shortages
 Africa Report
 Sahel Report
 Special Reports and Alerts
 Other
Means
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Information Analysis (Crops monitoring/ national level and global level)
Report publication, Special Reports
and Alerts, etc)
Report dissemination (email, Facsimile)
Communications
Free access to databases and tools to allow viewers to develop their own
information
Participation
Exchange information
supply up-dated information
EMPRES
 EMPRES (Emergency Prevention System )
What is EMPRES?
A special focus programme of FAO to
help countries fight agricultural pests
and diseases which migrate or spread
across borders and cause major Losses
and emergencies, leading to famines
and trade restrictions. Emphasis is on
early warning and early reaction.
Initial priority
1. Animal Diseases
2. Desert Locust
http://www.fao.org/EMPRES/default.htm
Mission
 Early Warning, identified as all disease initiatives
 Lead to improved awareness and knowledge
 Forecast further evolution of an outbreak
 Effective implementation
(e.g. Avian influenza, bovine spongiform encephalopathy)
FIVIMS
 FIVIMS
(Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems )
What is FIVIMS?
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Information about food insecure and vulnerable people is lacking in many
countries.
At the International level, FIVIMS implements diverse activities in support of
national information systems, for them to become part of an international
information exchange network.
At the country level, FIVIMS works with a network of information systems that
gather and analyze relevant national and subnational data that measure food
insecurity and vulnerability.
Mission
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Raise awareness about food security issues;
Improve the quality of food security related data and analysis;
Facilitate integration of complementary information;
Promote better understanding of users' needs and better use of
information;
Improve access to information through networking and sharing.
FAO Country Profiles and Mapping
Information System
 FAO Country Profiles and Mapping
Information System
What is this system?
The system offers decision-makers
around the world a fast and reliable
way to access country-specific
Information without the need to
search individual databases and
systems.
Mission
Brings together documents, statistical
data, project details and maps from FAO's
existing specialized country profiles
which are listed below, as well as
information from the Organization's Web
pages and systems and those of its
partners.
Links to other FAO Country Information
Systems and Country Profiles
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Aquastat Country Profiles
Biotechnology Country Profiles
BIODEC Biotechnologies in Developing Countries
Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profiles
FAO Projects in the country
FAO Terminology - Names of Countries
Fisheries Country Profiles
Forestry Country Profiles
Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and
Agriculture (GIEWS)
Information on Fisheries Management in the Country
Livestock Sector Briefs
METART ARTEMIS and AGROMET Data and Information
Nutrition Country Profiles
Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean - Information
by country
Water and Food Security Country Profiles
Compendium of Food and Agriculture Indicators 2004 (PDF)
Directory of National Agricultural Research Institutions
EXPORTS - Commodities by Country
Food Balance Sheet of fish and fisheries products in live weight
and fish contribution to protein supply (PDF)
IMPORTS - Commodities by Country
Major Food and Agricultural Commodities and Producers
Review of water resource statistics by country
Publication, News, Photos,
Graphics
FAO Corporate Document
Repository
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An electronic library that holds FAO’s huge collection of
publications and meeting documents in full-text, electronic
format.
Since the initiative started in 1998, over 6 000 documents
have been converted into HTML allowing users to download
valuable agricultural formation from anywhere in the world,
free of charge.
Several types of search facilities allow users to look for
documents using a combination of search fields such as title,
language, publication year and keywords.
FAO Catalogue Online
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The FAO on-line catalogue (FAOBIB) is a multilingual, on-line
catalogue of documents and publications produced by FAO
since 1945, books added to the library collections since 1976,
and serials held in the FAO library.
Full text links are provided for all documents that are
available in the Corporate Document Repository. Requests for
copies of FAO documents in print or microfiche (pre-1998)
may be addressed to the library
FAO Publications Catalogue Online
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The FAO Sales Catalogue lists a wide selection of FAO
publications and CD-ROMs in English, French and Spanish
that are available to buy over the Internet, by mail, by fax or
through official distributors.
