6 May, 2016: A ministerial roundtable of European and Central Asian members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) discussed the implications of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for agriculture and rural development in their region.
Ministers emphasized that implementing the SDGs in the agricultural sector requires the integration of three principles in the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food, namely: “resilience to changes in food demand patterns and adverse effects of climate change; fundamental rights and decent livelihoods for people working in the food system; and the management of natural resources in ways that have minimal environmental impact.”
Held as part of the 30th session of the FAO Regional Conference for Europe (ERC 30), the Ministerial Roundtable provided a forum to discuss how FAOs regional initiatives and priorities in 2016-2017 and beyond can be implemented in line with the SDGs. The discussion was based on a document outlining regional challenges and drivers of change likely to impact SDG implementation, such as rural livelihoods and rural poverty, farm structure, sustainability of production and food systems, food security and malnutrition, and trade.
The document describes how the FAO Strategic Framework aligns with the SDGs and outlines the role of authorities responsible for agriculture, fisheries and forestry in setting national targets for SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) as well as targets under other Goals, including: SDG 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all); SDG 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all); SDG 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns); SDG 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development); and SDG 15 (Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss).
Ministers discussed, among other issues, how development of the agriculture sector can contribute to multiple SDGs such as ensuring employment, equal wages and decent living conditions for agricultural workers, in particular in countries of the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
ERC 30 also discussed how to facilitate the implementation of the 2016 International Year of Pulses in the Region, taking into account SDG 2. Other items on the agenda included the state of, and future directions for, FAOs regional priority initiatives, in particular efforts to empower smallholders and family farms and improving the agriculture and food-trade policy environment for small and medium-sized operations.
ERC member States further decided to strengthen collaboration among FAO country offices in the region, and called on FAO to support the sustainable intensification of agriculture in the region while increasing resilience to climate change through FAO’s ‘Save and Grow’ initiative which focuses on ecosystem-based and climate-smart agriculture.
The Conference was preceded by two days of consultations with civil society organizations that adopted a position statement stressing the importance of agroecology and access to natural resources, local markets and decent work in the agriculture sector.
The FAO Committee on World Food Security (CFS) hosted a regional dialogue on responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources during which participants discussed how the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests are being applied in different national contexts.
The biennial FAO Regional Conferences are official forums where Ministers of Agriculture and other high-level officials from member States meet to discuss the special challenges in a region and the priority areas that should be taken into account in preparing the biennial Programme of Work and budget, as well as longer-term programmatic objectives for the region. ERC 30 was held 4-6 May 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. [FAO Press Release on Conference Opening] [ERC 30 Website] [FAO Press Release on Ministerial Roundtable] [FAO Press Release on Conference Closing] [The SDGs and their implications for agriculture and rural development in Europe and Central Asia region]