المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

The International Dairy Federation (IDF) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the new HLPE project “Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition, including the role of livestock”. Dairy and other livestock products are important for food and nutrition security, because livestock can convert materials that are inedible to humans, such as grass and leaves as well as residues of food and biomaterials, into high-quality, nutrient-rich foods.

IDF appreciates the process that CFS is undertaking, but seeks clarification of the overall process.  It would appear that an expert steering committee is being established to draft the report as per the agreed scope of work.  The e-consultation is seeking comments on the scope of the project.  Does CFS intend to continue to seek input throughout the drafting stage? This e-consultation appears to be limited to the scope of the work.  IDF believes that it is critical that ongoing consultation is undertaken as the breadth of the proposed report is very wide and it will be difficult for individual experts to provide detailed input across the chain.  This can be achieved by developing a clear consultation process that will enable wider views to be captured while the report is being developed. Communicating this process will also help groups determine how they can actively contribute and in what timeframe.

IDF represents the global dairy sector and ensures the best scientific expertise is used to support high quality milk and nutritious, safe and sustainable dairy products.

IDF is committed to furthering current knowledge on a wide range of issues, including sustainable development, health and nutrition, environmental impacts, methods of analysis, farm management, animal health and welfare, dairy science and technology, food hygiene and safety, food standards, dairy policies and economics, and marketing.  IDF can access specialists across the global dairy value chain and has already contributed substantial input to areas of direct relevance to this CFS work – e.g. environmentally sustainable nutrition, the FAO’s work on livestock GHG emissions and LCA methodology to name a few.  IDF is also a signatory to the global Dairy Sustainability Framework and has access to the work being undertaken in sustainability through all of its members.

The work undertaken by IDF involves a vast number of technical specialists and scientists globally.  This is a tremendous human resource combined with a comprehensive library of previous work and is one we would like to offer for the purposes of this HLPE initiative.

As the scope of the project is broad, IDF is extremely well positioned to support the work of the HLPE. IDF has already supported the nomination of four experts with diverse backgrounds from three continents. In addition we would like to propose providing access to wider resources and potential consensus positions from the global dairy sector through a nominated IDF representative, who could collate IDF’s input during the report drafting process.

The nominated individual is Ms Laurence Rycken, MSc Nutrition (IDF staff). Her contact details are available from the email address used in the submission form.

As an initial comment on the draft scope (2a), we would like to advocate a food-based rather than nutrient-based approach when addressing nutrient deficiencies, obesity and chronic diseases related to nutrition.

We look forward to collaborating with you in this important work and trust you will accept IDF’s nominated contact point and include Laurence in the development of the report so that IDF can provide input at appropriate times.