Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

A new video presents the rationale behind EVAL-ForwARD, a Community of Practice on evaluation for Food Security, Agriculture and Rural Development jointly supported by the evaluation offices of FAO, WFP and IFAD. 

The objectives of EVAL-ForwARD are to enhance awareness and capacities at country-level about evaluation in the agriculture, food security and rural development sectors, with a close focus on the evaluation of efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 – End Hunger. 

 The Asia Pacific Symposium (10-11 November 2017, Bangkok) links to the FAO and WHO International Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition held in Rome in December 2016, and is one of four follow-up events focused on specific world regions. The aims are to enhance agriculture and food systems’ visibility, create policy and programme options, promote sustainable diets and build partnerships through taking stock of evidence on transformational change in food systems toward sustainability, and their link to positive health and nutrition outcomes.  The Symposium will also develop and strengthen information platforms on nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems for countries in the region so that they can share that knowledge amongst consumers, producers and other stakeholders. Major interventions for good nutrition governance and effective local level implementation will be identified and promoted. 

The Asia-Pacific region, home to most of the world’s undernourished people, needs urgent action to improve diets and reset its food systems which are critical to the delivery of healthy, nutritious foods, FAO said today. According to the findings of FAO’s 2017 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition report, there is a pressing need to tackle malnutrition alongside further promotion of the consumption of healthier foods while curbing the growth in consumption of unhealthy foods.

FAO and the Technical Network on Water are inviting interested individuals to participate in the online discussion “Water Accounting & Water for Food”. This exchange is organized in the context of a World Water Council Member initiative on water accounting for agriculture led by FAO with UNESCO-IHE, UNESCO-WWAP, IWMI, ICID and DWFI to raise the profile of water accounting for decision making and to demonstrate the value added it can bring in smart planning processes in water management and water governance. The main objective of this initiative is to promote the use of water accounting through a process consisting of expert consultations, policy level interactions, and the development of a White Paper on Water Accounting for decision making in the agricultural sector. The White Paper will be presented at the 8th World Water Forum in March 2018. This initiative contributes to the work plan of the Global Framework on Water Scarcity launched at the Marrakech Climate Change Conference.

The online discussion aims to consult a broad group of stakeholders (experts in the topic and people interested to learn more), and to build a common understanding on what water accounting is and how it can be done and used. In addition, its objective is to gather evidence on why and how water accounting can help decision making and planning, in particular with regard to managing water scarcity. The discussion willl make use of email exchanges and webinar presentations, and all exchanges and documentation will be stored on an online platform.

The discussion will be open until 21 July, please register here to participate: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WaterAccounting-Poll.

Landesa and the Land Portal will co-facilitate a dialogue on the principles and practices of land-based investments, with a focus on the Tanzanian context. This is intended as part of the broader conversation on responsible investment in land principles, guidelines and practices that has proliferated since the 2009 food crisis and subsequent ‘land grabs’ that swept the global south. This discussion is intended to bring to the fore a grounded perspective on a conversation and debate that often remains in the conceptual or abstract. The Tanzanian context is particularly relevant because of the government’s interest to increase agricultural investment and revise the current National Land Policy with the process underway, which, among other topics, has implications for decision-making processes around land-based investments.

The conversation has two primary objectives. The first is to increase awareness about investment practices in Tanzania and empower the voices from within Tanzania to discuss the realities of trying to improve responsible investment practices in the country. The second is to improve the understanding of global experts and practitioners who are designing and/or advocating for more responsible investment practices in the region and globally.

Please visit the following webpage for more information: https://landportal.info/debates/2017/responsible-investments-land-persp….

The dialogue will be available on the Land Portal from 5 until 16 June 2017.

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is hosting a Seminar, jointly organised by the Italian Development Cooperation, FAO, IFAD, the International Poverty Reduction Centre in China and the China Internet Information Center (CIIC) on "Global Partnerships for Poverty Reduction". The seminar will take place on Friday 28 April and aims at sharing succesful experiences on poverty reduction at country level; raising awareness on key challenges faced by governments, policy makers and practitioners; increasing awareness and knowledge on progress made in poverty reduction at country, regional and international level and discussing the role of South-to-South and Triangular Cooperation in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

The Seminar will also showcase different knowledge platforms and networks, including the FSN Forum and the Global Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth (GPIG) Portal, emphasising their contribution to global poverty eradication. 

The United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) mandate is to provide global strategic guidance and advocacy in nutrition to ensure engagement and investment at the highest level and to ensure progress towards nutrition security for all.

The UNSCN is open to UN Agencies and platforms and includes a number of the major UN players in the international food and nutrition fields.

The 68th UN General Assembly declared 2015 the International Year of Soils (IYS).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has been nominated to implement the IYS 2015, within the framework of the Global Soil Partnership and in collaboration with Governments and the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The IYS 2015 aims to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soil for food security and essential ecosystem functions.

The specific objectives of the IYS 2015 are to:

• Raise full awareness among civil society and decision makers about the profound importance of soil for human life;
• Educate the public about the crucial role soil plays in food security, climate change adaptation and mitigation, essential ecosystem services, poverty alleviation and sustainable development;
• Support effective policies and actions for the sustainable management and protection of soil resources;
• Promote investment in sustainable soil management activities to develop and maintain healthy soils for different land users and population groups;
• Strengthen initiatives in connection with the SDG process (Sustainable Development Goals) and Post-2015 agenda;
• Advocate for rapid capacity enhancement for soil information collection and monitoring at all levels (global, regional and national).

1. Background – what was the drive behind the new development
2. Description of how the new development works and how it is changing real lives
3. Hurdles and challenges that were overcome
4. Comments and experiences of ‘developers’ and users
5. Limitations/constraints/future challenges
6. Responses from relevant/significant bodies (e.g. partner organizations)
7. What next in terms of development? What lessons have been learnt/can be transferred elsewhere?