Updated approach will help countries track progress towards development goals, shape better policies

Figure: Farmers harvesting grain in Tajikistan. The AGRIS methodology will help in measuring agricultural performance.

FAO 7 September 2016, Rome - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and FAO have signed a $15 million agreement aimed at boosting the capacity of developing countries to track key agricultural data -information that is essential to good policymaking and that will help track progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The second of the SDG goals is to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.

"In the decades to come, humanity will need to produce more food for a growing population using natural resources such as water, land and  biodiversity in a sustainable way - while coping with the challenges imposed by climate change," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
 

"Our ability to boost food yields sustainably and meet the SDG hunger eradication target will hinge on the availability of better, cost-effective and timely statistical data for agriculture and rural areas" he added.

USAID is very pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with the FAO on this important endeavor that will help build sustainable agricultural and food systems,” said Beth Dunford, Assistant to the Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Food Security and Deputy Coordinator for Development for the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative.

See more: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/430779/icode/