FAO Director-Standard highlights the require to step up joint endeavours to make agri-food techniques more inclusive, resilient and sustainable to fulfill the Sustainable Development Aims
8 February 2020, Rome – The 47th Session of the UN Committee on World Food Stability (CFS) has kicked off currently with a simply call to step up joint action towards a complete transformation of world agri-food units, in get to make them a lot more inclusive, resilient and sustainable, as perfectly as to tap their possible to add to the fight in opposition to poverty, starvation , all sorts of malnutrition, and inequality.
According to the FAO most current estimates, hunger is on the increase with approximately 690 million getting chronically undernourished and up to 130 million extra being additional since of COVID-19. Two billion folks consume minimal high-quality diets that trigger micronutrient deficiencies and contribute to eating plan-connected obesity and non-communicable disorders. A lot more than 3 billion folks have no entry to nutritious diet plans.
Speaking at the CFS opening session, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu famous that the COVID-19 pandemic may push some 100 million people into severe poverty and lots of far more into serious hunger and malnutrition. He also stressed that unsustainable agri-food items techniques proceed to set force on all-natural sources, biodiversity, the setting, and climate.
Stressing that the pandemic has prompted the world wide community to rethink the way foodstuff is made, processed and eaten, Qu urged all companions “to get the job done jointly in harmony and solidarity to make agri-food items programs extra inclusive, resilient and sustainable.” To this finish, he highlighted the crucial part CFS performs by advertising plan convergence and coherence.
“As the host of the CFS Secretariat and a person of its funders, FAO strongly values the Committee’s opportunity, as a exclusive worldwide platform for multi-stakeholder engagement, in the fight in opposition to starvation and malnutrition,” he reported.
CFS devices
The Director-Typical also pointed out the importance of translating CFS products and solutions and recommendations into concrete motion on the floor, at regional, country, and local ranges, which calls for the solid engagement of all stakeholders, together with governments, civil society and the non-public sector.
“This suggests integrating the CFS coverage frameworks, as acceptable, into national dialogues, legislative frameworks, as effectively as nationwide, regional and world wide growth initiatives,” he said, alluding to the CFS Suggestions on Land Tenure, the CFS Ideas for Responsible Investments in Agriculture and Food Units , the Framework for Motion for meals security and nourishment in protracted crises and the CFS Voluntary Pointers on Foods Units and Nourishment, which are envisioned to be endorsed on Wednesday.
Qu highlighted that all CFS solutions really should normally depend on obvious science and evidence and said that FAO is prepared to assistance the Committee on the major subject areas in its agenda for 2021: minimizing inequalities, youth engagement and information systems.
New FAO
The Director-Standard also spoke about the essential transformative action FAO has taken more than the very last 18 months to refocus its initiatives in alignment with the Organization’s unique mandate to eradicate starvation and poverty.
As an illustration, the Director-Basic pointed to the FAO’s evidence-based mostly, nation-led and region-owned Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which aims to speed up agricultural, transformation and sustainable rural development, accompanied by its condition-of-the-artwork electronic instruments, such as the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform, the Details Lab for statistical innovation and Earth Map.
Amongst other notable developments, Qu cited FAO’s holistic COVID-19 Response and Restoration Programme, which harnesses science, technologies, information, human company and creative imagination as well as the Organization’s not long ago released new Approach for Private Sector Engagement to enrich strategic partnerships towards obtaining the Sustainable Development Goals.
“We strongly believe that accelerating and scaling up science, engineering and innovation is important to assembly the aspiration of reworking our agri-food items systems and shifting towards reaching the SDGs, in particular SDG1 (No poverty), SDG2 (No hunger) and SDG10 (Diminished inequalities),” he stated.
The Director-General also welcomed nine nations around the world who have a short while ago joined the CFS, namely Croatia, Djibouti, Honduras, Latvia, Maldives, Moldova, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Ukraine.
Other speakers
During the opening session, UN Unique Envoy to the UN Foods Systems Summit Agnes Kalibata shipped a message on behalf of United Nations Secretary-Standard António Guterres in which he underscored that 2021 would be pivotal for obtaining SDG2 (eradicating starvation) as foods protection and nutrition were being the most pressing advancement, protection and human rights troubles of our time.
He termed for essential systematic modify to tackle hunger, sustainability and malnutrition while respecting human rights, alleviating poverty and supporting inclusive and sustainable growth for all which he claimed have been main to his imagining guiding the Food Programs Summit later on this 12 months in New York, and the pre-Summit in Rome in July. “The Committee on Globe Food items Safety has an significant part to perform in this Summit, from the reports of its Superior-amount Panel of Professionals, to the coverage convergence solutions,” Guterres additional.
For his element, CFS Chair and Long term Representative of Thailand to the UN Companies in Rome, Thanawat Tiensin, stressed that the function of CFS has never ever been much more suitable than right before, as the Committee can supply proof-primarily based policy guidance to get over present-day troubles and uncertainties ahead. He added that the UN Foodstuff systems Summit 2021 in September would be an opportunity to construct on this momentum.
President of Intercontinental Fund for Agricultural Advancement (IFAD) Gilbert F. Houngbo referred to the present pandemic as the wake up connect with to address the a number of advanced worries going through food items methods and underlined the will need for producing them more resilient and responsive to the wants of customers and producers alike.
In his video handle, Government Director of the Entire world Foods Programme (WFP) David Beasley claimed that the mixed outcomes of local weather change, conflict and now the COVID-19 pandemic have brought on a ton of damage on impacted communities about the environment, stressing the crucial role CFS need to enjoy to deal with this world-wide humanitarian disaster while pledging his assistance to the Committee’s critical work.
The Chair of the CFS Higher-Stage Panel of Gurus (HLPE) Steering Committee Martin Cole presented the important results of the HLPE’s new report on “Food stuff safety and nourishment: developing a world narrative towards 2030”. The report is dependent on the assessment of food stuff security and diet ideas, results, motorists and important policy directions that are important for meeting SDG 2 targets and the total 2030 Agenda.
He famous that according to the report we are not on keep track of to attain the Agenda 2030 underlining that business enterprise as common will not be enough although pointing to the need for a transformative transform to our food stuff systems.
About CFS47
CFS is the foremost inclusive global and intergovernmental system for all stakeholders to perform alongside one another to make sure food items security and nourishment for all.
The 47th session (8-11 February) arrives from a background of the unparalleled challenges posed by the impacts of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on our food items devices and livelihoods of tens of millions of people globally.
For the duration of a four-times long session, the Committee is envisioned to endorse new Voluntary Rules on Food Systems and Nourishment, resulting from an inclusive multistakeholder negotiation course of action, and informed by the scientific enter of the CFS Large Amount Panel of Experts and a Technical Activity Group from among the the CFS Advisory Team constituencies.
These rules will provide as a important reference point for international locations and other folks in their initiatives to eradicate all forms of hunger and malnutrition by employing a “food units” solution. The tips will also be an essential contribution to the UN Food items Methods Summit scheduled to choose place in September this yr.
The Committee will also initiate function to develop new Voluntary Tips on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment as related to food stuff protection and nourishment.