Business and SDG16: Contributing to Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies

Madam Chair,

 

FAO is grateful for the opportunity to participate in this event and would like to congratulate the Sustainable Development Goals Fund and its partners for launching such an important and particularly timely report.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

• After a prolonged decline over the last decade, the recently released report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017 (SOFI), shows alarming figures. The number of chronically undernourished people has increased from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016, for an additional 38 million people.
• Much of the recent increase in food insecurity can be traced to the greater number of conflicts, often exacerbated by climate-related shocks, which severely hamper our efforts to end hunger by 2030.
• 10 out of the 13 major food crises in the world today are in conflict affected countries. 
• As the FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, has quoted several times: “There can be no food security without peace, and no lasting peace without food security”.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

• Non-state actors play a fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 16. This includes the private sector, that can contribute technology, innovation, and investment needed to develop economies and promote sustainable development.
• FAO considers the Private Sector to be a key ally in the fight against hunger. Effective engagement with the private sector can help the fight against hunger and malnutrition by enhancing FAO’s work in agriculture, fishery, forestry, natural resource management, and the food value chain, from farmer to consumer.
• The link between productive development and peace is increasingly recognized in all spheres. And there is no productive development without the private sector.
• The private sector also plays an important role in politics, participating in debates around development models, state and economic reforms, investment and job creation. This means they have a potential bridging role among social groups to generate social, economic and political stability.
• Private sector investment and interventions in contexts vulnerable to conflict should pursue a transparent and deliberate approach supportive of rural infrastructure, community livelihoods and social institutions, while recognizing the often deeply fragile nature of the context. Connecting communities and supporting resilience engenders a longer-term economic environment conducive to sustainable private sector engagement.
• We know that agriculture is critical in conflict because agriculture is the main source of livelihood of an average of 80 percent of those affected by conflict. And three-quarters of chronically undernourished and those living in poverty are in rural areas. Food security and nutrition interventions and policies, therefore, have a role to play in contributing to and sustaining peace. 
• We see the role of business in contributing to peace, for example, in Colombia. Through a SDG Fund project, FAO, UNDP, UN Women, WFP is working with the government, private sector and social organizations to create opportunities for income-generation efforts for ex-combatants and victims of the violence.
• In Colombia and other countries the SDG Fund helps catalyse efforts to create productive development opportunities, bringing together different actors, including the private sector, to work together to address the challenges of poverty and hunger.
• FAO is involved in a number of programmes financed by the SDG Fund, including Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Vietnam.
• Projects range from aiming to create employment, improve livelihoods, and ensure better nutrition in a post-conflict setting, to integrated nutrition and food security strategies for children and vulnerable groups. Together with the private sector, we are working to create peaceful and inclusive societies for a better tomorrow.
• FAO’s Strategy for Partnerships with the Private Sector, revised in 2013, demonstrates FAO’s commitment to working hand in hand with the private sector, and explains the mutual benefits of collaboration. They can contribute, for example, to strengthened local agribusiness and creation of decent rural employment.
• Strong private sector participation is also important in the food security and nutrition policy dialogue at national and international levels. In the past, private sector was seen as a source of funding. Now it is considered as a partner and, as such, we need the private sector, civil society and other partners at the table when we discuss food security and nutrition and the way forward.
• Private companies can also complement governmental programmes, as well as programmes that FAO develops at local level, in order to boost markets. International, large and medium-size enterprises can provide support to local small and medium enterprises and other actors, strengthening national capacity and economic growth.
• This can be manifested through the equitable distribution of goods and services; enabling access to agriculture insurance; providing credit and financing opportunities; agricultural inputs; and improved production techniques, amongst others.
• How the private sector should engage is a question often asked. A key challenge is channelling private investments in a way that it contributes to sustainable development and its benefits are shared by a vast number of people.
• The Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems, endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security in 2014, identifies ways to reach these desired goals.
• Among other things, it notes that all stakeholders should play their role in resilience building and coordinate their efforts, in order to prevent or respond to shocks, disasters, crises and conflicts. They are encouraged to support the most vulnerable and promote targeted investment in food security and nutrition.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

• The report released today on Business and SDG 16, lays out in concrete terms why SDG 16 is relevant for the private sector and how businesses can contribute to peace through initiatives supporting justice.
• With conflict and hunger so deeply interlinked, there are no shortages in ways that the private sector can contribute to the agricultural sector, to support livelihoods, help to prevent conflict and promote peaceful and inclusive societies.
• No one organization or government can eradicate hunger and reduce poverty alone. This needs to be a joint effort and the private sector is an important partner.
• Thank you for your attention.