FAO SIDS Solutions Dialogue: Can an agrifood systems approach help achieve healthy diets, reduce NCDs, and improve climate resilience in the SIDS?

Achieving food security and improving nutrition are crucial to reaching the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Not only are they essential to achieving SDG2 – Zero Hunger, but they are also linked to many other SDGs, including SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere, SDG3 – Good Health and Well-Being, SDG12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG14 – Life Below Water, and SDG15 – Life on Land, among others.

Globally, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face complex, unique, and intertwined challenges in reaching the SDG2 targets. These challenges range from high vulnerability to climate change, natural disasters, and external economic shocks to geographic and economic isolation, fragile ecosystems, and heavy reliance on food imports.

SIDS also grapple with escalating health consequences stemming from climate change, including a growing incidence of infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea, and Zika virus. These challenges are further compounded by increasing evidence linking extreme weather events, unhealthy diets, and food and water insecurity to higher morbidity and mortality rates associated with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases.

SIDS are overrepresented among the countries with the highest risk of premature death from NCDs, including alarmingly high rates of diabetes and obesity. The ten countries with the highest obesity rates globally are all SIDS located in the Western Pacific, while the highest rates of childhood and adolescent obesity are also found within their borders.[1]  

This explains why SIDS must be considered in global efforts to achieve the SDG2 and SDG 3 targets for NCDs. Furthermore, the increasing threat posed by climate change will have a detrimental impact on many of the factors influencing the health and development of SIDS, emphasizing the urgency for immediate action.

With multiple crises occurring simultaneously, SIDS are being forced to choose between investments with long-term benefits, such as the blue economy, versus more immediate needs like food security, nutrition, and health. It is essential to align strategies that address these intertwined crises and adopt a holistic approach that integrates climate resilience, the promotion of healthy diets, and NCD prevention through sustainable agrifood systems.

As a tangible outcome leading up to the 4th UN SIDS Conference to take place in May 2024, in Antigua and Barbuda, this dialogue aims to showcase successful strategies and experiences from SIDS and foster collaboration among stakeholders committed to supporting these nations by identifying innovative solutions and multistakeholder strategies that can pave the way for a healthier, more sustainable future for SIDS’ populations.

This event is part of the SIDS Solutions Dialogue series organized by FAO Liaison Offices in Brussels, Geneva, and New York together with FAO's Office for SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs and part of the FAO Nutrition Dialogue Series organized by FAO Geneva and the FAO's Food and Nutrition Division.

Event objectives:

1. Highlight the data and linkages between climate change and NCDs, particularly in SIDS;
2. Showcase innovative strategies and success stories from SIDS that integrate climate resilience, healthy diets, and NCD prevention through agrifood systems.
3. Facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration among stakeholders interested in addressing these interconnected challenges in SIDS.  

[1] Noncommunicable diseases and mental health in small island developing states. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240072213