Introduction Para 1. We may want to broaden the first para: the transformation of food systems goes beyond SDG2, can contribute to link different SDGs and is essential to the operationalisation of Agenda 2030. Equity is part of sustainability.
End of para 2, I am not sure it is realistic to expect that the «dramatic restructuration » of food systems will start with production systems. Shifting the focus on demand is more likely to reorient trends.
p. 6 «discrete food security problems», you may want to reword? Food security is a complex issue, hardly a discrete one.
All along my cafeer as nutrition officer, I developed serious reservations about the 4 dimensions of food security which reflected more the evolution of institutional policies that actual logic, and I have therefore systematically avoided any reference to the (in)famous 4 pillars. I am therefore not sure adding more dimensions and coming up with new charts and pictures will really help. Actually the more I go through the VO draft the less I like this 6 dimensions suggestion; putting it at the start of the document and using it to structure the report is in my view a mistake. Do we really think this will generate the needed change, or do we keep on promoting new jargon, generating more publications, reports or training by adopting yet again a new lens? Should we really use the 6 dimensions to parcel possible pathways and disaggregate interventions, responsabilities and funding? 4. p.32 and foll.).
P. 9 Again, reducing sustainability to environmental sustainability should not be endorsed. Regrettably this appears to be the approach pushed by the public health sector in recent years and it is only adding to the prevailing confusion. The three dimensions of sustainability are economic, social and environmental. And food systems practices have major social implications.
p.13 ii/ we should focus on poor diets, which contribute to all forms of malnutrition
While the draft report mentions urbanization pp. 18 and 19, it does not give explicit attention to urban-rural linkages or territorial approaches, which would have changed the perspective by bringing together concretely inequalities, environmental concerns and economic development. With more than half of the world consumers living in urban areas, the role of cities and local governments in promoting sustainable food systems and diets is essential [see UNSCN Discussion Paper Urban-Rural Linkages for Nutrition. Territorial approaches for sustainable development
While the role of smallholder farms (3.4. p/ 21) is indeed key, insufficient attention has been given so far to local food processing, distribution and catering which are major sources of employment in particular for women and youth, as well as important dimensions of local economic development.
3.13. This is an essential issue. The conclusion should be that we should give priority to more resilient food systems in hotspots/ at-risk areas.
Overall the report does not provide sufficient attention to governance issues, in particular local to global, the need to revise existing legal and regulatory contexts, and the importance of knowledge management and practice-based evidence.
Introduction Para 1. We may want to broaden the first para: the transformation of food systems goes beyond SDG2, can contribute to link different SDGs and is essential to the operationalisation of Agenda 2030. Equity is part of sustainability.
End of para 2, I am not sure it is realistic to expect that the «dramatic restructuration » of food systems will start with production systems. Shifting the focus on demand is more likely to reorient trends.
p. 6 «discrete food security problems», you may want to reword? Food security is a complex issue, hardly a discrete one.
All along my cafeer as nutrition officer, I developed serious reservations about the 4 dimensions of food security which reflected more the evolution of institutional policies that actual logic, and I have therefore systematically avoided any reference to the (in)famous 4 pillars. I am therefore not sure adding more dimensions and coming up with new charts and pictures will really help. Actually the more I go through the VO draft the less I like this 6 dimensions suggestion; putting it at the start of the document and using it to structure the report is in my view a mistake. Do we really think this will generate the needed change, or do we keep on promoting new jargon, generating more publications, reports or training by adopting yet again a new lens? Should we really use the 6 dimensions to parcel possible pathways and disaggregate interventions, responsabilities and funding? 4. p.32 and foll.).
P. 9 Again, reducing sustainability to environmental sustainability should not be endorsed. Regrettably this appears to be the approach pushed by the public health sector in recent years and it is only adding to the prevailing confusion. The three dimensions of sustainability are economic, social and environmental. And food systems practices have major social implications.
p.13 ii/ we should focus on poor diets, which contribute to all forms of malnutrition
While the draft report mentions urbanization pp. 18 and 19, it does not give explicit attention to urban-rural linkages or territorial approaches, which would have changed the perspective by bringing together concretely inequalities, environmental concerns and economic development. With more than half of the world consumers living in urban areas, the role of cities and local governments in promoting sustainable food systems and diets is essential [see UNSCN Discussion Paper Urban-Rural Linkages for Nutrition. Territorial approaches for sustainable development
https://www.unscn.org/en/unscn-publications?idnews=2024]
While the role of smallholder farms (3.4. p/ 21) is indeed key, insufficient attention has been given so far to local food processing, distribution and catering which are major sources of employment in particular for women and youth, as well as important dimensions of local economic development.
3.13. This is an essential issue. The conclusion should be that we should give priority to more resilient food systems in hotspots/ at-risk areas.
Overall the report does not provide sufficient attention to governance issues, in particular local to global, the need to revise existing legal and regulatory contexts, and the importance of knowledge management and practice-based evidence.