NGOs

The following side events were covered by ENBOTS on Thursday, 20 October 2016: Carpe Diem! Addressing the Nexus – Water, Energy, Food & Ecosystems – For #zerohunger in Africa The Challenges of Monitoring Hunger and Food Insecurity in the Context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided web coverage of CFS 43 and selected side-events. The summary report of CFS 43 is available in HTML and PDF. Carpe Diem! Addressing the Nexus – Water, Energy, Food & Ecosystems – For #zerohunger in Africa Organized by the African Union, Global Water Partnership (GWP), International Water Management Institute. This side event, chaired by Ambassador Godfrey Magwenzi, Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to FAO, illustrated how work done at the global level by CFS on the water, energy and food nexus to address food security and nutrition challenges can be applied at the country or local level through a partnership approach. Magwenzi noted that poor rainfall, degraded ecosystems and poor water management were challenges facing Zimbabwe, as well as many countries in Africa, but that they were being addressed through a multistakeholder approach that included the ministries of water and agriculture, civil society and NGOs. He added that the process identified several priorities, such as the need to raise more awareness on water conservation and develop long-term water policies. Laila Lokosang, African Union (AU), highlighted the work of the AU’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, which includes a focus on increasing food supply, reducing hunger, and improving responses to food emergency crises. He stressed the interconnectedness of water, energy, food and ecosystem issues and that they should addressed together to ensure food security in Africa. Abel Afouda, Global Water Partnership, stressed the need for a more integrated approach between water and food security, highlighting a multistakeholder initiative that has identified water and food security priorities in nine African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda). He said the aim is to support governments in addressing the challenge of managing water and food security in an integrated holistic manner, and to contribute towards SDG2 to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Tim Williams, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), said there is a good understanding today of the water, food and security nexus, but it is also important to include the ecosystem element. When addressing the nine-country initiative, he said stakeholders need to look at irrigation as an ecosystem activity as it has environmental and food security consequences. He also said that practical policies need to integrate ecosystems management into water resource management. Olcar Unver, FAO, introduced the FAO’s approach to the water-energy-food nexus, which provides a framework to address food security and sustainable agriculture. He said the nexus approach can help identify and manage trade-offs and to build synergies, allowing for more integrated and cost-effective planning, decision-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. He announced a new FAO initiative, Coping with Water Scarcity in Agriculture, which will be launched at the UN climate change meeting in Morocco, with the aim of bringing together knowledge and investment partners to address food security within the framework of water scarcity.  In discussions, participants considered, inter alia, the buy-in of smallholder famers, the effects of urbanization on water use, competing water demands and climate change, and the use of waste water as a resource.   Contacts: Manuel Fulchiron, GWP, manuel.fulchiron@gwp.org Laila Lokosang, African Union, lokosang@africa-untion.org Amare Haileslassie, IWMI, a.haileslassie@cgiar.org More Information: http://www.gwp.org http://www.au.int http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org   The Challenges of Monitoring Hunger and Food Insecurity in the Context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda Organized by Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo (AICS), EU Delegation to the UN Organizations in Rome, UK Department for International Development (DFID), FAO. This side event, moderated by Anne Kepple, FAO, provided an opportunity for policy-makers to discuss the challenges and opportunities for strengthening policy-making in the area of food security and nutrition at national and international levels, and within the context of the SDGs. Pietro Gennari, FAO, provided an overview of FAO’s approach to help countries step up capacity to monitor SDGs, especially with regards to food security and nutrition. With 169 targets and 230 global indicators – five targets alone for SDG2 – he said monitoring indicators are a demanding task for many countries that lack statistical capacity. He stressed, therefore, the need for new, timely, reliable and granular data to be collected through a more holistic approach. He added that the responsibility for generating data to inform the global indicators rests with national institutions, but there are global tools, such as FAO’s Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), which has the potential to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the causes and consequences of food insecurity and to inform more effective policies and interventions.   