APPENDICES

Appendix I: List of participants

REGIONAL EXPERT CONSULTATION OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC NETWORK FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION ON THE STATUS OF FIVIMS INITIATIVES

19 - 22 November 2002, Bangkok, Thailand,

Appendix II: Opening address by He Changchui FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific (Delivered by N. M. Hla)

Madam Chairperson, Distinguished Participants, Representative from the Government of Japan, My colleagues from Headquarters and the Regional Office, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am pleased to welcome you all on behalf of the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Dr. Jacques Diouf, and on my own behalf to the Regional Expert Consultation of the Asia-Pacific Network for Food and Nutrition on The status of FIVIMS initiative.

According to the World Food Summit, food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Achieving food security means ensuring that sufficient food is available, that supplies are relatively stable and that those in need of food can obtain it. Food-insecure people are those individuals whose food intake falls below their minimum calorie (energy) requirements as well as those who exhibit physical symptoms caused by energy and nutrient deficiencies resulting from an inadequate or unbalanced diet or from the body's inability to use food effectively because of infection or disease. An alternative view would define the concept of food insecurity as referring only to the consequence of inadequate consumption of nutritious food, considering the physiological utilization of food by the body as being within the domain of nutrition and health.

The World Food Summit resolved to reduce the number of undernourished people in the world by at least 50 percent by the year 2015. In addition, it set the longer-term goals of, eventually, eradicating hunger and achieving food security for all. The World Food Summit: five years later (WFS:5yl) held in June 2002 reaffirmed the role of FAO and the importance of the Inter-Agency Working Group on FIVIMS in strengthening national and international monitoring of food security. The State of Food Insecurity (SOFI) 2002 estimates that there are 799 million undernourished people in the developing countries. If the objectives of the WFS are to be achieved, appropriate policies and action programmes that are directed specifically at the people who are undernourished or at risk need to be developed and implemented. An important first step is the identification of food-insecure and vulnerable groups, and the causes of their food insecurity and vulnerability. Such information should make it possible to monitor and assess the situation and to design and, eventually, evaluate possible policies and interventions. This again underscores the importance of an initiative like FIVIMS.

If they are to be effective, policies aimed at promoting food security require accurate and timely information on the incidence, nature and causes of food insecurity and vulnerability. Unfortunately, there is a particular lack of good information at the subnational and household levels.

Many countries have established information units or systems for specific purposes such as providing early warning systems, promoting market efficiency, monitoring health and nutrition status or preparing food security situation assessments.

As we all are aware, the FIVIMS process takes into account some important and crucial socio-economic, nutritional and geographical information and related information systems, such as agricultural information systems; health information systems; land, water and climatic information systems; early warning systems; household food security and nutrition information systems; market information systems; and vulnerability assessment and mapping systems. RAP, in collaboration with FAO Headquarters, has been assisting member countries to establish national FIVIMS with a view to addressing the issues of food insecurity. I am pleased to mention that the Japan-funded Trust Fund project entitled Development of a vulnerability information base, mapping and dissemenation system for Asia in support of FIVIMS: GCP/RAS/170/JPN, known as the Asia FIVIMS project, is being implemented to provide technical support to the overall FIVIMS initiative, as well as to provide an assessment of food insecurity and vulnerability in Asia. At the end of 2001, RAP and the Asia FIVIMS project formed a partnership in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of technical assistance to five countries in the region to start with. The countries included are Bangladesh, Cambodia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The activities are aimed at building government capacities in establishing and operationalizing FIVIMS. It is encouraging to note that Phase II of the Asia FIVIMS Trust Fund Project plans to operate from RAP in close collaboration with FAO Headquarters.

I wish to thank the Government of Japan for its support to the FIVIMS initiative in the RAP region. The present consultation is indeed an effort to strengthen that initiative.

Madam Chair,

Food insecurity is a multisectoral and multidimensional phenomenon and is attributable to a range of factors that vary in importance across regions, countries and social groups, as well as over time. These factors include the socio-economic, environment, food economy and caring practices, besides health and sanitation. In order to achieve success, strategies to eliminate food insecurity have to tackle these underlying causes by combining the efforts of those who work in diverse sectors such as agriculture, nutrition, health, education, social welfare, economics and the environment. At the national level, this means that different ministries or departments need to combine their complementary skills and efforts in order to design and implement integrated cross-sectoral initiatives which must interact and be coordinated at the policy level.

I am told country-wise initiatives are underway in order to establish and strengthen national level FIVIMS initiatives. I also understand that the national participants present here are directly involved with the FIVIMS initiative in their respective countries. The present consultation will deliver upon various issues of national FIVIMS so as to have the expected outcomes at the country level which may include improved policy formulation, improved progamme management, more effective design and focusing of interventions and more comprehensive intersectoral and institutional dialogue.

