Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Recommendation for CFS HLPE Activity for the Biennium 2016-2017

Kindly accept this recommendation that the CFS give a high priority to an HLPE Report focus on the linkages among food security, nutrition, health and safety challenges by: 

• Assessing the human, economic and social impacts of food contamination from mycotoxins, including aflatoxins and other microbiological hazards
• Assessing and prioritizing the existing solutions opportunities by location and commodity targets
• Recommending a research agenda to address solution gaps

Such an assessment would be a unique contribution to global decision makers and afford an opportunity for all sectors to participate in contributing to the outcome of the assessment which should:

• Increase the awareness of food safety and quality problems that thwart efforts to eliminate food insecurity even with increased  agriculture production and delivery of more affordable nutritious food products for diverse diets; 
• Demonstrate the direct linkages of food contamination to  food and nutrition insecurity and their serious human and economic impacts;
• Highlight existing and longer term solutions; and
• Offer opportunities for collaboration and partnerships among sectors of interest to implement problem solving approaches.

The Problem

Achieving sustainable food security for the 9 billion people projected to populate the planet in 2050 will require more than increased production, availability and regular access to sufficient amounts of nutritious and affordable food.  These foods must be also be safe.

500 million of the world’s 570 million farms are family owned and these farms account for almost 60% of agriculture production. Thus it is critical to raise the profile and create awareness of food safety challenges and to define and implement solutions that contribute to food security, nutrition, diverse diets, and increased income opportunities for all farmers.   

Food safety problems present significant and pervasive threats to food security as these facts express:

• 25% of food crops are contaminated, naturally occurring and widespread throughout pre and post- harvest production, processing, manufacturing and storage.
• Mycotoxins, especially aflatoxins, are prevalent among key food crops consumed by hundreds of millions of malnourished people.
• 4.5  billion people a year are exposed to contaminated food staples of maize, rice, groundnuts, cassava, sorghum, livestock, poultry, eggs and milk.
• Poor women and children are the most susceptible, creating high incidences of premature deaths of women and  high rates of childhood stunting:
  • 2,000 people die each day in Africa from food safety related incidences
  • Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of liver cancer from food contamination
  • Aflatoxins and mycotoxins are major safety risks to the World Food Programme and other humanitarian food commodity efforts

• Food contamination creates short and long term economic and social impacts:

• Reduces  the absolute amount and the value of food produced
• Degrades food quality for consumption and enhances waste levels 
• Lessens crop values, reduces farmer’s income, restricts trade opportunities
• Thwarts the ability of food companies to procure local food commodities to help eliminate poverty by stimulating employment and increasing income

Conclusions

This HLPE assessment should provide useful and timely insights and perspectives to assist interested parties to co-create platforms to:

• Deploy existing and develop an expanded  toolbox of innovative capabilities, technical expertise, information and  management systems  
• Foster purpose driven, creative research and development for use and adaptation in developing countries
• Establish robust, transformative partnerships and allies for leveling the playing field for consumers and business opportunities

Such outcomes will help to:

• Improve the quality and safety of food commodities and products
• Enhance human, health and economic opportunities and impacts
• Bring food security closer to reality for more people

Recommendation submitted by J.B. Cordaro, May 19, 2014

It is suggested to focus on the following: Which technological innovations/approaches can help the agri-food chain – from farm to fork – best increase productivity in order to produce more food/feed, more efficiently with better targeting of inputs.

Many academia and governments (example: UK government report “Future of food and farming”) and  international organisations (including the FAO), have already come to this analysis.  Large and small scale farmers are showing on a daily basis that technological innovation boosts productivity. New technologies, and better application of existing technologies, are increasingly accepted as the most reliable ways to meet the dual needs of efficient production and sustainability.  

This unifying theme can be widely applied to: farming practices, animal production and plant  production, water usage, public and private investment and other areas. It is appropriate that this is a central theme for the FAO.

The CFS should coordinate multisectorial (key stakeholders) to focus on growth faltering (stunting) and hidden huger (micronutrient deficiencies) in children from low income countries (1000 days):

The focus should be on scaling up population specific interventions for these global problems.

There should be strengthening of  interventions for Vit A, Fe, I deficiency and integration of measures for the forgotten (0verlooked) Zn and folate deficiency into these programmes.

