Forum global sur la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition (Forum FSN)

Answers:

Does Chapter 1 adequately reflect the current situation of malnutrition and its related causes and impacts, particularly in line with the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda?

Yes

What are the underlying problems that currently hinder food systems to deliver healthy diets?

Low production of diversified food, weak linkages between (researchers who innovate standard qualities, extentionists and producers), Traditional means of production, lack of awareness of producers and consumers, poor information sharing and communications…etc,

· What should be the guiding principles to promote sustainable food systems that improve nutrition and enable healthy diets?

Integrated policies of food and nutrition, good storage, technologies and preparation, work on the whole food value chain.

What are your comments about the principles outlined in Chapter 2? Are they the most appropriate for your national/regional contexts?

Add: Marketing, and stability. For the women involvement: they mostly work as agricultural labors and do not own the land, other inputs and decisions, best management of resources, and good storage facilities, besides the huge quantities of surplus food not consumed can be managed by distribution of surplus food to the poor through some organizations and food banks, communications. All this can achieved by strengthening the linkages between the arms of the triangle (researchers, extentionists and producers), conflict affected areas with low food access have to be considered. Precaution measures can be taken towards soaring food prices especially for low income groups, also provision of production means to vulnerable farmers can support, Processing of nutritious food from local products for children will enhance the access of food.

· In consideration of the policy areas identified in Chapter 3 and the enabling factors suggested in paragraph 41 of the Zero Draft, what policy entry points should be covered in Chapter 3, taking into account the need to foster policy coherence and address policy fragmentation?

Integrated food and nutrition policies to find out underlying causes of malnutrition caused by food deficiencies, strengthening M&E systems to follow up and evaluate the implementation to find gaps and resolve the constraints,

· Can you provide specific examples of new policies, interventions, initiatives, alliances and institutional arrangements which should be considered, as well as challenges, constraints, and trade-offs relevant to the three constituent elements of food systems presented in Chapter 3? In your view, what would the “ideal” food system look like, and what targets/metrics can help guide policy-making?

e.g. The new policies in Sudan has been conducted based on the four food security pillars . It is a comprehensive policy because it was formed by a committee including all relevant sectors. The institutional set up of food security and nutrition is chaired by the high level governor which makes it possible to link with decision makers. The main constraints are the lack of approved laws and legislations which managed the implementation of programmes and projects.

The ideal food system is that work in consideration of the value chain and strengthens the triangle.

In my opinion and with respect to sub Saharan Africa, I think in order to developers a good guideline for food systems and nutrition we have to consider strongly the issue of gender marginalization and in adequate financial assistance to women die to cultural challenges. during the last hidden hunger congress that took place in the University of Stuttgart Germany, I did a presentation on gender marginalization and the contribution to the triple birders of malnutrition in dis Saharan Africa with my NGO gender and youth solidarity for Sustainable Livelihood. in my research, I found that early traditional marriage has put women into chains, participating in pleasant farming to feed their family. most of the small farms are owned and run by rural women, these women have limited access to land and with little financial support from donor groups or their husbands therefore they tend to cultivate mostly crops that can sustaining their household with seeds which are not improved. these crops range from cereals, rubbers etc, which mostly have high energy content but with low nutritional value. these women are mostly uneducated and are into early marriages and because of cultural affiliations, they toil day in day out in small farms to Carter for their families. as tradition May demand, the wife has to feign for the family without any support for the polygamous husband. so they go to farm work all day long come back home late in the night and prepare food harvested from farm for their families. the husband is served with high priority followed by children and which of course these women end up eating just the remains. most of such husbands have small cash received from the sales of extra cultivated cereals which they can use to run the daily live by buying drinks whil the women and children toil. at the end of the day the husband grows with protruded stomach becoming obsessed and probed with diseases like hypertension, cardiac arrest, diabetes etc while the women and cchildren be come malnourished, with frequent attack of anaemia, early child dead, brain deformation etc just to name a few. so I thing giving women equal opportunity in marriage, education, land ownership and funding can help to improve on food security and nutritional problems

-women should be part of administration and decision making positions in government offices and inter-NGOs whose objectives are to improve food security, agriculture nd nutrition in resilient communities.

women should be given the opportunity to fair decision on when, who and how they get married

-cultural and traditional  early marriages shouldn't be encouraged

-women should be given equal opportunity towards education especially in the field of agriculture and, food security and nutrition

-short training courses on agricultural innovation should be sponsored to impact and train the rural women

-government ad other organizations should engaged in supplying rural women with improved seeds of highly nutritious foods for cultivation

-women should be granted equal opportunity as to land ownership

-agricultural subvention and other funding to target food security issues should be focussed on rural women

-government agencies and international organisations should be fair enough to provide scholarship in agriculture and food security and nutrition to young underprivileged women from local communities

-gender marginalization and gender based violence in homes, offices and schools should be totally stamped out and should be a priority for human right organisations and other agencies to educate local communities with diverse cultural background and traditional stigma

thank you E.S Njieassam

CEO, Gender and Youth solidarity for Sustainable Livelihood-Cameroon

Dear FSN Forum Team, Dear FSN Forum members,

The International Dairy Federation has been actively engaged through the CFS Private Sector Mechanism in drafting these voluntary guidelines on food systems and nutrition, and appreciates this additional opportunity to provide comments through this open consultation. We would like to commend Dr Liliane Ortega, CFS Food Systems and Nutrition OEWG Chair as well as the CFS secretariat for the work done so far.

