A five-strong team of FAO and World Food Programme (WFP) experts spoke at a special session on food security and nutrition in the framework of the annual Eurasian Food Security Conference, which took place on 2-4 October at Lomonosov Moscow State University.

The session, moderated by Aghasi Harutyunyan, Officer-in-Charge of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, specifically dealt with issues related to “Developing capacity in the field of food security, nutrition-sensitive social protection programs at regional and country level.”

Marco Sánchez Cantillo, Deputy Director at FAO’s Agricultural Development Economics Division, highlighted the “factors challenging to reverse the gains in food security and nutrition” and pinpointed the tools to tackle the problem.

Eleonora Dupouy, FAO Food Safety and Quality Officer, alerted the audience to the fact that the task now and ahead is not only to feed the needy suffering from malnutrition but to guarantee food safety. This is a challenge in the context of “changing food systems”

Carl Paulsson, Senior Programme Advisor, The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), underlined the direct link between enhanced food security and Nutrition and social protection.

“One key rationale behind social protection for all is a basic human right to decent living standards, which includes the right to consume a healthy, adequate diet.”

Melissa Vargas, FAO expert on Nutrition Education, pointed out that “The seemingly positive effects of nutritious and fortified school meals on micronutrient intake (mainly iron, zinc and vitamin A), specifically in children with low baseline indicators are also important to consider. Furthermore, the effects of school meal programmes on obesity prevention in low and middle income countries are increasingly relevant as the prevalence of overweight and obesity of schoolchildren and its health and economic effects is alarming.”

Mauricio Rosales, Senior Project Coordinator, detailed the state of play of the implementation of six pilot initiatives within the Russian-funded project on “Food Security and Nutrition in Selected Countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia”. Rosales highlighted three key elements:

• School food and nutrition program linked to the agricultural sector

These pilots comprise the establishment of school gardens in 3 schools in Armenia and 20 schools in Tajikistan, and the implementation of a centralized model of supply of agricultural products in Kyrgyzstan to meet the needs of 30 schools and other social institutions.

• Strengthening food systems for nutrition sensitive social protection

In Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, a “Cash Plus” approach complements the benefits of the National Social Protection Programme providing the beneficiaries with nutrition-sensitive productive interventions, technical training, nutrition education, in-kind/input transfers and the identification of potential markets.

• Promoting inclusive economic growth through matching grants for families of migrants

This pilot in Tajikistan aims to leverage the remittances of migrant workers by investing them in the development of family agriculture. Specifically targeting women and youth, the project will support small and medium business development in agriculture with a view to improve nutrition –particularly among migrant’s families – and to promote decent rural employment and sustainable rural development in general.

Practically all national governments are increasingly recognizing and adopting school food and nutrition as an important programmatic area of sustainable development work. School food and nutrition (SFN) has immense potential to support students, their families and communities to address hunger and malnutrition in its various forms. School settings are an ideal entry point for engaging different sectors and actors, including smallholder farmers, thereby enabling a coordinated and coherent policy response to food security and nutrition challenges.

4 October 2018, Moscow, Russian Federation

Photo: © FAO/Vladimir Mikheev