Farmers

On Thursday, CFS 44 delegates discussed the response to the independent evaluation of CFS and policy convergence on urbanization, rural transformation and implications for food security and nutrition. In the morning, Angela Bester, World Health Organization (WHO) and CFS Evaluation Manager, presented the main findings and recommendations from the evaluation, noting its usefulness in generating insights on multi-stakeholder collaboration. She highlighted several findings, including: the tenuous linkages at regional and national levels; low awareness of the Global Strategic Framework; limited dissemination of reports and products, except for the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT); and the need to clarify CFS’s role at the international and national level. Participants discussed, among other issues: the roles and procedures of the CFS Bureau and its Advisory Group; funding and resource mobilization; inclusion of Youth; focus of CFS work and its intersessional processes; and the need to enhance the visibility of CFS and its products. In the afternoon, Hans Hoogeveen, Chair of the Open-ended Working Group on urbanization, rural transformation and implications for food security and nutrition, presented progress towards the development of policy convergence. Many members supported further intersessional work based on a multi-sectoral approach, with several focusing on the impact of urban-rural dynamics on low-income groups, women and youth. Hoogeveen then moderated an interactive panel discussion on measures to address food security in the context of urbanization and rural transformation, including: realizing opportunities in rural areas from urbanization, such as increasing demand for food; urban farming; and reducing food waste. IIISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web updates from CFS 44. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary report of CFS 44 which is available in HTML and PDF. Response to the Independent Evaluation of CFS The dais during the discussion on the response to the independent evaluation of CFS. L-R: Khaled El Taweel (Egypt) and Jón Erlingur (Iceland), Evaluation Co-facilitators; Amira Gornass, CFS Chair ©FAO Jón Erlingur (Iceland), Evaluation Co-facilitator ©FAO Khaled El Taweel (Egypt), Evaluation Co-facilitator ©FAO Delegate from Cameroon ©FAO Delegate from Brazil ©FAO CSM Representative ©FAO Representative of the World Farmers’ Organization ©FAO Urbanization, Rural Transformation and Implications for Food Security and Nutrition The dais during the discussion on Rural Transformation and Implications for Food Security and Nutrition. L-R: Hans Hoogeveen, Netherlands; Amira Gornass, CFS Chair; Deborah Fulton, CFS Secretary ©FAO Hans Hoogeveen moderated an interactive session on Rural Transformation and Implications for Food Security and Nutrition. ©FAO Marco Sanchez Cantillo, Agricultural Development Economics Division, FAO ©FAO Nono Dimakatso Sekhoto, Farmer, South Africa ©FAO HRH Princess Viktória de Bourbon de Parme, the Netherlands ©FAO Side Event: Trade, Investment and Food Security: Designing Rules for Sustainable Food Systems ©FAO ©FAO ©FAO Side Event: Launch of the report ‘Climate Smart Agriculture - Building Resilience to Climate Change’ ©FAO ©FAO ©FAO

On Tuesday morning, CFS 44 launched the report of the High-level Panel of Experts (HLPE) on Nutrition and Food Systems and discussed follow up to the second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2). Jessica Fanzo, HLPE Project Team Leader, outlined the HLPE Report’s findings and recommendations, highlighting barriers to improving nutrition, including failure to recognize the right to adequate food, imbalance of power across food systems, and inability to mitigate conflicts of interest. Patrick Caron, Chair of the HLPE, underlined physical and economic access to healthy and sustainable diets, and improving consumer information and education. Participants endorsed the Report’s recommendations as a starting point for developing policy convergence. On ICN 2 follow up, Chizuru Nishida, World Health Organization (WHO), explained that implementation requires integrating nutrition objectives in intersectoral policies and policy coherence. In the afternoon, participants shared good practices and lessons learned for improved nutrition in an interactive panel session. Katerina Eriksson, Tetra Laval, said her company is creating a secure market to enable subsistence milk producers to grow their production. Lister Katsvairo, HarvestPlus, outlined the use of biofortification to improve local crops using disease and drought resistant, nutrient rich seeds. Lorena Rodriguez, Chile, described her country’s approach, including enhancing food labeling transparency and applying taxes on food with high sugar content. Zafar Hasan, Pakistan, discussed his country’s food system model which provides food subsidies for specialized nutritious foods based on poverty levels. Salvatore Basile, International Network of Eco-Regions (INNER), highlighted an organic farming initiative harnessing local multi-level governance. Elizabeth Mpofu, Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum, emphasized the importance of local agroecology. