Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Re: Core food and agricultural indicators for measuring the private sector’s contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

FAO Core food and agricultural indicators for measuring the private sector’s contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals – IAFN Feedback

The International Agri-food Network (IAFN) applauds the effort made to respond to the gaps in-country monitoring and report to effectively recognize the significant contribution of the private sector.  The present task is timely and critical to assessing the achievement against the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Private Sector actors have undertaken a multitude of tasks to further the SDGs and have attempted to include them in their operating frameworks.  The Private Sector is also engaged in many large-scale coordination initiatives to build trust across supply chains, ensure that business contributions to the SDGs remain positive and coherent.  Moreover, advancements by business in technology and precision agriculture will aid in the development of new business models, the advanced of sustainable production and consumption practices, the tracking of data and enablement of data driven decision-making, knowledge transfer and capacity building—all of which will contribute to the delivery of the Agenda 2030. 

However, the task of collecting the extent of the contribution through the proposed framework is too ambitious.  Dedicating the time to review the 100+ pages of the Methodological Note of Core indicators called for by this consultation is frankly too prohibitive for many private sector actors.  The scope of the work would be overwhelming for many large companies, let alone SMEs and MSMEs.  It would be helpful to align more effectively with the ESG reporting of companies and to focus on fewer metrics to ensure companies can readily respond to some, if not all the information requested, without disincentivizing them from participating altogether.   In this respect, we welcome a pilot project to focus on the ways to synergize this with existing systems, and to narrow the scope to those areas where business can provide the most impactful information.