(AGENPARL) - Roma, 1 Giugno 2026 - [cid:b41e3b92-a226-4c86-8197-fcd77a8e13cc]

Four examples of solutions that rethink and rebuild our agrifood systems sustainably

[fao-gef-DIST.jpg]©FAO/Onur Coban

Across fields, pastures, forests, rivers and seas, countries are showing that the choices that put food on the table can also build resilience, reduce emissions, halt biodiversity loss and bring degraded land back to life. The goals of the three Rio Conventions on climate change, biodiversity and land degradation neutrality depend directly on what happens in agrifood systems. Equally important, they depend on the right incentives, policies and investments that shape decisions made every day by farmers and rural communities.

This is why the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations's (FAO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) have been working together to help countries and rural communities identify, implement and scale up agrifood solutions that bring benefits across the board. Behind each investment are the science and data that guide decisions and policies, the implementation capacity that puts plans into action and strong safeguards and monitoring systems that demonstrate results. Across the 140 countries in the FAO-GEF portfolio, farmers, herders, fisherfolks, forest communities and others are showing how these solutions work and what success looks like on the ground.

Here are four examples of solutions from this partnership:

1. Ancestral knowledge restores biodiversity in Peru's Amazon

The Amazon is more than a forest. For the Asháninka, Shipibo‑Conibo and dozens of other Indigenous Peoples in the Peruvian Amazon, it is a home, a medicine cabinet and a food system all at once. Yet over the past two decades, Peru has lost more than two million hectares of tropical forest, putting globally significant biodiversity and carbon stocks at risk while undermining the food security and livelihoods of the communities who depend on it most.

The Amazónicos project, implemented with Indigenous Peoples' communities, Peru's Ministry of Environment, United Nations partners and the local non-profit organisation PROFONANPE in Loreto, Ucayali and Junín, is restoring degraded ecosystems, strengthening the governance of protected areas and promoting sustainable, biodiversity‑based local economies.

Drawing on ancestral knowledge and investments, Indigenous Peoples' communities – and Indigenous Women in particular – manage territories, lead fire prevention efforts and develop sustainable value chains around native forest products. This creates an organic connection between forest conservation and food security, income generation and cultural identity.

To date, three national parks covering more than 3.4 million hectares are operating under strengthened management frameworks, helping safeguard some of the Amazon's most intact ecosystems while supporting more resilient agrifood systems rooted in the forest itself.

2. Adopting conservation agriculture revives land in Iraq

In the drought-stricken governorates of Thi-Qar and Al-Muthanna in southern Iraq, farmers face desertification, salinisation and declining yields. FAO, through funding from the GEF, works with the Ministry of Health and Environment to equip farmers with right knowledge and techniques to revive the land and make it productive once more.

The project supports 1 600 farmers in adopting conservation agriculture and applying techniques such as minimum tillage, crop rotation, organic mulching and water-efficient land preparation. These sustainable practices help rebuild soil structure, restore fertility, retain moisture and reverse the advance of desertification.

Agricultural landscapes have become more productive and resilient to intensified droughts. Farmers are already seeing the results: crop yields are up by 25 percent, irrigation cycles have been cut by nearly 30 percent and farming costs have been reduced by a fifth in the first year alone.

3. Sustainable water and land management for healthy rivers in Central Asia

A century and a half of intensive irrigation and unsustainable land management has left its mark across Central Asia. The region's two main rivers —the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya— have been reduced to a fraction of their original volume. Once the world's fourth-largest freshwater lake, the Aral Sea has now shrunk to around ten percent of its original size.

Accelerating desertification, declining agricultural productivity and the loss of wetlands and native species are shrinking opportunities for the millions of rural people whose food security and livelihoods depend on these healthy land and water systems.

To help reverse these effects, FAO is supporting Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to strengthen cross-border cooperation, support sustainable agricultural practices, restore degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and introduce satellite-based monitoring to guide decision-making, to improve the transboundary management of the shared water resources.

The programme takes an integrated approach that treats water, land and biodiversity as interconnected systems.

4. Turning banana waste into fibre for biodiverse fields

Pakistan is one of the top ten textile-producing countries in the world and a major producer of cotton. Cotton production uses substantial amounts of water and pesticides that are harmful for the environment.

Pakistan is also a large producer of bananas, an estimated 317 000 tonnes a year. Much of the banana plant – including stems, leaves and stalks – goes to waste after harvest. This residue is often discarded or burned, releasing harmful gases.

The Government of Pakistan, with financial support from GEF and FAO's technical support, is implementing a new bioeconomy solution: turning banana waste into textile. The initiative transforms banana residues into natural fibres for textiles, handicrafts and packaging, providing an alternative to chemical-intensive cotton production while creating new income streams for farming families.

Working alongside national and local partners, the project will eliminate hazardous chemicals from textile supply chains. These practices are being introduced across 20 000 hectares of land and engage more than 73 000 people in producing innovative bio-based products from banana waste.

Since 2006, FAO and GEF have assisted countries and communities through innovation, policy support, shared knowledge and sustainable solutions. Over the past 20 years, the partnership has shown what is possible: helping farmers build resilience to climate shocks, restoring degraded land and ecosystems, reducing emissions, protecting livelihoods and supporting the production of affordable, diverse and nutritious food. As the world enters the final sprint toward the 2030 Agenda, the partnership can go further by scaling solutions and investments where they matter most: helping farmers thrive despite climate change, making food systems more secure and resilient and advancing the promise of a healthy planet for healthy people.

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