FAO Statement at the Multi-Stakeholder Panel Discussions on sidelines of High-level Meeting on Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework

Multi-Stakeholder 1: From Managing Disasters to Managing Risk; Risk Governance fit for the 21st century

Thank you Madam Chair.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is grateful for opportunity to deliver this statement.

Business-as-usual pathways are not options in today’s risk landscape to achieve global food security and adequately met the needs of our growing population. If we are to build inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems we must move from managing disasters to managing risk.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction outlines how to do this, and while at the mid-point of its implementation we are far off track, the challenge is not insurmountable.

The resilience of the agriculture sector both depends on and influences the resilience of other sectors, and assessments must take this into account, maximizing synergies, co-benefits and mitigating trade-offs across systems.

Investing in risk-informed agriculture can have co-benefits across the Sustainable Development Goals and safeguard lives and livelihoods.

At the local level, research by FAO has demonstrated how context-specific agriculture disaster risk reduction good practices exist, and can unlock resilience dividends. Under hazard conditions, agriculture DRR good practices perform more 2.2 times higher than previously used practices.

Policymakers and planners must do more to facilitate their uptake and that the required financial resources are available and accessible. Accelerating the transformation necessary for development interventions that prevent the creation of new, and manage existing risks, requires an enabling legal, policy and institutional environment, informed by multi-hazard risk assessment.

National and local disaster risk reduction strategies and plans are a cornerstone of this work, and FAO stands ready to support their update, creation and enhancement, and to support sector specific plans in the agriculture sector.

FAO is supporting Member Countries to ensure interlinkages and alignment between agricultural sector plans, national and local DRR strategies and plans, National Adaptation Plans, Nationally Determined Contributions, and national development plans, including through our contribution as partner of the Capacity for Disaster Risk Reduction Initiative.

Complementary disaster risk reduction financing strategies can drive the investment in these good practices necessary for systemic transformation, as with integrated national financing strategies and plans.  This includes re-orienting subsidies and incentives and internalizing food system externalities that are driving risk creation.

Excellencies,

FAO is committed to supporting its members to scale-up disaster risk reduction and climate actions for building inclusive, resilient agrifood systems and livelihoods for the most vulnerable. Thank you.