I trust that the deliberations will be productive and I wish you a successful meeting. I also wish you a pleasant stay in this wonderful city. I thank you for your kind attention.

Appendix III: Agenda and timetable

Agenda

1. Overview of FIVIMS - FAO perspective;

2. Review of country status related to implementation of FIVIMS and identification of future actions;

3. Review of national-level progress in implementing the follow-up activities on ICN and WFS;

4. Discussion on FIVIMS in relation to the PRSP and UNDAF/CCA; and

5. Any other item with permission of the Chair.

Expected outcomes of the Consultation

1. Status of FIVIMS implementation updated.

2. Constraints with regard to FIVIMS implementation identified.

3. Approaches toward project development and/or implementation on establishment of FIVIMS identified.

4. Firm commitment to work towards establishing FIVIMS at the national level expressed.

5. Current position in implementation of NPAN and WFS Plan of Action updated.

6. Strategies of linking national FIVIMS to UNDAF/CCA and PRSP discussed.

Timetable

Appendix IV: Guidelines for working groups

SWOT analysis of FIVIMS in relation to the UNDAF/CCA and PRSP process

Background and Rationale

After the introductory presentations and discussions on the UNDAF/CCA and PRSP process in Part 5 of the meeting, in Part 6 the participants will be asked to sit together, discuss and analyse the opportunities of linking the FIVIMS initiative more closely with the CCA/UNDAF and PRSP process in individual countries. The SWOT analysis (analysing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) has been selected as a tool to guide the interaction in the working groups.

SWOT Analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. A SWOT Analysis is an effective method of identifying your own Strengths and Weaknesses, and to examine the Opportunities and Threats you face in your working environment (FIVIMS). Carrying out this analysis will often be illuminating - both in terms of pointing out what needs to be done, and in putting problems into the right perspective. Ideally, the SWOT analysis provides you with the components to update your business strategy, to use your own strengths and opportunities perceived around you to overcome some of your less strong points, and to anticipate well in advance some of the trends that could negatively impact on your work. Details of the SWOT Analysis, its general meaning and examples of specific questions that we would look at in our working group session on Wednesday and Thursday, are provided in the matrix below:

SWOT ANALYSIS Focussing on FIVIMS

Goal

The main goal of these working groups is to raise awareness among participants on the CCA/UNDAF and PRSP process and the importance that both could play as an important target audience for food insecurity and vulnerability information generated by a national FIVIMS.

Output

At the end of part six, through the two working group presentations we expect to know more about the working environment of FIVIMS for operational and institutional issues in a number of countries, in particular its role with/ links to the UNDAF/CCA and PRSP process through the successful monitoring of food insecurity and vulnerability information, as well as the analysis of cross-sectoral information to identify and characterize specific vulnerable groups of people.

Process

The participants will self-select their working groups based on their national context and experiences with the PRSP and/or UNDAF/CCA process. In case all participants have a preference to discuss the relationship between FIVIMS and the PRSP, we can easily facilitate that by having two groups on that topic. The participants will then disperse to their pre-assigned break-away rooms. The following steps provide some guidance to the facilitators in the flow of activities:

Step 1: Group introductions

Step 2: Explanation of SWOT analysis by facilitator(s).

Step 3: Explanation of specific goals of the exercise/ expectations from the participants.

Step 4: Identification of a rapporteur, who is likely to give the presentation the next morning.

Step 5: Start brainstorming exercise by asking to list three important strengths on separate coloured cards.

Step 6: Ask participants to rank observations 1-3 based on perceived importance.

Step 7: Facilitator starts clarification of the cards/ drawing out process and discussion. Only use cards listed 1 (highest priority) for group discussion due to time limitations.

Step 8: Group summarizes (Rapporteur notes down on the flip chart) the listed "strengths," with possibly country examples, and outcome of discussions. We should aim to complete the "strengths" analysis by the end of the day, so that the other three (W-O-T) can be discussed the next morning.

Step 9: Complete brainstorming exercise for Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats as well.

Step 10: If time is available, please have a look at the result and discuss if you can. Combine/use some of your strengths to take onboard some of the opportunities that have arisen. In a similar fashion you could discuss use of your strengths and opportunities to address some of your weaknesses. Example: Based on expertise in food security information (Strength), and given the need for food security information by the PRSP/ CCA/UNDAF process (Opportunity), some institutions like the WB might consider funding a number of support activities. This way, "lack of funding" has been overturned as a Internal Weakness/ External Threat by finding a customer willing to pay for your services.

Step 11: Present findings of the working group in plenary!