FAO Regional Conference for Africa (ARC) CFS Side Event on "The Role of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) on Food Systems and Nutrition: How Can We Promote Cross-Sector Policy Convergence?"

FAO REGIONAL CONFERENCE FOR AFRICA (ARC)

CFS SIDE EVENT ON 

The Role of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) on Food Systems and Nutrition: How Can We Promote Cross-Sector Policy Convergence? 

REMARKS

QU DONGYU, DIRECTOR-GENERAL
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)

Wednesday, 28 October 2020

As prepared 

            

Honourable Ministers,

Chairperson of the CFS,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. To eradicate hunger we need action on multiple dimensions and adapted to the country specific contexts.  

2. These multiple actions involve a variety of stakeholders who often have diverging views and goals, and require real trade-offs. 

3. Effective stakeholders’ coordination is therefore essential to promote food security and nutrition, based on the best data and research available. 

4. Such coordination requires an enabling environment that creates incentives for all stakeholders and empowers them to participate in policy formulation and implementation.

5. The CFS promotes such an enabling environment at a global level. It is a unique platform where all stakeholders can be actively involved and engaged in the global debate on food security and nutrition.

6. I, therefore, invited the CFS to be part of all five of our Regional Conferences and I would like to encourage you, as Ministers and regional leaders, to give us your perspective on the role that CFS can play and how you could make the best use of its policy recommendations and guidance.

7. We, at FAO are strongly committed to the CFS and we are proud to host its Secretariat and fund its operations along with IFAD and WFP.

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8. As you all know, we are not on track to eradicate hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

9. The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to contain it, have put additional pressure on the global economy and food security.

10. Africa is particularly at risk, with the number of chronically underfed people projected to reach almost 433 million by 2030.

11. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the global economy have revealed the need to rapidly move towards global food systems that ensue reliable access to safe, affordable and nutritious food produced and traded in an efficient and sustainable way. 

12. That is why we launched the FAO Comprehensive COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme that aims at preventing a global food emergency during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, while working on medium to long term development responses for food security and nutrition.

13. In line with the SDGs, this holistic programme intends to mitigate the immediate impacts of the pandemic while strengthening the future resilience of food systems and livelihoods.

14. FAO is also actively supporting all efforts to accelerate the integration of key players in the food system.

15. In that respect, I encourage you all to join CFS as it finalizes the “Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition” for CFS-47 in February 2021. 

16. This product will be very important for all of us in thinking about how we should be producing, marketing, and consuming our food – to ensure food is healthy for both our people, and our planet.

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17. The challenges caused by the pandemic have made us think of innovative ways of working and taking advantage of what the digital technologies have to offer. 

18. Even before the pandemic, we were working to bolster the use of these technologies in our daily work at FAO and in our interactions with Members.

19. The pandemic gave us an additional incentive to accelerate this process. 

20. This adaptation to the new normal has proven to be very efficient and productive. As you can see, we are even holding this Regional Conference, virtually! 

21. Innovation of business models and mindsets along digital technologies can play a crucial role in our work and we need to use them at their full potential. 

22. We, at FAO, are advancing and making significant progress in this direction.

23. The Hand-in-Hand Initiative, which uses the latest tools and technologies in the Geospatial Data Platform and the Data Lab for Statistical Innovation, is a good example of this.

24. We can see good potential in using innovative ways to further disseminate policy instruments; such as the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) and the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems of the CFS.

25. I am pleased to note that out of the 88 countries worldwide, where FAO has provided support to VGGT implementation, 35 are in Africa. 

26. FAO is also supporting VGGT implementation with Regional Economic Communities such as the Economic Community of West African States, the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel, the East African Parliamentary Alliance on Food Security and Nutrition and the Parliamentary Network on Food Security in Africa and the Arab World.

27. Because our work can only be successful when we adopt a cross-sectoral, inclusive and result-oriented approach. 

28. That is also why we established, together with the AU Commission, an unprecedented platform of dialogue among the African ministers of Agriculture, Finance and Trade to agree on pandemic-related strategic actions in preventing the health crisis of becoming a food emergency.

29. Such a cross-sectoral approach needs to be based on a solid partnership framework.  

30. Inclusiveness and cooperation are essential to make our endeavor to eradicate hunger a success.

31. FAO is systematically strengthening its partnerships with all stakeholders within the food system

32. We developed a more proactive, flexible and dynamic Private Sector Partnership Strategy that will be brought to FAO Members in the upcoming Council in December.

33. It foresees expanded areas of engagement, namely technology and innovation, data, investment and innovative financing as well as SDG alignment. 

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34. The CFS needs to use its strength as an inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for all stakeholders to promote issues that require cross-sectoral attention. 

35. One such example would be food loss and waste. The CFS is in a unique position to bring all its members onboard for this important issue.  

36. The issue of food waste is very relevant for urban centres around the world. 

37. And they all could benefit from the Committee’s support in raising awareness and creating a public momentum to eliminate food waste. 

38. Because eliminating food waste is a moral, ecological and economic obligation.

39. Addressing food loss, on the other hand, requires improvements to the value chain as well as the introduction of varieties with a better shelf life. 

40. This means investing in post-harvest treatment and in agricultural infrastructure, from roads, to cold-storage houses and facilities. 

41. Again a matter of cross-sectoral relevance.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

42. We urgently need to foster real change through concrete actions that benefit food producers, the rural population, consumers and the entire planet. 

43. FAO will continue to collaborate with the regional entities in Africa and support the CFS, to provide relevant policy guidance. I count on your full support to translate these words on paper into meaningful results on the ground. 

44. We have the tools, we have the knowledge, now we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work!

Thank you