Attachments
Note by the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit a report on the main decisions and policy recommendations of the Committee on World Food Security.
Report on the main decisions and policy recommendations of the Committee on World Food Security
Introduction
1. The present report responds to Economic and Social Council decision 2011/217, in which the Council invited the Chair of the Committee on World Food Security to transmit to the Council every year, a report on the main decisions and policy recommendations made and the results achieved by the Committee in the area of food security and nutrition, in accordance with its roles and vision. More information regarding the roles and vision of the Committee can be found in documents A/66/76-E/2011/102 and A/65/73-E/2010/51. This report describes the main outcomes of, and decisions taken by the Committee at, its forty-third session, held in October 2016, and, where relevant, provides updates on follow-up action. The final report of the forty-third session is available at http://www.fao.org/3/ a-ms023e.pdf. The forty-fourth session of the Committee will be held from 9 to 13 October 2017.
Main decisions, recommendations and results
Connecting smallholders to markets
2. The policy recommendations on connecting smallholders to markets, which were endorsed at the forty-third session of the Committee, are based on existing evidence and aim at encouraging good policies and practices. They recognize that Governments have an essential role to play in addressing smallholders’ specific constraints and maximizing the potential for beneficial access to reliable and remunerative markets. The recommendations, if implemented, are expected to play a decisive role in ensuring that smallholders can continue to contribute to global food production and their own food security and in supporting efforts by Governments to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (General Assembly resolution 70/1).
3. These recommendations:
• Recognize the importance of local and domestic food markets for smallholders and the need to strengthen data-collection systems with regard to these types of markets to better inform public policies
• Highlight the potential role that smallholders can play in international markets, and the financial and capacity-building opportunities as well as the challenges within the context of the standards to be met and the conditions to be faced
• Stress the importance of smallholders in creating stronger linkages between consumers and the source of food production
• Recognize the need for initiatives that address the constraints faced by women and youth, by promoting opportunities and facilitating their access to resources
4. The Committee encourages all stakeholders to disseminate, make use of and support the application of these recommendations when formulating strategies, policies and programmes designed to strengthen the linkages between smallholders and markets.
5. The Committee requests the General Assembly, through the Economic and Social Council, to consider, endorse and ensure the wide dissemination of these recommendations to all relevant United Nations organizations and agencies.
Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition: what are the roles for livestock?
6. In 2016, the Committee’s High-level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition presented a report entitled “Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition: what roles for livestock?”. The report served as the basis for a policy discussion which led to the elaboration of policy recommendations. Those recommendations, which were endorsed by the Committee at its plenary session, are contained in the final report of the forty-third session of the Committee.
7. The aim of the recommendations is to strengthen the contribution of the livestock sector to sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition and to contribute to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, within the overall context of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while recognizing the essential role of smallholders in achieving food security and nutrition.