With regard to second Biennium priorities I would like  to suggest the following : -  Thousands but millions of people are now in a state of refuge or dislacement as aresult of disputes & instability in their countries. This situation lead to problems of hunger & malnutrition specialy among children & pregnant women. Drinking water is also abig issue that needs to be tackled. Almost all of those people looses their jobs & sources of income, if the international community succeeded in solving these disputes before the beginning of the next biennium then a big effort is required in the form of food security & nutrition policies, projects & programs to be targeted to them.

CFS role is vital in coordinating these.

Thank you

Ali Ibrahim Elkhalil -- SUDAN 

Bonjour à tous. Juste une petite contribution à la discussion.

1). Thème prioritaire à aborder: 'Amélioration de la gouvernance locale et nationale pour un renforcement de la résilience des populations les plus structurellement vulnérables aux crises alimentaires et nutritionnelles'

 2). Raison / Justification:

Les enjeux de résilience des populations en proie à la vulnérabilité alimentaire et nutritionnelle chronique se sont imposés ces dernières années comme des questions centrales de développement dans bon nombre de pays et de régions du monde, notamment en Afrique au Sud du Sahara. Ainsi, il ets de plus en question de fédérer les énergies à toutes les échelles dans une démarche multisectorielle combinant actions d'urgence et de développement et mettant en synergie les politiques sectorielles (agriculture, santé,/nutrition, affaires sociales, etc.) vers le renforcement de la résilience des ménages les plus vulnérables. En Afrique, plusieurs expériences sont en cours, notamment avec AGIR au Sahel et en Afrique de l'Ouest et SHARE au niveau de la Corne d el'Afrique.

3). Activité: 'Contribution à la formulation d'outils/instruments/approches de convergence et de mise en cohérence d el'action pour un renforcement de la résilience'

Aborder la question de résilience, requiert la mise en oeuvre d'instruments/outils innovants de réflexion et de dialogue centrés autour de la recherche de l'inclusivité, la synergie et la coordination inter-sectorielle. Une manière aussi de rendre virtuelle les cloisonnements institutionnels entre départements ministériels sectoriels et de faire converger l'effort national vers la réalisation de l'objectif commun de renforcement de la résilience.

La formulation d'un tel outil ou approche/cadre de dialogue national et de convergence de l'action pour la résilience devrait permettre aux pays de renforcer leur gouvernance de sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle. Cet outil de dialogue national permettrait notamment de garantir des impacts probants pour les expériences en cours, notamment en Afrique  (AGIR et SHARE).

Ci-joint une copie de la Feuille de route régionale de AGIR - Sahel et Afrique de l'Ouest.

4). Sphère d'analyse: Rapport du HLPE

Excellente journée et bonne continuation.

Selection and Prioritization of CFS Activities for the Biennium 2016-2017

1. What issues should be addressed by the Committee in the biennium 2016-2017?

1. Multi-stakeholder, broad-based, participatory platforms for food security and family farming.
2. Regional and subregional agricultural strategies and integration mechanisms which are conducive to food security and family farming.

      2. Explain the issue and describe why you are proposing it

The establishment of multi-stakeholder platforms is often mentioned as a prerequisite for the implementation of CFS decisions. All documents approved by the CFS may or may not be implemented in national contexts, since States are the main actors responsible for implementation. However, the best way of ensuring that internationally agreed standards are harmoniously combined with national strategies is through the establishment of permanent and institutionalized multi-stakeholder platforms. Brazil´s Zero Hunger is an example of how broad participatory mechanisms (such as the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security – CONSEA, and the National Council for Sustainable Rural Development – CONDRAF) are crucial to ensure success in the fight against hunger and poverty based on as consensually agreed policies such as school feeding with public purchase from family farming, and gaining strength from the internalization of the Human Right to Food in Brazil´s Constitution.

Many countries already have such participatory councils, mechanisms or platforms. In particular the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF 2014) has promoted the creation of National Committees, which bring together a wide variety of stakeholders from civil society, and government, with the collaboration of FAO, in more than 50 countries in the five continents. In the discussion on the follow-up to IYFF and of a Global Document to be agreed in October during CFS 41, such an initiative would indeed seize the momentum of the IYFF in order to deepen and sustain its capacity for the creation of public policies in different countries in the medium term.  