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web updates from CFS 44. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary report of CFS 44 which is available in HTML and PDF. Launch of HLPE Report on Nutrition and Food Systems Jessica Fanzo, HLPE Project Team Leader  ©FAO Patrick Caron, HLPE Chair  ©FAO View of the dais during the discussion on the HLPE report on Nutrition and Food Systems. L-R: Jessica Fanzo, HLPE Project Team Leader; Patrick Caron, HLPE Chair; Amira Gornass, CFS Chair.  ©FAO Update on INC Reporting and Advancing Nutrition including the Decade of Action on Nutrition Anna Lartey, Director, Nutrition and Food Systems Division, FAO Chiruzu Nishida, WHO  ©FAO A representative of the Civil Society Mechanism waiting to speak.  ©FAO Representatives of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) during the discussion of the HLPE Report on Nutrition and Food Systems.  ©FAO Good Practices and Lesson Sharing for Improved Nutrition Zafar Hasan, Ministry of Planning Development and Reform, Pakistan and Focal Point for the Scaling Up Nutrition Initiative (SUN)  ©FAO Salvatore Basile, International Network of Eco-Regions (INNER)  ©FAO Lorena Rodriguez, Head of the Department of Food and Nutrition, Ministry of Health, Chile  ©FAO Elizabeth Mpofu, Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF)  ©FAO Lister Katsvairo, Head, Africa Region Partnership Countries, HarvestPlus  ©FAO  Katarina Eriksson, Food for Development Office, Tetra Laval  ©FAO Around the Venue  ©FAO  ©FAO

The second day of the 2017 meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) started with a review of implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 (no poverty) and SDG 2 (zero hunger). In the afternoon, a thematic review on “Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world: Multi-stakeholder perspectives,” took place. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage, daily reports from HLPF 2017 and also produced a summary and analysis report, which is available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Session 4 - Review of implementation: SDG 1 View of the dais during the session Janet Gornick, Director, Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality, City University of New York (CUNY) Stefan Schweinfest, Director, Statistics Division, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Martin Ravallion, Georgetown University Yaw Ansu, African Center for Economic Transformation Carolina Sanchez-Paramo, World Bank Group Wellington Chibebe, Deputy General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Yang Zhi, Mayor of Jingzhou, China Fnu Sudarno, Indonesia Deborah Greenfield, Deputy Director-General for Policy, International Labour Organization (ILO) Huseyn Huseynov, Azerbaijan Session 5 - Review of implementation: SDG 2 Delegates raise their hands as part of an interactive discussion at the start of the session Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava, Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the UN, and President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Gerda Verburg, Coordinator, Scaling-Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Esther Penunia, Secretary General, Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development Elizabeth Mpofu, General Coordinator, La Via Campesina, Zimbabwe Patrick Caron, Chair, High-Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Meena Bilgi, Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources Management (WOCAN) Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla, Head, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Franco Ruggiero, Argentina Alastaire Sèna Alinsato, Benin Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Session 6 - Thematic review - Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world: Multi-stakeholder perspectives View of the keynote speakers on the dais Luisa Emilia Reyes Zuñiga, Co-Chair, Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS) HLPF Coordination Mechanism Jürgen Schulz, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN, and Vice President of ECOSOC Moderator Maruxa Cardama, Cities Alliance Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General, DESA Sehnaz Kiymaz, President, Women for Women’s Human Rights - New Ways, and Women’s Major Group Luis Miguel Etchevehere, President, Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA), and Farmers' Major Group Verity McGivern, HelpAge International, and Stakeholder Group on Ageing Louise Kantrow, Permanent Representative to the UN, International Chamber of Commerce, and Business and Industry Major Group Katarina Popovic, Secretary General, International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), and Education and Academia Stakeholder Group