We support the report acknowledgment of the complexity of the food systems and the many drivers which impacts them, as well as the need to take a holistic and evidence-based approach and foster dialogue among the different sectors.

As a general comment, throughout the document, CFS should:

• Ensure definitions of “healthy diets” remain focused on encouraging consumers to adopt and maintain balanced diets and do not directly or indirectly exclude or limit consumption of nutrient dense whole foods such as dairy products;
• Ensure all guidelines are science-based and consistent with WTO, Codex, and other international obligations;
• Ensure nutrient dense foods such as dairy are recognized as a critical source for their key nutrients; especially for populations at high risk of nutrient insecurity such as children and pregnant women
• Ensure the voluntary guidelines recognize the positive role of international trade in increasing access to and availability of a variety of foods, including dairy products;
• Guard against overt or disguised protectionism that decreases access to and availability of a variety of foods, including dairy products;
• Ensure environmental sustainability considerations are science-based and reflect the relative and absolute nutritional benefits of dairy foods.
• Carefully consider whether the voluntary guidelines as currently drafted will duplicate work or overlap with the mandates of other international organizations.
• Provide mechanism to revisit guidelines/set timeframe for update of global progress towards reduction in malnutrition.
• Acknowledge that due to regional and population differences that affect the HLPE five main categories of food system functionality, there is no single universal diet that combats malnutrition and ensures sustainable practices.
• Importantly, they should allow for the definition of “healthy diets” to include countries’ own national dietary guidelines instead of solely being defined by WHO indications.
• Acknowledge that trade-offs will exist within a food system in order to sustainably achieve a reduction in malnutrition and that countries should make these trade-off decisions based on regional and population relevant science-based information.
• Recognize that while smallholder farmers are necessary to help combat malnutrition, large holder farmers also play a significant role in sustainably reducing global malnutrition.

Milk and dairy foods are well-known for being naturally nutrient rich, providing an abundant supply high quality protein, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iodine, and vitamins B2 and B12. This unique package of essential nutrients contribute to address all forms of malnutrition; it is associated with better growth, micronutrient status, cognitive performance and motor function development. In addition, several dairy products are scientifically proven to protect against some non-communicable diseases. There is an inverse association between dairy intake and colorectal cancer as well as between yogurt intake and risk of type 2 diabetes and between milk and stroke.

Dairy is then part of healthy diet and a major contributor to helping achieve many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as zero hunger and health and well-being as well as providing reliable livelihoods, helping to lift people out of poverty, empowering women, caring for the land, and much more.

The dairy community supports the CFS work to develop these voluntary guidelines on food systems and nutrition but wants to ensure that the role dairy products in making whole diets healthy is recognized.  

Please find in attached documents our detailed comments on the draft voluntary guidelines on food system and nutrition.

Bonjour à vous. Veuillez trouver en fichier joint le document en objet. Bonne suite pour le FSN mondial.

Mr Koné du Mali.

Dear FSN Forum Team,

Thank you for opening the opportunity to contribute to this important document. Please find attached my contribution to the consultation on the development of the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition.

Kind regards,

Luis

Luis Antonio T. Hualda

Good Day

Please find comments from the Southern African Faith Communities Environmental Institute.

Overarching comments:

1. While the guidelines make brief mention to the role purchasing power plays in food security, it lacks the emphasis needed - considering that rapid urbanization is occurring in developing countries, bringing with it an increase of dependents on money for food access and growing urban poor populations.

2. There is no mention of preventing the displacement of smallholder and subsistence farmers from their land due to large agribusiness interests. A process which is occurring in many developing countries and is jeopardizing rural communities resilience to climate shocks.

3. There should be guidelines on the importance of services for home food access and food preparation (such as clean water and fuel for food preparation and cooking).

4. There should be a guideline that promotes the regulation of pesticide use, considering the impacts pesticides have on farm workers, surrounding farming communities, and the environment.

5. While the guidelines do consider sustainable sensitive agricultural practices (43.(A)) it does not put the necessary emphasis needed considering the current climate and environmental crises we are facing and the substantial impact unsustainable farming practices have on creating and perpetuating this crisis. The guidelines need to not only consider the primary processes that are used and degraded for food production but also the supporting systems and processes that are at risk. Environmentally sensitive farming approaches are essential for the survival of humans on this planet.