3. What kind of activity do you propose to address this issue? Which kind of CFS workstream should be put in place to address it?

i) Multi-stakeholder, broad-based, participatory platforms for food security and family farming

HLPE Report

We recommend that the HLPE conduct a study on the participation of relevant stakeholders, especially family farmer organizations which represent the largest constituency but are the most marginalized by political processes. The study would highlight best practices and systematize existing platforms in different contexts (LDCs, MICs;  national, regional or local councils, etc.).

Other type of Workstream

Regarding workstreams, based on the 5 GSF principles on monitoring and accountability (especially principle 3 – “be participatory and include assessments that involve all  stakeholders and beneficiaries, including the most vulnerable”) the CFS OEWG on Monitoring should establish an initiative (complementary with the HLPE study) on participatory mechanisms in countries, to be led by FAO country and regional offices, and drawing on already existing FAO support to country and regional IYFF committees and other multi-stakeholder platforms. FAO country/regional offices would report to CFS at each annual session and these platforms (national government/civil society platforms, with FAO/IFAD/WFP possible involvement) would be responsible for implementing national priorities related to food security and family farming, also based on CFS documents (GSF, VGGT, RAI, etc).

ii) Regional and subregional agricultural strategies and integration mechanisms which are conducive to food security and family farming.

      HLPE Report

Agricultural and Food Security strategies and Policy Dialogue mechanisms at Regional and Subregional levels have emerged in different continents during the last years (CAADP, ECOWAP/CAADP, REAF/Mercosul, ECADERT, CONSAN-CPLP, etc). Regional meetings of family farmers and governments at subregional levels (such as in REAF/Mercosul) or the broad-based elaboration and negotiation of agricultural and food security strategies (such as ECOWAP/CAADP) can contribute to the elaboration of public policies for family farming, and discussion of how to potentiate intra-regional trade on equitable terms. We therefore suggest the HLPE conduct a report on existing regional and subregional agricultural strategies and integration mechanisms which are conducive to food security and family farming.

1- Nutrition in the context of public policy. School Feeding: sensitive and specific nutrition

 Justification: to evaluate and discuss the nutritional needs in all phases of  life, mainly in the first 1,000 days and childhood as a whole, as part of public policy integrating and supporting  health, education, agriculture, local sustainable development.

2-Food fortification with micronutrients as a public policy for health, school feeding and nutrition

Justification: discussion over the merit of using such a strategy as a public policy to prevent or intervene to solve micronutrients deficiency.

3-Food biofortification to prevent nutritional deficiency

Justification: debate the evidences which evaluate the investment necessary to develop the biofortification technology and if the food biofortified is efficient to prevent nutritional deficiency for population that has limited access to food.

A nutrição no contexto das políticas públicas especialmente na Alimentação Escolar: nutrição sensitiva e específica.

Justificativa: é avaliar e discutir as necessidades nutricionais em todas as fases da vida, principalmente nos 1000 primeiros dias e na infância como política pública de envolvimento local e sustentabilidade

2- Fortificação de alimentos com micronutrientes para utilização em políticas públicas para além da saúde.

Justificativa: Existe uma grande discussão da distribuição de micronutrientes em programas sociais, tais como Alimentação Escolar, Alimentação do Trabalhador e de forma preventiva e não somente como intervenção na superação das deficiências dos micronutrientes?

3- Biofortificação de alimentos na prevenção das deficiências nutricionais

Justificativa: debater sobre as evidências que avaliam o investimento necessário para desenvolver tecnologia de biofortificação e a eficiência dos alimentos biofortificados na prevenção de deficiências em populações que não tem acesso a alimentos.

Atenciosamente

Albaneide

Would it be possible to establish regional and/or national food reserves affiliated to FAO, where appropriate surplus preservable staples from any part of the world may be kept to ensure food security?

If established, such reserves may be released to the markets for renewal when new surplus staples are available.

Appropriateness of the staples depends on the national food habits, and it would be a grave mistake to ignore or depreciate them.

Cheers!

Lal Manavado.

Dear all,

I read the contributions of our colleagues, there are very good comments. I would like CFS to focus on the role of family in nutrition issue because many bad nutrition habits affect negatively all family members.

Khaled Al-talafih

Amman-Jordan