Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Today the online discussion: 

“The 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) and its significance for food security in Africa” is complemented by a live session now ongoing on the Sub Saharan Africa Food Security Portal of IFPRI, at this link: 

ssa.foodsecurityportal.org/forums/wto-ministerial-conference-its-significance-food-security-africa

On the IFPRI portal you can post comments and questions over the next 24 hours and an expert will respond in real time. 

Accra/Abidjan/Rome - The number of undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa has increased mainly due to the impact of conflict and climate change with the situation pointing to the urgent need to build affected communities' resilience and to find peaceful solutions that strengthen food security,  FAO said today.

The prevalence of chronic undernourishment appears to have risen from 20.8 to 22.7 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to FAO's Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition report (2017).

This year's report, which features the theme: "The Food Security and Nutrition - Conflict Nexus: Building Resilience for Food Security, Nutrition and Peace" was launched today at the joint FAO/WHO Africa Regional Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition, taking place in Abidjan from 16 to 17 November 2017.  

 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.

This new publication presents the work of the FSN Forum, offering an overview of how Forum activities and its vast network of participants around the world help FAO to tackle the root causes of poverty and hunger and support countries, organizations and communities in their efforts to improve lives. 

FAO/GIEWS has released the latest issue of the Crop Prospects and Food Situation quarterly report that focuses on developments affecting the food situation of developing countries and Low-Income Food-Deficit Countries. The report also includes an overview of global cereal production prospects and a table highlighting countries that require external assistance for food, identifying the primary causes of the local food crises.

HIGHLIGHTS

Counties requiring external assistance for food: FAO estimates that 37 countries are in need of external assistance for food in the world. Persisting conflicts have continued to acutely affect agricultural production and food security conditions. Weather shocks, including floods, hurricanes and droughts, have compounded the fragile conditions in some of the conflict-affected countries and also resulted in production shortfalls, adversely impacting food availability and access in other countries.

Africa: Northern Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan continue to be affected by severe food insecurity, while drought in parts of East Africa has curbed agricultural outputs and sustained high food prices. Wetter conditions in Southern Africa resulted in production recoveries, leading to significantly reduced food insecure numbers, while severe localized floods in West Africa have affected larger numbers of people.

Asia: Despite severe localized floods and droughts in some countries, production in the Far East is forecast to increase in 2017. Conflicts continue to intensely impact agriculture and food security in Iraq, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen. Elsewhere in the Near East, generally good weather boosted production.

Latin America and the Caribbean: In the Caribbean, the impact of hurricanes is expected to depress agricultural production for second season crops in the affected areas and adversely impact food security conditions. In South America, record cereal outputs are forecast in Argentina and Brazil in 2017.

Please download the full report here: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7830e.pdf.