13 February 2017: Kostas Stamoulis, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), briefed UN Member States and stakeholders on how FAO is supporting countries to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The technical briefing focused on the interdependencies between eradicating extreme poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition, with a particular focus on the role played by agriculture and rural development and the opportunities presented by linking productive support and social protection.
The briefing took place on 13 February 2017, at UN Headquarters in New York, US. Moderator Carla Mucavi, FAO Liaison Office in New York, reminded participants that chronic hunger continues to affect about 800 million people globally. She said economic growth is not enough, and that tackling malnutrition is not only about increasing food production but also about: strengthening social protection so people can have access to healthy food; building resilient food systems; and increasing access to markets.
People who are undernourished cannot break the poverty cycle, and people who are poor are precisely those who remain undernourished.
Stamoulis said two billion people suffer from some sort of malnutrition, whether micro- or macro-nutrient deficiency or obesity. He noted that 80% of world’s poverty and hunger is concentrated in rural areas in developing countries, and most of the people affected work in agriculture. He explained that people who are undernourished cannot break the poverty cycle, while people who are poor are precisely those who remain undernourished. Stamoulis identified a series of recommendations to address the interconnections between SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 2 (zero hunger): focus on the rural space; promote the sustainable productivity of agricultural resources; ensure access to productive resources along the value chain; enhance social protection for long term benefits; and consider a holistic approach to development, which integrates the food system and the territory.
Outlining FAO’s support for the SDG implementation at the global, regional and national levels, Stamoulis said that at the global level, FAO provides norms, standards and data for a variety of intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder processes. At the regional level, the Organization supports the design and implementation of regional initiatives, and and at the national level, FAO: provides support to national ‘Zero Hunger’ initiatives; builds enabling environments for policies and programmes to achieve transformative change on food security and nutrition; and mobilizes means of implementation through South-South, North-South, and triangular cooperation.
On SDG targets and indicator, Stamoulis said FAO has incorporated 53 of the SDG indicators into the Country Programming Framework (CPF) results matrix, aligned the CPFs with national SDG targets, and assumed custodial responsibility for data on 21 SDG indicators and co-responsibility on other five.
Francisco Tenya, Permanent Representative of Peru, stressed the need to integrate traditional knowledge with modern techniques and to transition to sustainable consumption and production patterns (SCP). Zachary Bleicher, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), noted that investments need to be targeted to rural areas to drive not only growth, but also the broader and deeper economic and social growth that is defined as inclusive and sustainable rural transformation. He said IFAD’s Strategic Framework 2016-2025 outlines how the Fund will contribute to Agenda 2030, including through three strategic objectives: increase the productive capacity of poor rural people; increase their benefits from market participation; and strengthen the environmental sustainability and climate resilience of their economic activities. [Event Concept Note] [Meeting Webcast] [IISD Sources]