The Global Action Plan of the UN Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF 2019-28) recognizes the need to promote rural communication services (RCS) to advance sustainable food systems. RCS comprise demand-led communication processes, media applications and institutional arrangements to respond to the needs of family farmers and rural populations in a sustained and inclusive manner. This report summarizes the results and takeaways of online consultations and a virtual Regional Forum on RCS for Family Farming in Asia and the Pacific, organized in 2022 by ComDev Asia (CDA), a regional communication initiative, in collaboration with FAO, farmers’ organizations, rural institutions and communication networks.

The Global Action Plan of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019–2028 (UNDFF) recognizes the need to promote rural communication services (RCS) to advance sustainable food systems. RCS comprise demand-led communication processes, media applications and institutional arrangements to respond to the needs of family farmers and rural populations in a sustained and inclusive manner. This report presents a comprehensive summary of the virtual UNDFF Forum on Inclusive Rural Communication Services for Family Farming, which took place on 11 July 2022. Organized by FAO’s Communication for Development (ComDev) team, in collaboration with specialized communication entities, the forum marked the global culmination of an extensive consultative process. The report captures the key outcomes, insights, and strategic recommendations from these global and regional processes, offering guidance for promoting and advancing RCS for family farmers.

The United Nations Decade of Family Farming (2019–2028) acknowledges the importance of inclusive rural communication services (RCS) to advance the economic, environmental and social dimensions of family farming. [Author] This study examines RCS’s role in family farming and rural transformation in Asia and the Pacific, integrating case studies with media and information technology trends to emphasize the need for participatory, farmer-centred communication aligned with local realities. [Author] The study concludes with recommendations for embedding RCS into national policies, fostering development opportunities for family farmers and rural communities in the region. [Author]

The Global Action Plan of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019–2028 (UNDFF) recognizes the need to promote Rural Communication Services (RCS) to advance sustainable food systems. [Author] RCS comprise demand-led communication processes, media applications and institutional arrangements to respond to the needs of family farmers and rural populations in a sustained and inclusive manner. [Author] This report summarizes the results and takeaways of online consultations and a virtual Regional Forum on RCS for Family Farming in Africa, organized in 2022 by Yenkasa Africa, a regional communication initiative, in collaboration with FAO, farmers’ organizations, rural institutions and communication networks. [Author]

Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have made information available to more people than ever before. These advances have also substantially increased their capacity to connect with each other in a continuously expanding number of ways. Rural women are currently (and have always been) last in line in terms of ICT access and use, even though women stand more to gain than most from active participation and engagement with these resources. Evidence suggests that the ICT sector is both urban- and male-centric, ranging from the design of ICTs to the gender of sector employees and decision-makers. Representation in the media is also predominantly male. The aim of this paper is to bring rural communities, and women and other marginalized groups in particular, back into the centre of conversations on ICTs and ICT4D.

A two-day virtual regional consultation titled “Engaging with Academia and Research Institutions (ARIs) to Support Family Farmers and Food System Transformation During and Post COVID-19 Pandemic in Asia” was held by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) from 8–9 December 2021. The consultation was organized in collaboration with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Cooperation Centre of Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), Group For Research and Technology Exchanges (GRET), and with technical assistance from FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP). It was attended by 157 international participants and 51 speakers coming from different academic and research institutions (ARIs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs), government agencies, and development partners. The regional consultation highlighted the importance of collaboration among ARIs, family farmers’ organizations, government agencies, and development partners in Asia in enhancing the livelihoods of family farmers and developing their capacities to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic through agroecology. This publication compiles the proceedings of the two-day virtual regional consultation and marks an important milestone in initiating a stocktaking of existing initiatives and collaborations between ARIs, inter-government agencies and family farmers’ organizations in the region with a specific focus on agroecology and sustainable food systems.

This book offers a novel approach to sustainable development through the theory and practice of communication in global food networks, focusing specifically on organic food and fair trade movements. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, it brings together the fields of Communication for Development and Social Change, Agri-Food Studies and Economic Geography. This is supported with a participatory method that unveils voices from Indian farming communities, small European businesses and UK-based consumers. The book exemplifies the integral role of communication in sustainable development through direct and mediated communication processes that bring these actors together in the global food market. Such processes include trade relations, self-representation, and information and knowledge exchange through the spaces of the internet. Through these processes the book uncovers the instrumental role of communication in building a more holistic understanding of sustainable development. It also advocates that sustainable solutions require smaller, self-sustained projects and initiatives that pay closer attention to the voices and localized experiences of the people on the ground.

The 2020 report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the Asia and Pacific region, provides an update on progress towards the 2030 targets (SDGs and WHA) at the regional and country level. Selected indicators look at undernourishment, food insecurity, childhood stunting, wasting and overweight, adult overweight, child minimum acceptable diet, exclusive and continued breastfeeding, and anaemia in women and children. While the region continues to work towards ending all forms of malnutrition and achieving Zero Hunger, progress on food security and nutrition has slowed, and the Asia and Pacific region is not on track to achieving 2030 targets. About 350.6 million people in the Asia and Pacific region are estimated to have been undernourished in 2019, about 51 percent of the global total. An estimated 74.5 million children under five years of age were stunted and a total of 31.5 million were wasted in the Asia and Pacific region. The majority of these children in the region live in Southern Asia with 55.9 million stunted and 25.2 million wasted children. Estimates predict a 14.3 percent increase in the prevalence of moderate or severe wasting among children under 5 years of age, equal to an additional 6.7 million children, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With basic food prices and disposable incomes influencing household decisions on food and dietary intake, they are critical to improve food security and nutrition in the region. However, in the Asia and Pacific region, 1.9 billion people are unable to afford a healthy diet, driven by high prices of fruits, vegetables and dairy products, making it impossible for the poor to achieve healthy diets.In Part 2, the 2020 report promotes a systems approach to healthy maternal and child diets, involving and coordinating institutions and actors in the Food, Water and Sanitation, Health, Social Protection and Education systems, to collectively create the enabling environment for healthy diets. Integration of healthy diets and nutrition-focused Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) mainstreamed throughout these systems will lead to greater uptake and sustainability of healthy behaviours and caregiver’s knowledge.