Context

Developed in the context of the United Nations Food System Summit (UNFSS) in 2021, the Forests & Food Systems Coalition (FFS) aims to bring together governments, public bodies, companies and civil society organizations to reduce deforestation and ecosystem conversion in agricultural supply chains, while ensuring food security, sustainable livelihoods and development, and forest-based contributions to the fight against climate change.

The objective is to foster new land use and agricultural production models that optimize food production, enhance livelihoods, protect and restore the natural environment, while reducing trade-offs between forestry and agriculture sectors. The Coalition is an informal group building on principles of collaboration and holistic thinking, result-oriented knowledge sharing and adaptation to context-dependent needs and experience.  

Furthermore, the Coalition solidly builds on REDD+ and sustainable soft commodities’ international and national processes and commitments, with the aim to bridge the “two worlds”. The coalition leverages the comparative advantages of its co-leads – FAO, FOLU, TFA and UNDP, and its members, including ongoing partner programmes, projects, and initiatives at the country, regional, and global levels.

Note: in UNFSS 2021 records, the Coalition was launched under the name of  ‘Halting Deforestation and Conversion from Agricultural Commodities Coalition’, updated to ‘Forests and Food Systems Coalition’ in July 2023.

Objectives

• Raise awareness on risks of deforestation and ecosystem conversion in agricultural commodity supply chains, and its impact on production, in the context of food systems, while promoting solutions and opportunities to address those;
• Support countries to include goals on sustainable supply chains, including aspects of reduced impact on forests and ecosystems, in their UNFSS national pathways; and
• Facilitate stakeholder exchanges and collaborative actions to boost progress in decoupling food systems from deforestation.

Global survey

Would you like to contribute to the Needs Assessment and Engagement Survey - Assessing needs and opportunities for promoting forest positive agriculture and sustainable food systems? Participate before the deadline on October 5, 2023 by clicking here.

The global survey aims to identify the gaps and needs, and how the Coalition could be useful to different types of stakeholders – from both public and private - working in the fields of forestry, agriculture and trade, in addressing the topic of forest-positive agricultural value chains.

Target respondents include relevant government officials (including UNFSS national conveners and REDD+ focal points), private sector and civil society actors, from both producer and consumer countries, at global, national, and regional level. Please note that the survey is directed towards organizations, not individuals.

For comments or inquiries, please contact [email protected].

Survey link

Deadline: 5 October 2023

Languages: English, French and Spanish

Organization: FAO, FOLU, TFA, UNDP

Length: 20 minutes