Roberto Bissio, Social Watch, and Financing for Development Civil Society Group Moderator Naiara Costa, Together 2030 José Maria Viera, International Disability Alliance, and Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities Jan Van Zanen, Mayor of Utrecht, President of the Association of Dutch Municipalities, and Local Authorities Major Group James O'Brien, Volunteer Groups  Rosalea Hamilton, Founder and President, Institute for Law and Economics, University of Technology, Jamaica, and NGO Major Group Keikabile Mogodu, Indigenous Peoples Major Group Saúl Zenteno Bueno, President, Fundación Manatí para el Fomento de la Ciudadanía, and Major Group for Children and Youth John Patrick Ngoyi, World Vision, on behalf of Together 2030 Around the Venue Delegates between sessions Representatives of the Women's Major Group gather to respect, protect, and promote the work done by women's human rights defenders Around the UN Headquarters

Global Soil Week 2017 (GSW 2017) convened from 22-24 May 2017 in Berlin, Germany, and addressed the theme, ‘Catalyzing SDG Implementation through a Land and Soil Review.’ Attended by almost 300 participants, the meeting aimed to develop policy messages as input to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) scheduled to convene in July 2017. Following the opening plenary, participants held three thematic workshops to explore the following topics: ‘Sustaining and upscaling achievements of sustainable land management (SLM) initiatives’; ‘Right to (defend) land: strengthening accountability at the local level through thematic reviews’; and ‘Protecting land resources for shared prosperity.’ The workshops were informed by the experiences of some of the 44 countries that will present voluntary national reviews at this year’s HLPF, as well as expert contributions. The two-part “Thematic Review LAB” took place on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning to pilot contributions to the sub-set of seven Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will be the focus of the HLPF’s thematic review in 2017. The LAB aimed to, inter alia: identify progress, gaps and synergies in implementing the 2030 Agenda; synthesize knowledge, and discuss tradeoffs and synergies in SDG implementation;; discuss concrete policy actions needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda; and highlight opportunities for further collaboration and partnerships. On Wednesday morning, participants discussed five draft policy messages to the HLPF that emerged from the first two days’ discussions and proposed additional changes to be included in the final conference outcome. During the final plenary session, a high-level speakers reflected on the methodology introduced at GSW 2017 and provided further inputs on how to enhance the usefulness of such preparatory processes to the overall monitoring of the SDGs. Closing the meeting, the co-moderators thanked the German government for offering to continue its support for the Global Soil Week, and announced that the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) will hand over coordination of the conferences to TMGThinkTank for Sustainability. During a brief ceremony, Klaus Töpfer, initiator of the Global Soil Week, received a Distinguished Service Award from the International Union of Soil Scientists (IUSS). IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, is providing web coverage and a summary report of discussions on Wednesday, 24 May 2017, which will be available on this site on Friday, 26 May 2017. Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Closing Plenary Klaus Töpfer receives a Distinguished Service Award from the International Union of Soil Scientists Chantal Clément, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES) Klaus Töpfer, Founding Director, TMG Jochen Flasbarth, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany Jes Weigelt, IASS Rattan Lal, Ohio State University, USA Hilary Ogbonna, UN SDG Action Campaign Marianne Beisheim, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Germany R. B. Sinha, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, India Céline Charveriat, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) Stefan Schmitz, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with Klaus Töpfer, Founding Director, TMG Louisette Clémence Bamzok née Mbadobe, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cameroon, and Ivonne Lobos Alva, IASS Thematic Review LAB Acacha Akoha, Benin Stefan Schmitz, BMZ Ivonne Lobos Alva, IASS Johns Muleso Kharika, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Massa Almaz Messele, Ethiopia Lindiwe Sibanda, FANRPAN, South Africa Alexander Müller, TMG. Think Thank for Sustainability Mark Smith, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) José Francisco Calí Tzay, Guatemala Barbara Unmüßig, Heinrich Böll Foundation Günther Bachmann, German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) View of the room during the lab Around the Venue