To whom it may concern,
Many thanks for sharing the zero draft of the HLPE report on ‘Agroecological approaches and other innovations for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition’. I appreciate the opportunity to feed in at this stage and I am happy to share the comments bellow:
- The words ‘food security’ and ‘nutrition’ are used interchangeably throughout the report. It is fundamental that nuances associated with both issues are reflected in the report, especially as the impact of agroecology on food security may differ from its impact on nutrition. For example increased income can lead to better food security, but not to better nutrition, yet this does not transpire from the current text. While attention is currently mostly put on the food security element, the purpose of the report is to equally address both issue: more attention on the nutrition element is needed to achieve this.
- Section 1.2.2 should be focusing on the linkages between agroecology and food security and nutrition, yet the focus is specifically on food security (See table 1). It is important to separately highlight the nutrition element and to what extent agroecology principles can affect nutrition; this is an area that would significantly benefit from improved evidence and an area that the report must address (beyond a case study).
- The analysis of the NSA section needs to be strengthened. On the one hand the session appears reductive to child nutrition, on the other the different NSA approaches are not equally explored: for example, it would be interesting to focus more on NSA approaches that are replicable and can be use in larger scale farming (but not necessarily value chain approaches). In terms of women’s empowerment some attention is required to address tradeoffs and possible negative implications, especially for nutrition; this is an area in which there is extensive literature.
- The framing around reducing food losses and waste remains unclear; it would be interesting to link actions to reduce food losses and waste to a food systems approach – which is not currently highlighted. Additionally, the relation between food losses and waste and sustainable value chains approaches shall be explored.
- It is important to also start thinking about measurement and indicators to truly demonstrate impact.
We look forward to the next steps of the report development.
Regards,
Anna
Anna De Palma | Livelihoods Adviser (DESA) | Nutrition Team | Human Development Department | Department for International Development | 22 Whitehall, London SW1A 2EG | Mobile: +44 (0) 7917 174473; ECHO: 835 1203 | Email: [email protected]
Anna De Palma