المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

 Different ways of defining resilience

Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations:

Holistic Balance: Resilience is defined in a holistic manner, focusing on the balance between people, the environment, and cultural practices. It emphasizes sustainability, community solidarity, traditional knowledge, and the ability to adapt to environmental changes while maintaining cultural identity.

 Other key rights holders:

 Human rights and equity focus: For human rights organizations, resilience includes ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities, protecting human rights, and reducing vulnerabilities across different population segments.

Types of vulnerabilities facing food supply chains

• Climate change and extreme weather events
• Economic and financial crises
• Social and political instability
• Pandemics and health crises:

Inequities and power imbalances in food systems; Large corporations often dominate food production and distribution, marginalizing small-scale farmers and producers. In addition, inequities in access to land, water, and financing disproportionately affect smallholder farmers, women, and marginalized communities. To add on workers in the food system, especially in developing countries, often face poor working conditions and low wages.

 Resilience frameworks to explore

1. Socio-ecological resilience framework focuses on the interplay between social systems and ecological systems, emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and community-based resource management.

2. Community resilience framework highlights the role of social networks, inclusive infrastructure, and civil society organizations in building resilience at the community level.

3. Food system resilience framework addresses the entire food supply chain, from production to consumption, considering diverse factors like environmental sustainability, economic viability, and social equity.

Weak points in global food systems include;

• Over-reliance on single supply channels
• Lack of local infrastructure hinders the ability to support local production and distribution.
• Inequitable access to resources disproportionately affects marginalized groups, reducing overall resilience.

 Understanding and mitigating trade-offs in shocks

1. Adaptation vs. Fragility; Enhancing resilience to one type of shock (e.g., droughts) may create vulnerabilities to another (e.g., floods). Balance and holistic approaches are needed.

2. Impact on resilience programming; Different understandings of food security (e.g., focusing on nutrition vs. the four pillars) can influence the design and effectiveness of resilience programs.