25 November, 2020/Rome –Global leaders called today for an urgent action to transform agri-food systems to make them more sustainable & resilient in the face of COVID-19 pandemic & other crises, & ensure that everyone has access to affordable, healthy & nutritious food. The discussion took place at a Special Seminar on Food & Nutrition, organized by FAO, entitled Urgent call for agri-food systems transformation to achieve healthy diets for all.

The keynote speakers included FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands & United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development; Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of the Belgians & SDG Advocate; Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand; Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, African Union (AU) Commissioner; Cecilia Morel, First Lady of Chile; & Maria Juliana Ruiz, First Lady of Colombia.

In his opening remarks, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu highlighted that solidarity, urgency & action were three crucial elements needed to achieve progress in transforming agri-food systems towards healthier diets. FAO estimates that more than 1.5 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet that meets the required levels of essential nutrients & 3 billion people cannot even afford the cheapest healthy diet.

“The resources – intellectual, financial & material – are not lacking, but unless we are well-organized & coordinated, the probability is that we will be too late & too ineffective for too many people in the Least Developed Countries, the Land-Locked Developing Countries & the Small Island Developing States”, he noted.

The Director-General stressed that actions should be taken not only towards improving production, but also creating conditions for people to consume healthy foods, which requires integrated actions by all stakeholders at local, national, regional, & global levels, & across multiple fronts – not only in agriculture, but also in many other sectors such as trade, health, environment, education & infrastructure.

He singled out three critical drivers:

(i) supporting countries, especially the least developed ones, to strengthen their resilience, first & foremost through increased investment;

(ii) shifting agricultural policies towards  sustainable production of more healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables & fish, as well as aquaculture products, rather than high quantities of staple foods like rice, wheat, & maize;

(iii) implementing innovations & digital technologies in agri-food systems to increase agricultural productivity sustainably & integrate smallholders into markets.

QU also highlighted the importance of food loss & waste reduction as the key element “that will allow us to improve food security & nutrition, improve the use of natural resources, & reduce environmental pressures”.

High-level participants

In her address, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands noted that many smallholder farmers were not well connected to value chains & had limited knowledge about options to access financial services, highlighting the great potential of new technologies & innovations in supporting better agricultural finance & nutrition outcomes.

For her part, Queen Mathilde of Belgium stressed that in many rural societies in developing countries women were key players in food production & processing & main agents of family well-being. However, their rights to land & financial resources remain limited & their nutrition needs are often neglected. She called for greater consideration for women’s work, better mutual respect & better division of labour to correct these injustices.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand in her video address reminded the audience that approximately one-third of food produced for human consumption was lost or wasted globally every year, adversely affecting food security, nutrition, well-being, livelihood, global economy, & the environment. She called for strategies & actions to reduce food loss & waste to be urgently implemented throughout the food value chain at all levels from individual household to community, national & global levels involving farmers, food processors, food services & businesses.

AU Commissioner Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko said that COVID-19 had exposed the fragility of the African food systems in accessing safe & nutritious food at affordable price. At the same time, she noted that COVID-19 also gave us an opportunity to “build back better & greener”.  This, however, requires deploying more scientific innovation, reducing post-harvest loss, investment in research as well as creating opportunities for young people & women in agri-food systems, she added.

In her remarks, the First Lady of Chile, Cecilia Morel stressed the need to address the problem of overweight & obesity that is leading to increasing levels of non-communicable diseases & an increasing burden on our healthcare systems. To this end, she underscored the need for public policies promoting the consumption of fruits & vegetables with a focus on access of the most vulnerable populations to healthy foods.

The First Lady of Colombia, Maria Juliana Ruiz in her video address stated that in order to tackle the multiple challenges posed by the pandemic, hunger, malnutrition & food insecurity, we needed urgent action & a solidarity-based approach to transform our agri-food systems that is also aimed at achieving  sustainability, which must go hand in hand with fulfilling 2030 Agenda’s commitments.

Panel of experts

The event also included three different technical panels of experts.

FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero delivered one of the keynote speeches & stressed that “we need to link recovery plans with catalytic investments & investment with significant returns on reduction of undernourishment to achieve SDG 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger) & 10 (Reduced Inequalities).”

Panellists agreed that the impacts of COVID-19 on agri-food systems have been so damaging because they are not functional, & this needs to be addressed at all levels.

The panelists also highlighted the need to put the problem of healthy diets high on the political agenda & cited a shift of public procurement policies towards healthier products & subsidizing the production of healthy food as possible political incentives. Another aspect mentioned was raising awareness among consumers about the impacts of unbalanced diets on their health & well-being.

Time to take action

In his closing remarks, the FAO Director-General called on participants to move from discussions to implementing policies & taking concrete actions. He alluded to the importance of political commitment & reinforced the need of working together by breaking silos & designing strategies more holistically, involving all key stakeholders such as NGOs, civil society, academia & the private sector.

He also mentioned the importance of increasing production, while developing a green economy, providing access to training, education & applied science as well as empowering women & youth as key elements of achieving agri-food systems transformation, highlighting that decisions should be taken based on science & evidence.

The video recording of the Special Seminar on Food & Nutrition is available here.