FAO statement at HLPF 2023 – Small Island Developing States From recovery to resilience in the face of multiple shocks

Food security in SIDS is a priority for FAO and it requires coordinating efforts from different stakeholders, at both the local and international level.

FAO is supporting SIDS to build back better and achieve better production, better nutrition, better environment and a better life, which are the basis of FAO’s new strategic framework to ensure MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, thereby combating hunger, malnutrition, poverty and inequality.

Among these are existing partnerships, such as FAO’s Hand-in-Hand, Digital Villages and One Country One Product initiatives that can help SIDS to strengthen linkages between farmers, processors, and retailers to create opportunities for smallholders to participate in higher-value markets and improve their income.

Loss and Damage is also a major issue. People dependent on the agrifood sector are often hardest hit by climate impacts. Any financing mechanism on loss and damage must put them at the center. FAO is keenly following the discussions on the proposed Loss and Damage Fund under the UNFCCC and stands ready to support SIDS to access funds for their agrifood systems when the fund is operational.

At the just concluded FAO High-Level Ministerial Event Transforming agrifood systems to achieve the 2030 Agenda: Harnessing the potential of Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries”, FAO together with Ministers from SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs discussed concrete solutions to accelerate the transformation of their agrifood systems.

Delegates requested that the outcome of the event be shared at relevant upcoming fora, including the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment, the 2023 SDG Summit and preparatory meetings for the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, to ensure that agrifood system transformation is a priority in the process of preparing a new programme of action for SIDS.

The meeting proposed the establishment of a Ministerial network for SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs, with technical support from FAO, to share experiences and collectively build resilience to climate change, resilience to food insecurity, the Blue Transformation roadmap, and secure investments to scale-up transformation of agrifood systems through means of implementation such as the:

The Hand-in-Hand Initiative;

The One Country One Priority Product Initiative;

The Green Cities Initiative;

The Blue Transformation Roadmap; and

Innovative Climate Financing, including the Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Facility.