Nutrition and Healthy Diets
In 2014, the FAO/WHO Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) acknowledged that: “Current food systems are being increasingly challenged to provide adequate, safe, diversified and nutrient rich food for all that contribute to healthy diets due to, among other things, constraints posed by resource scarcity and environmental degradation, as well as by unsustainable production and consumption patterns.”
To address these challenges, the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016 – 2025 puts a specific focus on the transformation of food systems to promote healthy diets that are sustainably produced and improve nutrition to achieve the global nutrition and diet-related Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) targets in line with commitments of ICN2 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The mission is to tackle malnutrition in all its forms by accelerating impactful policies and actions across agrifood systems to enable healthy diets for all. Through this mission, and in the realization of the aspiration of Better Nutrition, FAO will contribute to the achievement of targets across the SDGs including SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG 10, SDG 12, SDG 14, and SDG 17.
What FAO does
In order to complete this mission and contribute to the vision, the Vision and Strategy for FAO’s Work in Nutrition (the Nutrition Strategy) describes fifteen actions FAO will undertake and five outcomes as results of FAO actions on data, evidence, policy coherence and collective action, capacity and advocacy. The FAO Nutrition Strategy, which includes an Accountability Framework and Implementation Plan, is part of the Organization’s strategic framework, and aims at achieving the corporate goal of reducing malnutrition through efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.
The role of FAO in Geneva
Considering the presence of a large number of international organizations, Member States and Non-Governmental Organizations in Geneva, which provides a significant platform for engagement and partnership with key stakeholders, the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva, in close coordination with the Food and Nutrition Division (ESN), supports the organization’s work with:
UN sister agencies and other partner organizations based in Geneva, in particular the World Health Organization (WHO), the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to achieve sustainable food systems for healthy diets and improved nutrition.
Member States and the general public to promote and raise awareness on FAO’s technical work and activities.
The FAO in Geneva Nutrition Dialogue Series, organized in close collaboration with FAO’s Food and Nutrition Division (ESN) and the Liaison Office in Brussels, aims to share experiences and practical insights on how intervening in agrifood systems can support better nutrition and other development outcomes across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It supports the Better Nutrition pillar of FAO's 2022-31 Strategic Framework, highlighting how supporting healthy diets can also positively impact Better Production, a Better Environment, and a Better Life. It presents important work carried out in Member States with support from FAO and partners, showcase concrete examples of positive actions and good practices aimed at ending all forms of malnutrition at the community, national, regional and global levels and discuss challenges faced during their implementation as well as their sustainability.
It covers all six action areas from the Nutrition Decade: Food systems for healthy diets; Aligned health systems, Social protection and nutrition education; Trade and investments; Improved governance and accountability; Enabling environments.
Here is a list of Nutrition dialogues so far, in reverse chronological order:
- 19 April 2023: Advancing human and planetary health: enabling healthy diets and addressing climate change
- 12 December: 2022: Building resilient agrifood systems for nutrition in the context of humanitarian crises in Africa
- 28 September 2022: How can dietary guidelines fulfill their potential for agrifood systems transformation?
- 26 July 2022: Bringing food safety and nutrition together through an agrifood systems approach
- 21 June 2022: Urban Food Systems for Better Diets
- 18 May 2022: Food Systems for Addressing Acute Child Malnutrition and Advancing Better Livelihoods in Africa’s Drylands: From Research to Action
- 28 April 2022: High-level Launch Event: Agrifood systems transformation - Policies and practices to support healthy diets and development outcomes across the SDGs