17 July 2017: The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and Bioversity International have launched reports on improving food security and nutrition (FSN). The CFS report discusses the role of trees and forests, while Bioversity focuses on the contributions of agrobiodiversity to reducing hunger while meeting other basic service needs and development priorities.

The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) launched the report titled, ‘Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition,’ at the 2017 meeting of the Committee on World Food Security. The HLPE is the science-policy interface of the CFS. The publication gives a holistic view of how forests and trees outside forests can support sustainable development, and FSN and highlights the synergies between forests and agriculture, among others.

Speaking on the publication, Semedo, FAO Deputy Director General, said that “if the world’s forests would be provided with the enabling conditions described in the seven major recommendations of the report, the impact on FSN, would be considerable, especially for rural people, in particular for women, youth and Indigenous Peoples.”

The report recommends: developing and using policy-relevant knowledge on the contributions of forests and trees to FSN; enhancing the role of forests in environmental processes without compromising the right of forest-dependent people to adequate food; supporting the contributions of forests to improve livelihoods and economies; promoting multifunctional landscapes that integrate forests and trees; strengthening the role of forests and trees in enhancing resilience at the landscape, community and household levels; recognizing and respecting land and natural resource tenure and use rights over forests and trees; and strengthening inclusive forest governance systems across sectors and scales that enable the participation of all relevant stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and local communities. According to a FAO press release, such efforts will contribute to advancing a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 15 (life on land) and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth).

Agricultural biodiversity can be used to diversify diets, production systems, and seeds and planting materials, safeguarding them for future use.

Also focused on improving FSN, Bioversity International’s 2016 Annual Report, subtitled, ‘Agricultural Biodiversity Nourishes People and Sustains the Planet,’ highlights agrobiodiversity’s role in achieving more sustainable food systems, and overcoming challenges such as malnutrition, climate change and degradation of ecosystem services. It describes how agricultural biodiversity can be used to diversify diets, production systems, and seeds and planting materials, safeguarding them for future use.

The report highlights the inaugural International Agrobiodiversity Congress, held in New Delhi, India, in November 2016, and the resulting Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management, which calls for urgent action to mainstream agricultural biodiversity for sustainable development. Bioversity International also initiated the development of an Agrobiodiversity Index, with support from the European Commission, to measure agrobiodiversity in conservation and seed systems through production and food consumption. The Index aims to promote more diverse and sustainable food systems, and to measure progress in attaining global goals and targets.

The report also discusses how employing and safeguarding agricultural biodiversity can deliver on multiple SDGs, including SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 15 (life on land) and SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals).

Bioversity is a member of the CGIAR System Organization. [FAO Press Release] [Extract from the CFS Report] [Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition] [Bioversity Annual Report Webpage] [Agrobiodiversity Index] [International Agrobiodiversity Congress Website] [Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management]