Jean-Pierre Halkin, European Commission Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), stressed the importance of development assistance in tackling food security and sustainable agriculture, and support for the SDGs, especially SDG2, which calls on stakeholders to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. He noted the importance of making sure countries adopt SDG targets and the right policies to reach these targets. Access to data, he said, would help track progress, and having the right evidence would help countries meet their targets. Martino Melli, AICS, said good statistical systems are key for effective economic and social development and are an essential tool to meet the challenge of achieving the SDGs. He added that data and statistics deserve increased attention in the development context, adding that they are recognized in SDG17. Melli called for a data revolution and identified four strategic priorities to produce, analyze and use effective statistical data: civil registration and vital statistics systems; partnerships for development; optimal use of financial, human and technological resources; and new technologies and innovative methods of collecting and analyzing data. Nina Hissen and Vincent Gainey, DFID, presented on the future of the FIES and how it can be embedded in national institutions. They said the FIES -- consisting of eight short questions that focuses on self-reported, food-related behaviors and experiences associated with increasing difficulties in accessing food due to resource constraints – is an important tool for national institutions to use and translate the statistical information into policy actions to improve food security. They added that it is important to help countries build national statistical capacity while ensuring quality, consistency and maintaining global coherence. National ownership of the process is key, they said, with a strong role for an international body, like the FAO, to oversee national data collection. In discussions, participants considered, inter alia: the importance of engaging civil society and youth in data collection; broadening the scope of the system to possibly include a nutritional dimension; using social media to collect responses for the FIES survey; and applying the FIES to both developed and developing countries.   L.:-R.: Carlo Cafiero, FAO; Anne Kepple, FAO; Nina Hissen, Department for International Development (DFID), UK ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti Pietro Gennari, FAO ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti Martino Melli, Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo (AICS) ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti Contacts: Aymeric Songy, FAO, amyeric.songy@fao.org More Information: http://www.fao.org https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-international-development http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/general_en http://www.agenziacooperazione.gov.it  

The following side events were covered by ENBOTS on Monday, 17 October 2016: Adopting African Orphan Crops to Enhance Food Security, Nutrition and Safety Rome-based Agencies’ Special Event “Inclusive Value Chains for Sustainable Agriculture and Scaled Up Food Security and Nutrition Outcomes” IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided web coverage of CFS 43 and selected side-events. The summary report of CFS 43 is available in HTML and PDF. Adopting African Orphan Crops to Enhance Food Security, Nutrition and Safety Organized by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), BGI (formerly Beijing Genomics Institute), World Wildlife Federation, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Liberia, FAO, Mars Inc. This side event, moderated by Yaya Olaniran, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to FAO, highlighted progress made to deploy plant genetics to end stunting, hunger and chronic malnutrition through sustainable methods in Africa, particularly the achievements of the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC) and the African Plant Breeders Academy. Amira Gornass, CFS 43 Chair, said the AOCC is a multi-sector collaboration effort, which includes government organizations, scientific bodies, the private sector, NGOs and others, adding that it offers viable solutions to hunger and malnutrition, and is important to improve consumers’ diets in Africa and elsewhere. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, CEO of NEPAD, reported on the AOCC, which is working to empower African plant breeders and farmers to improve the nutritional value, productivity and climatic adaptability of some of the continent’s most import food crops, including finger millet and spider plant. The consortium, he said, aims to train top plant breeders from Africa, who will enhance the capacity of local institutions, increase farmer knowledge and management, and promote conservation of African crops. Howard-Yana Shapiro, Mars Incorporated, presented on nutritional insecurity, noting that 37% of children in Africa are stunted physically, neurologically and economically as a result of malnutrition. To combat this, he said the AOCC is using state-of-the-art genomics to sequence 101 key African food crops in an effort to enhance their nutritional value and increase yields, adding that since July 2016, 26 plants have already been sequenced by African scientists. Rita Mumm, African Plant Breeding Academy, presented on the education programme, which trains African plant breeders in advanced technologies and methods, specifically how to breed indigenous plants in Africa