Europe and Central Asia agriculture actors probe options for transforming region’s food system
Yesterday, FAO concluded a virtual meeting to address pertinent food and agriculture issues of Europe and Central Asia, against a background of the new FAO Strategic Framework, and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The 39 FAO Member Nations were joined by the European Union, civil society, farmers’ organizations, and the private sector.
The four-day Informal Consultation for Europe and Central Asia, traditionally hosted by Hungary, completed its work with a clear consensus among participants: the region’s food system needs to achieve further resilience and sustainability to help countries meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Over the past ten years, the mechanism of the informal consultation has proved its effectiveness in brainstorming our regional priorities for the upcoming period before finalising them at the regional conference,” said Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, during his opening remarks.
The main aim of the 2021 consultation was to facilitate an exchange on the region’s priorities for the period 2022–2025 in preparation for the European Regional Conference next year. It featured country case studies on key priorities and technical topics such as digitalization, ‘One Health’, and nature-based solutions.
During a session on family farms, constraints and potential solutions were presented, followed by an open discussion of government and farmer-association representatives that gave further impetus to FAO’s future work on empowering smallholders, rural women and youth, through targeted programmes and support.
With respect to the digital gap in agriculture, the main objective was to dive into digitalization and innovation in Europe and Central Asia – to explore the challenges smallholder farmers face, and examine some of the opportunities that the public and private sectors, and civil society, can offer. Participants advised to combine digital and traditional approaches, and to collaborate in order to make state‑of-the-art solutions more affordable. They also expressed deep concern over data ownership and control, and called for guidelines to be developed and shared at international level.
The discussion on value chains pointed to the fact that agriculture had proved its resilience and strength during the most difficult months of the pandemic, and this should be reflected in efforts to build back better. It was therefore suggested that more investment should go into agriculture – particularly into smallholder agriculture – to help the sector grow and ensure the resilience of value chains, so that it becomes the engine of recovery.
Environmental sustainability, and sustainable management of land and water resources in agricultural production, was highlighted through a case study on integrated natural resources management in drought-prone and salt-affected agricultural production systems in Central Asia. The remaining part of the session focused on the importance of greening agriculture – through the promotion of seed banks and other techniques – and facilitating the achievement of the SDGs.
A further session helped to clarify the concept of ’One Health’, which recognises the health of animals, people, plants, and the environment as one, and emphasised the need for strong collaboration and cooperation in order to ensure its success. This should also entail the transfer of scientific knowledge to farmers in an understandable way. Another important point raised was in relation to animal welfare, which improves productivity and farmers’ livelihoods if it is put in place.
Agricultural nature-based solutions is a toolbox of instruments to address climate change and a sustainable pathway to food security while protecting our natural resources. The approach was welcomed in principle by session participants, who requested further information on the concept and its terminology.
The ongoing challenges related to all forms of malnutrition and potential solutions to address these – at regional and national levels – framed a session on school meal programmes and local food systems. A successful example was presented from Kyrgyzstan, where local suppliers have joined school feeding programmes. Some of the key issues raised included the cost of healthy diets, the role of dietary guidance, short value chains, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In general, participants highlighted the need to increase holistic approaches, increase support across various sectors, and increase partnership between all actors in order to transform the food system in the region.
Keynote speakers at the opening of the consultation included Hans Hoogeveen, the newly elected FAO Council Independent Chairperson and Permanent Representative of the Netherlands in Rome, Iwona Krzeszewska, Chairperson of the Europe Regional Group, and David Bencsik, Deputy State Secretary at Hungary’s Ministry of Agriculture.
16 July 2021, Budapest, Hungary