This illustrated volume identifies the challenges and opportunities facing food and agriculture in the context of the 2030 Agenda, presents solutions for a more sustainable world and shows how FAO has been working in recent years to support its Member Nations in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The world's demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded, and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In many poor countries, agriculture accounts for at least 40 percent of GDP and 80 percent of employment. At the same time, about 70 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. 'World Development Report 2008' seeks to assess where, when, and how agriculture can be an effective instrument for economic development, especially development that favors the poor. It examines several broad questions: How has agriculture changed in developing countries in the past 20 years? What are the important new challenges and opportunities for agriculture? Which new sources of agricultural growth can be captured cost effectively in particular in poor countries with large agricultural sectors as in Africa? How can agricultural growth be made more effective for poverty reduction? How can governments facilitate the transition of large populations out of agriculture, without simply transferring the burden of rural poverty to urban areas? How can the natural resource endowment for agriculture be protected? How can agriculture's negative environmental effects be contained? This year's report marks the 30th year the World Bank has been publishing the 'World Development Report'.

Animal disease outbreaks pose many challenges for response authorities that can impact livelihoods, food security, and the environment. Proper disposal of animal carcasses that die or are culled during the outbreak is a key component of a successful response to a disease outbreak because it helps prevent or mitigate the further spread of pathogens and in case of zoonotic disease, to further protect human health. The practical guidelines presented hereby provide carcass and related waste management considerations and recommended procedures for use by Veterinary Services and other official response authorities when developing animal disease outbreak containment and eradication plans. The guidelines apply to animal disease outbreaks of varying sizes, whether the outbreak is isolated to a single premise or spans a region to cover numerous premises. However, they are focused on small to medium-sized holdings in countries without access to engineered landfills, rendering plants or controlled incinerators. The guidelines are written in the spirit of “keep it simple and doable”, considering the limited human and financial resources that many countries are constrained with. Its presentation and practical approach ensure that countries will find it very useful for their emergency operation procedures toolbox. Further, the guidelines directly contribute to the one-health approach by protecting the health of animals, humans, and the environment.

The global food crisis is a stark reminder of the fragility of the global food system. The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities captures the debate about how to go forward and examines the implications of the crisis for food security in the world’s poorest countries, both for the global environment and for the global rules and institutions that govern food and agriculture. In this volume, policy-makers and scholars assess the causes and consequences of the most recent food price volatility and examine the associated governance challenges and opportunities, including short-term emergency responses, the ecological dimensions of the crisis, and the longer-term goal of building sustainable global food systems. The recommendations include vastly increasing public investment in small-farm agriculture; reforming global food aid and food research institutions; establishing fairer international agricultural trade rules; promoting sustainable agricultural methods; placing agriculture higher on the post-Kyoto climate change agenda; revamping biofuel policies; and enhancing international agricultural policy-making. Co-published with the Centre for International Governance Innovation