A workshop co-led by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the Feinstein International Center (FIC) at Tufts University’s School of Nutrition Science and Policy

Mind the Gap: Bridging the Research, Practice and Policy Divide to enhance livelihoods resilience in conflict settings
Wednesday 14 November 2018, FAO HQ

Multiple and converging shocks are driving the work of FAO on resilience: natural hazards, including climate change extreme events; food chain crises including transboundary plant pests and diseases, animal diseases and food safety; violent conflicts and protracted crises. For instance, in the drylands, populations are increasingly vulnerable to malnutrition and food insecurity as their capacity to adapt to and recover from crises declines in the face of recurrent and often overlapping shocks, which include conflicts and violence.

Conflict is also associated with the loss of livelihoods and the transformation of livelihood systems in the longer term. Conflict undermines institutions supporting livelihoods, increases social inequities, and frequently polarizes livelihood production systems that traditionally depend on integration and the peaceful co-management of natural resources. Livelihoods and resilience interventions are critical to increased stability, but the way programs are carried out determines whether or not these programs contribute to build sustainable peace. For the past fifteen years, FIC has been researching the livelihoods of people affected by conflict.

During this workshop, FIC will provide jointly with FAO a short overview of their broader work and present the findings from two original case studies:

• "Twin peaks: seasonal and long term trends in acute malnutrition, conflict and environmental factors in Sudan, Chad and South Sudan"
• "Transformation of livelihoods and post conflict recovery: Comparative analysis in Karamoja and northern Uganda"

Through these practical case examples, the workshop will explore longstanding assumptions about livelihoods and nutrition, with a view to deepen understanding and explore the implications of this for FAO’s role in leading and promoting more effective resilience programming in conflict and post conflict settings. More precisely, the objectives of the workshop are to:

• Jointly review the findings of the two case-studies with the experts and participants attending the workshop;
• Discuss the implications of the findings of the case studies for FAO resilience programming in conflict and post-conflict situation;
• Reflect on key findings and their implications, especially in relation to strengthening nutrition and food systems in protracted crises;
• Analyze the potential contributions of FAO to sustain peace through its resilience and emergency interventions.