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The interactive catalogue covers a wide spectrum of FAO
subjects including agriculture, genetics, plant production and
protection, animal production and health, forestry, fisheries,
land and water development, statistics, trade, biotechnology
and food and nutrition.
FAO News Room
Providing Information related to media by text, audio, video, etc
Online photo (access to photos related to FAO projects.)
Access to Fact sheets in key subjects
Agriculture Extension: FAO’s view
 Nonformal rural education:
transferring practical
information & innovation
and opening opportunities.
 Multidisciplinary combining educational
methodologies,
communication, and group
techniques
Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS)
What is SPFS?
the SPFS is a core agriculture extension work implemented by FAO
which is a multidisciplinary participatory programme with a strong
emphasis on meeting people’s needs directly by raising farmer’s net
income, generating rural employment, increasing social equity and
promoting gender sensitivity
In 2004, the SPFS has been
implemented in 100 countries,
Including 42 African countries
Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS)
Control water through small-scale projects
to protect against vagaries of weather
Boost small farmers’ crop, livestock and
aquaculture productivity through
intensification and diversification
Identify and find measures to respond to
socio-economic constraints on production,
marketing and processing of agricultural
products
Farmer Field Schools (FFS)
 Participatory farmer training through experiential learning
 Focused initially on integrated pest management (IPM)
 Season-long series of weekly meetings where farmers identify
problems and then design, carry out and interpret field experiments.
 Learning combines local knowledge with scientific ecological
approaches.
After field practicals, Farmers are
discussing new cultural practices
demonstrated on the IPM field in
the Farmer Field School in
Sudan.
Farmers of the IPM Farmer Field
School, Sudan, are establishing
tomato nurseries to grow healthy
seedlings.
South-South Cooperation
 Advanced developing countries send
field technicians and experts to
specific recipient countries for up to
two or three years, where they work
directly with rural communities and
farmers.
 The number of experts required at
any one time is determined on a
case-by-case basis, assuring critical
mass and site coverage in all
regions of the country.
Vietnamese technicians in the fields
with Senegalese farmers
Worldwide 28 countries are receiving help with over 1000 experts and technicians in the field.
Rural Radio/Rural Communication
FAO has long supported rural radio initiatives:
• Direct support for setting up/improving stations
• Training rural radio workers
• Supporting networking initiatives
• Research & evaluation of content and impact
Advent of low-cost FM transmitters has made rural
radio more participatory.
A retransmission at Radio St. Louis of
broadcasts on environmental problems
realized in collaboration with the regional
forestry service and an FAO project
A meeting between villagers and the team
from the Communications and Information
Unit of the State Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development
Garden-Based Learning Programs (GBL)
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GBL provide pupils with environmental education,
ecological literacy, agricultural literacy and agricultural
education.
Main Objectives
1. Giving knowledge and skills for better agricultural productivity
2. Making Science teaching more relevant and more effective
3. Giving environmental education a sustainable practical dimension
4. Influencing pupils’ attitudes, giving positive motivation towards agriculture and rural life
5. Spreading agricultural development at village level
6. Giving girls access to basic agricultural education as the future food producers
7. Improving pupils nutritional status by providing school meals
8. Attracting pupils to school with greater local relevance of subject matter and better
teaching methods
The Growing Connection – Hands-on Extension
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Combines water-efficient
vegetable production with
modern communications
At schools gardens in Ghana,
Mexico and USA
Common growing and IT
practices
Rural communities gain
access to local, nat’l & int’l
sources of information &
advice on food production
Enhances household level
food security and incomegeneration
Website: http://www.thegrowingconnection.org
 Conclusion
FAO provides information technology tools
to internationalize the work of extension
agents everywhere
Visit http://www.fao.org or contact:
FAO Liaison Office for North America
2175 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20437
Phone: 202-653-2400