This FAO evidence platform provides evidence and tools to support governments and stakeholders in the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition (VGFSyN) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
To find relevant documents for a VGFSyN recommendation, select a focus area from the left menu and the sub-focus area of your interest. You will be redirected to a page listing all relevant VGFSyN recommendations. Select a recommendation to access the links to the relevant online documents
Focus Area II
Sustainable food supply chains to achieve healthy diets in the context of economic, social and environmental sustainability, and climate change
This focus area highlights the importance of promoting nutrition across the food supply chain and suggests ways to create sustainable and resilient food supply chains and sustainable consumption and production in the midst of climate change and natural resource degradation. It provides guidance on: mainstreaming climate adaptation and mitigation; promoting sustainable use and management of natural resources; improving food storage, processing, packaging, transformation and reformulation; improving nutrition and health of farm and food system workers; and empowering youth across food systems.
3.2.2 Promoting sustainable use and management of natural resources in food production
The four digit numbering of each recommendation follows the numbering in the VGFSyN, whereby the first digit represents the chapter 3 of the document that includes the 105 recommendations, the second digit the focus area, the third digit the sub-focus
area and the letter the specific recommendation.
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Recommendation 3.2.2.a
Governments, farmers and their organizations, private sector and other relevant stakeholders should address soil health as central to agricultural production systems, with due attention to the [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations] FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management. Governments should encourage the use of integrated soil fertility and nutrients management practices as well as ecosystem services productivity for sustainable production, and promote the use of sustainable land management services and agricultural practices to maintain soil biodiversity and nutrient balance, reduce soil erosion, improve water management, and promote carbon storage and sequestration.
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Recommendation 3.2.2.b
Governments should promote and improve the sustainable management and sustainable use of water resources for agriculture and food production through, where appropriate, improved regulation, integrated water resource management at watershed scale, inclusive and participatory approaches, and enhanced water cooperation approaches that involve civil society organizations, farmer organizations, peasants and other small-scale food producers, indigenous peoples and local communities, private sector, and other relevant stakeholders, that take into account the variety of water needs across different sectors. These approaches should foster irrigation systems that use water resources sustainably, the reduction of water wastage, support the systematic use of appropriate water saving technologies, minimize water pollution stemming from agriculture, promote the multiple safe and environmentally-sound uses and re-use of water for domestic and productive purposes without compromising the ability of farmers and food producers to grow sufficient nutritious foods, while recognizing the crucial importance of access to water for all people living and working in rural areas for personal and domestic use.
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Recommendation 3.2.2.c
Governments and other relevant stakeholders should protect, conserve and sustainably use biodiversity for food and agriculture to strengthen the resilience of food systems. This should be complemented through the adoption and application of sustainable food production and natural resource management practices such as agroecological and other innovative approaches.
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Recommendation 3.2.2.d
Governments should recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights including, as appropriate and in line with national legislation, the legitimate tenure rights of indigenous peoples and local communities with customary tenure systems that exercise self-governance of land, fisheries and forests, with special attention to the provision of equitable access for women, in line with the [Committee on World Food Security Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries & Forests] CFS VGGT(*1). The traditional, collective knowledge and practices of these right holders should be respected, their traditional diets should be protected, and their nutrition and wellbeing should be a priority.
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Recommendation 3.2.2.e
Governments should recognize the importance of pastoralists and sustainable rangelands management and grazing systems for nutrition, healthy ecosystems, rural livelihoods and resilient food supply chains as well as encourage low inputs pastoral systems to produce healthy animal source food that contribute to reducing poverty and hunger.