to be more nutritious and productive. She noted that 52 scientists (20% of them women) from 20 countries across Africa have been trained. The goal, she said, is to equip more scientists in methods to improve crop varieties in Africa and to pass this knowledge on to the next generation. Tony Simons, ICRAF, spoke on how to mobilize science, stressing the need to combine science of discovery with science of delivery. He said that integrated agriculture and nutrition messaging is under-reported and under-communicated, but that initiatives like the AOCC and African Plant Breeding Academy are important to support policy. To reduce childhood stunting due to malnutrition, he said, the diversification and cultivation of African crops should be seen as an opportunity. Ren Wang, Assistant Director-General, FAO, expressed commitment to support FAO member countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly by linking sustainable food systems with nutrition. He said FAO can encourage partners and governments to support the AOCC through the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR). In discussions, participants considered, inter alia; the weak link betweenresearch findings and end users, and with private-sector mechanisms; the need for strong leadership in science delivery at the highest level; and the need for better understanding the needs of consumers and farmers.   Rita Mumm, African Plant Breeding Academy Copyright ©FAO. ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti Ren Wang, Assistant Director-General, FAO Copyright ©FAO. ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti Tony Simons, World Agroforestry Centre Copyright ©FAO. ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti Amira Gornass, CFS Chair Copyright ©FAO. ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti Rome-based Agencies’ Special Event “Inclusive Value Chains for Sustainable Agriculture and Scaled Up Food Security and Nutrition Outcomes” This special event, moderated by Gerda Verburg, Coordinator, Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, introduced the role of and opportunities associated with nutrition-sensitive value chains.   David Ryckembusch, World Food Programme (WFP), noted that the value-chain approach has traditionally focused on economic value but not necessary nutritional value. He said that applying a nutrition lens to value chains can help navigate food systems, and that it is important to promote activities to increase supply and demand of nutritious food. He suggested that such activities can focus on alleviating constraints at entry points of the value chain. Isabel de la Peña, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), outlined three impact pathways to improve nutrition strategies: production, income and market. She said the first two pathways are more geared to producers, whereas the market pathway helps consumers benefit from a food system that is nutritious as a whole. She added that nutrition awareness and women’s empowerment are important mediators of impact. Florence Tartanac, FAO, highlighted the importance of practical tools to identify entry points along the value chains. This, she said, requires going beyond traditional value chain approaches (commodity and market focused) and broadening the concept of value from a purely economic focus to one that encompasses gender, nutrition, health and environmental dimensions. Franklin Charpantier, Sectoral Planning on Agriculture and Livestock, Costa Rica, presented two examples of how his government is addressing food security. At the local level, he cited a project that integrates rural development and family farming and focuses on increasing awareness of food production and nutrition for children. He then cited a national plan involving 47 institutions to address food security and nutrition. Charpantier stressed the reintroduction of indigenous crops, which have huge nutritional value, and their integration into the market. Mamadou Goita, Institute for Research and the Promotion of Alternatives in Development (IRPAD/Afrique), Mali, said that the issue of aligning economic and nutritional values of products has not yet been resolved. He stressed the need to link local producers to markets, and the importance of jobs created in markets where products are circulated; and the need to organize market systems that link circulation and profitability. Poorva Pandya, Agri Business Development, Export Trading Group, said it is possible to introduce new crops that are both economically viable, and nutritionally valuable. She cited an example in Africa where Indian pulses were introduced due to ideal climate conditions and farmers were taught to incorporate nutritious legumes in their diets. But, she warned that it takes time for cultures to adapt to different tastes. Laila Mokadem, African Development Bank, said the bank is prioritizing investments in food security and nutrition, such as the Feed Africa initiative. Investing along the value chain is critical, she stressed, adding that donor coordination and joining efforts with development partners are crucial to address nutrition and to achieve the SDGs. In the ensuing discussion, participants addressed, inter alia: balancing basic needs with economic needs; promoting women’s empowerment and fair wages along the value chain; raising awareness and education; and incorporating climate change issues into the equation.   Contacts: CFS Secretariat - cfs@fao.org More Information: http://www.fao.org/cfs/en/