6. Lastly the guidelines do not mention the special role that women predominantly play as food providers and how this impacts their role in the food system. This role is important to mention as it indicates that women and the challenges they face are key in creating food systems change.

Comments aimed at specific paragraphs:

43. (G). Women producer's livelihoods (pg 11) - It would be valuable to include supporting the informal sector as it plays an important role in both food security for consumers and employment for women excluded from formal employment.

43. (K). Resilient Food Supply chains (pg 12) - This should consider the distance food is transported and the close link food price has with oil price. Shorter food distances lessen the risk of lack of food access due to oil shortages/price increases.

45. Processing and Packaging (pg 12-13) - There also needs to be a focus on innovation in packaging to enable the safe transport of food without using plastic and non biodegradable materials due to the substantial harm food packaging is causing the environment.

46. (A). Support smallholder farmers (pg 13) - In order for smallholder farmers to compete with large integrated agrifood supply chains, smallholder farmers need support with market access through the development of agricultural hubs or appropriate trading spaces.

48. (B). Public food procurement (pg 14)- There should also be an emphasis on procuring from marginalised smallholder farmers.

Compiled by Robyn Bowden - SAFCEI Food and Climate Justice Cordinator [email protected]

Regards

Hello,

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Zero Draft of the Voluntary Guidelines.

On behalf of World Animal Net, please find attached our comments and suggestions incorporated into the proposed template.

Best Regards,

Maha Bazzi | Project Manager-International Policy at World Animal Net

Greetings!

Many thanks for giving me this oppertunity to offer a set of suggestions on how we may change various food systems in use today in order to ensure a sustainable supply of wholesome food the present and future generations. It is heartening to note that there is now a growing awareness that changing the current food systems is the key to dealing with all forms of malnutrition, hunger, NCD's, not to mention the great human misery they entail.

However, some crucial points still remain unnoticed or ignored; first we must understand the difference between a food system as a thing, and then a food system in actual use. Secondly, in all academic and/expert discussions, attention has been solely directed at physio-chemical aspects of food, i.e., energy it contains in Calories or Joules, and the ingredients contained in an 'idel' diet of universal applicability. I have disagreed with these two ideas on purely scientific grounds, and it has been included here.

I for one derive a certain pleasure from the taste, flavour, colour, texture, temperature, etc., of my food. Very often, eating is a pleasurable social/family occasion. I have collectively called tem dietary enjoyment. There is strong evidence to show that this is so in nearly all documented societies. Let us not turn nutrition into a sterile intake of fuel like putting petrol into a car, for dietary enjoyment is a valued part of the human heritage.

My policy suggestions arise from the distinction between a food system as a 'thing' and a food system as a 'thing in active use'. Then, it is clear that the form of a food system would have to conform to the purpose into which it would be put.

Is it used today to provide people a sustainable, varied, wholesome and balanced diet? Prevelance of obesity, deficiency diseases, NCD's, not to mention millions of the hungry speak either of a tool badly misused, incompetently used, ill designed, or any combination of those. Recall that food systems are not, I repeat not, a new invention. It was used by the precursors of our Stone-Age ancestors, otherwise, we would not have managed to evolve into H. sapiens sapiens.

These are very obvious things; unfortunately the current usage of food systems fails to appreciate it principal function, the goal we now strive to achieve. The sole justifiable function of a food system is to enable us to satisfy one of our fundamental needs viz., nutrition. Food systems have failed to serve this purpose adequately. If we should fail to take remedial action as soon as possible, one would be justified in wondering whether justice and fairness are also on the market.

Best wishes!

Lal Manavado.

Addressing rural poverty and food security

Prof. ALI ABDALRAHMAN

President of the International Union for Investment, Development and Environment

Food security is closely linked to economic growth and social progress in developing countries.

The food security agenda should focus on agriculture, which forms the basis of the livelihoods of many poor people and the backbone of rural economies in most developing countries and enable them to be successful food producers.

There is a need to support small-scale adaptation to changes in food demand and the challenges posed by evolving technology and sustainability requirements.

Small farmers need to improve market access, adapt and adopt appropriate technologies and institutional innovations and improve access to natural, financial, social and human capital.

Food security is related to food availability, distribution, variety, and income.

Priority of food availability in the face of increasing population requires increased productivity in agriculture around the world and reduction of pre- and post-harvest losses and food waste.

The establishment of open markets and special projects that are critical to the development and are an important part of achieving food security objectives.

Focus on sustainable entrepreneurship for local SMEs.

Empowering small farmers to break the subsistence cycle and become small entrepreneurs.

The vital contribution of farmers' organizations to make for the development of agriculture and rural communities.

Unless small farmers are organized, they will remain politically powerless and economically disadvantaged.

Dear colleagues,

Thank you very much for this opportunity to provide feedback and input for the development of these important Voluntary Guidelines. Please find attached the joint contribution of the One Planet (10YFP) Sustainable Food Systems Programme's co-leadership.

Best regards,

Patrick Mink