Hello to all FSN Forums members and thanks to facilitators for the opportunity to comment on the GEF's forthcoming program.
The Program's website indicates: "..we must transform our agrifood systems to supply more people with healthier and nutritious food, while conserving and restoring our ecosystems and natural resources". The GEF-8 Program document (https://www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/GEF-8_Programming_Di…) indicates that it ..."addresses the role of diets, nutrition and hunger as drivers of food system impact by promoting engagement with relevant stakeholders from across the supply chain, and aligning its mandate with other diverse platforms and programs focused on dietary shifts, and nutrition and hunger."
Given the rationale, both the TOC and RFW would need to translate the stipulated goals into actions and results. To that extent, the TOC provides inclusion of an outcome of ..."generating a critical mass of sustainably produced food" and the RFW, Pathway 3 includes Indicator 3.3. "number of people benefiting from sustainably produced food". While it is critical that GEFP focus foods are produced sustainably, one needs to remain acutely aware that those are extremely low-nutrient value foods (the energy-dense/staple foods: wheat, maize, rice, and commercial/ high-added value crops (coffee, palm oil, cacao). Their sustainable production will do much for an improved environment but will not solve the current undernutrition, including, "hidden (micronutrients) hunger", and could not provide for affordable, healthy diets, not lastly, because an increased income resulting from a more efficient agriculture usually leads to increased consumption of un-healthy, processed, industrially produced foods rather than healthy foods (Lancet GLobal Health 2015, doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70381-X) and unless food environments are regulated to promote healthy foods or direct policy action is taken to combine economic development programs with policy approaches to improve diets (BMJ Global Health doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000184). The foundational solution is the increased production, diversification and creation of value chains for high nutrient -content crops (beans, legumes, green& yellow vegetables, biofortified varieties) as well as eggs, small fish, etc.
With these in mind, the inclusion of provisions for an enabling environment for sustainable production of high-nutrient content plant& animal-based foods would greatly enhanced the GEFP's impact for "healthier and nutritious foods".
With thanks and kind regards, Lilia Turcan
السيدة Lilia Turcan