Informal cross-border trading, in which transactions are not compliant with local tax and other rules,  accounts for a large share - between 20 and a hefty 70 percent - of employment in sub-Saharan Africa, and putting it on a regular footing can lift sustainable prosperity and markedly improve prospects for women, says FAO's new publication, "Formalization of informal trade in Africa".

Pakistan's Punjab government developed a strategy to introduce modern techniques in the agriculture sector to make it profitable. Under the directive of the Punjab Chief Minister, the Agriculture Department has formulated a three-year plan costing Rs 4.76 billion to introduce new techniques in agriculture to enhance yield and improve the economic conditions of farmers in Punjab.

A petition calling on the Indian government to approve the commercial planting of genetically modified (GM) mustard has been created. The South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC) in New Delhi, India started the petition that calls for the Minister of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MOEF&CC), Dr. Harsh Vardhan, to approve GM mustard and allow Indian farmers to plant it.

Members of the Canadian Parliament have voted against the mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods in its second reading at the House of Commons on May 17, 2017. The C-291 bill, an Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (genetically modified food), sponsored by Mr. Pierre-Luc Dusseault, the NDP (New Democractic Party) MP for Sherbrooke, Québec, was defeated by a significant margin, with 67 yeas, and 216 nays.

The global seed industry was urged to "respond and adapt to global challenges to ensure it continues to thrive and not just to survive" by International Seed Federation (ISF) President, Jean-Cristophe Gouache, during the World Seed Congress opening on May 22, 2017 in Budapest, Hungary.

Farmers need timely and reliable information and they need it now, especially in the face of climate variability and the havoc it wreaks on their crops, and therein their livelihoods. Climatic conditions can vary quite drastically from one year to the next. In this setting, managing a farm and relying on the previous year’s weather patterns would simply be a recipe for disaster. This, however, is often the reality for most Colombian farmers.

FAO is working with the government of Peru to assist some 7,000 mostly small-scale farmers restore their capacity to produce crops and feed their families in the wake of heavy rains, floods and landslides that hit the country earlier this year.

Genetically modified sugarcane that produces more sucrose has been developed by scientists from Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil.

Son La province. FAO is helping Viet Nam achieve higher food safety and quality standards, with an innovative vegetable sector project benefiting consumers and farmers. The outcomes and impacts of this project, titled “Strengthening Vietnamese SPS Capacities for Trade: Improving safety and quality of fresh vegetables through the value-chain approach (Phase II)”

The Australian Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) invites comments from the public to assess license application DIR 153 from The University of Queensland for a field trial (limited and controlled release) of sorghum genetically modified for grain quality traits.