Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

General Mandate:
The FAO is the lead agency for agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development. It works to alleviate poverty and hunger by promoting sustainable agricultural development, improved nutrition and the pursuit of food security - defined as the access of all people at all times to the food they need for an active and healthy life.

Programmes and activities:
FAO emphasizes the link between hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. FAO supports the achievement of the MDGs through:

• Monitoring: Regularly monitors progress toward halving the number of hungry, publishes findings and is coordinating with UN system reporting efforts on this goal as well as monitoring environmental targets (especially forest cover). Supports development of information tools at country level through capacity building in data collection, analysis and application for policy and decision making process. Supports the inter-agency efforts for the implementation of Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS). To improve the current monitoring tools FAO held in June 2002 an International Scientific Symposium on Measurement and Assessment of Food Deprivation and Under-Nutrition.
  
• Analysis: Is the lead agency for the Millennium Hunger Project. As an input to this project FAO has prepared a document called Anti-Hunger Programme: reducing hunger through agricultural and rural development and wider access to food. The follow up to WFS Plan of Action includes studies and reports that analyze determinants and linkages of hunger and poverty, and compile evidence on benefits of hunger eradication. Assists countries and regional economic groupings in the formulation of national and regional strategies and programmes for food security. Works actively at national level through thematic groups within the UN system network on rural development and food security. Provides inputs into CCA/UNDAF and PRSP processes to ensure adequate attention to agriculture and food security. Provides technical support to the implementation of national and regional food security programmes and to the NEPAD process.
  
• Campaign, mobilization and partnership building: The World Food Summit fyl (June 2002) reaffirmed commitments with an emphasis on increasing political will, resource mobilization and building partnership to accelerate the implementation of WFS Plan of action. FAO will work with WFP, IFAD and establish strategic partnership with private and other public agencies to mobilize efforts and create alliances to achieve the hunger MDG. Given the importance of addressing Africa’s crisis food security situation, FAO is giving strong support to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), including preparation of its Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAAFDP). The Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger project has been initiated by FAO and a group of international and non-governmental organizations that have joined forces to help eradicate hunger and malnutrition through education. FAO is contributing to the World Summit on Sustainable Development through agricultural components of WEHAB and SAD initiative.
  
• Operational activities: The Special Program of Food Security (SPFS) was launched to provide a model for implementing the Plan of Action of the WFS. The SPFS empowers poor rural communities to raise farm output and income and improve local food security. To date the SPFS is operational in 68 countries of which 38 are in Africa, given that continent’s particularly important needs. Additional SPFS programmes have also been formulated or are under formulation in another 16 countries, of which 6 are in Africa. Regional Programmes for Food Security (RPFS) have been formulated and FAO is co-operating with the corresponding organisations (such as SADC, COMESA, CARICOM, ECOWAS, UEMOA) in seeking external funding support to them; these are to complement national SPFS interventions. FAO is also contributing to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme to improve Africa’s agriculture, food security and trade balance. FAO gives special emphasis to the close linkages between reducing hunger and the sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems and assists governments in building their capacity to manage forests in a sustainable manner through national forest programmes. FAO’s Gender and Development Plan of Action aims to ensure equal access to food, equal control over resources. gender equality in policy decisions and equal opportunities in employment. FAO is working with Ministries of Agriculture to develop innovative strategies for mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS on food security and rural life. FAO provides training to developing countries on the analysis of the new trade environment as basis for effective negotiation alongside industrialized countries. FAO serves as coordinating agency for the Education for Rural Development flagship, aiming at advocating for universal access to basic education for rural population and supporting countries willing to undertake measures to increase access to quality education for rural population.

MDGs highlighted by the Agency*
*For full list of Goals, Targets and Indicators see Annex 1

Goal One: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal Three: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal Six: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Goal Seven: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal Eight: Develop global partnership for development

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

General Mandate:
IFAD is mandated to combat hunger and rural poverty in developing countries. IFAD's main objective is to provide direct funding and to mobilize additional resources for programmes designed specifically to promote the economic advancement of the rural poor, mainly by improving the productivity of on- and off-farm activities.

Programmes and activities:
IFAD’s Strategic Framework 2002-2006 is designed to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs, specifically the following:

Goal One: supporting and designing rural poverty interventions which raise agricultural productivity, create income generating opportunities, and improve the livelihoods of the rural poor.
Goal Three: supporting projects that increase women’s: assets (ex. land, credit, etc); access to quality of life improving technologies; leadership and literacy skills, participation in project decision making.
Goal Six: In Sub-Saharan Africa, supporting prevention and mitigation of HIV/AIDS and developing appropriate economic development support for affected rural communities.
Goal Seven: supporting interventions that promote: access to natural and productive resources; land reform and secure tenure; productivity increasing farm technologies; wide participation in sustainable natural resource management; rural finance schemes; and access to sustainable use of fresh water for irrigation.
Goal Eight / Target 13: targeting LDCs in IFAD’s lending, especially Africa, with projects that emphasize nutrition and food security, agricultural productivity, rural enterprise development, and building human capital.
Goal Eight / Target 15: participating in HIPC Debt Initiative.

MDGs highlighted by the Agency*
*For full list of Goals, Targets and Indicators see Annex 1

Goal One: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal Three: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal Seven: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal Eight: Develop a Global Partnership for Development / Target thirteen (LDCs), Target 15 (Debt problems)

World Food Programme (WFP)

General Mandate:
As the food aid arm of the UN, WFP uses its food to:

• meet emergency needs
• support economic & social development

The Agency also provides the logistics support necessary to get food aid to the right people at the right time and in the right place. WFP works to put hunger at the centre of the international agenda, promoting policies, strategies and operations that directly benefit the poor and hungry.

In 2001, WFP assisted 77 million of the poorest people with food aid, 20 million of these through development programmes.

Programmes and activities:
WFP contributes to MDG monitoring at country level through its results-based reporting and monitoring systems. WFP uses food aid in ways that contribute to countries' efforts to realize all eight of the Millennium Development Goals, as described below:

Goal 1: Eradicating hunger is the main focus of WFP's work, which also recognizes both the poverty trap that prolongs hunger, and the effects of hunger and food insecurity on people's efforts to removes themselves from poverty and build better futures;
Goal 2: WFP's food for education activities strive to increase the number of children in school, free from hunger, enabled to concentrate on learning
Goal 3: Implement its Commitments to Women, by building on the important role women play as managers of food in the household.
Goal 4: Supplementary and therapeutic feeding programmes, which effectively combine health and nutrition education to maximize the impact of its interventions, reaching over three million children
Goal 5: Giving mothers training and education about health and nutrition, while providing them with the micronutrients for themselves and their children. Last year, WFP provided food to over a million pregnant and lactating mothers.
Goal 6: Supporting projects focusing on the prevention and mitigation of HIV/AIDS and assisting/planning to assist 4 million of the more than 28 million Africans now living with HIV/AIDS health situation in Sub-Saharan Africa
Goal 7: Interventions focus on improving the productivity and preventing further degradation of the resource base and the food security of the people.
Goal 8: sees cooperation as essential to sustainable development and reduction of poverty and hunger.

MDGs highlighted by the Agency*
*For full list of Goals, Targets and Indicators see Annex 1

All MDGs

ANNEX 1. MDG Goals, Targets & Indicators