SARD and the FAO Strategic Framework

Sustainability has been mainstreamed into FAO’s Strategic Framework, for 2000-2015. In two of the organization’s three global goals cited below, it is specifically mentioned.

• Goal 1: Access of all people at all times to sufficient nutritionally adequate and safe food, ensuring that the number of undernourished people is reduced by half by no later than 2015.
• Goal 2: The continued contribution of sustainable agriculture and rural development, including fisheries and forestry, to economic and social progress and the well-being of all.
• Goal 3: The conservation, improvement and sustainable utilization of natural resources, including land, water, forest, fisheries and genetic resources for food and agriculture.

SARD and the Committee on Agriculture

The Committee on Agriculture (COAG) is one of the FAO governing bodies that meets every two years and conducts periodic reviews and appraisals of agricultural and nutritional problems in order to propose concerted action by Member Nations and the Organization. It also reviews the agriculture and food and nutrition work programmes of the Organization and their implementation, with emphasis on the integration of all social, technical, economic, institutional and structural aspects in promoting agricultural and rural development. Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development is a standing agenda item every four years.

SARD at the 19th Session of COAG (2005)

In April 2005, SARD is on the COAG agenda. Governments will be discussing the way forward for SARD in FAO and in partnership with civil society. A side event on 14 April is focusing on i) local successes fostering sustainable livelihoods, sustainable intensification of rural production systems and integrated natural resources management as a means to SARD and ii) the need for mobilizing the capacity of different stakeholders to scale up successful practices in order to influence policy changes that can rapidly reduce poverty and hunger while protecting the environment.

SARD at the 16th Session of COAG (2001)

In 200,1 following discussions of the SARD paper submitted to COAG, the Committee identified three action areas for promoting SARD including: building capacities and strengthening institutions; mobilizing investments; and technologies for enhancing productivity and managing the environment. The Committee noted additional areas to be highlighted as important for SARD, i.e., access to land and land tenure; debt relief; control of HIV/AIDS; traditional, local and indigenous knowledge; gender and the role of women; increased participation of civil society; good governance; and the role of public research in agriculture and rural development.

At this session, there was a multi-stakeholder dialogue held in parallel which addressed key questions on SARD. The Committee recognized the valuable contribution made by the CSOs and NGOs to the debate on this item.

World Food Summit: five years later (2002)

The World Food Summit: five years later held in Rome in 2002, brought together Heads of State and Government Representatives to reaffirm the commitments made by world leaders to the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action from 1996.

Recognizing the critical role played by civil society during the preparations for the World Food Summit, FAO encouraged NGOs/CSOs to take a similar, active involvement in the preparatory process for WFS. An international planning group of NGOs/CSOs facilitated this participation and held a forum on Food Sovereignty noting that it is the right of peoples, communities, and countries to define their own agricultural, labour, fishing, food and land policies which are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances.