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SUMMARY OF THE ONLINE DISCUSSION Discussion No. 113  from 23 March to 17 April 2015 www.fao.org/fsnforum/forum/discussions/climate-change-and-fsn

Climate change and food security and nutrition About this online discussion This document summarizes the online discussion Climate change and food security and nutrition, held on FAO’s Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum) from 23 March to 17 April 2015. Over the four weeks of discussion, 79 contributions were shared by FSN Forum members from 26 countries.

This discussion was part of the online learning event Climate Change, Food Security and Nutrition, organized jointly by the Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture Programme (MICCA) of FAO and the FSN Forum. The exchange was facilitated by Florence Egal, former FAO senior Food Security, Nutrition and Livelihoods officer, active affiliate of the Rome-based Climate Study Circle, and member of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition Climate Change and Nutrition egroup. This summary was also compiled by Florence, then reviewed and finalized by FAO’s technical team.

The aim of this discussion was to gain a better understanding of the impact that climate change has on the food security and nutrition of millions of people, and to identify possible measures to protect and/or improve nutrition. The topic introduction, questions proposed, and contributions received are available on the discussion page: http://bit.ly/fsn-forum-cc-fsnutrition-consultation.

Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition

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Climate change and food security and nutrition

Connections between climate change and food security and nutrition The challenge Addressing climate change and improving food security and nutrition are two closely interlinked issues that would benefit from being dealt with simultaneously.

But policy agendas are presently disjointed, with separate financing, often from the same donors, for policies on agriculture, nutrition, health, and climate change mitigation. By and large, consumers are not aware of the implications that their food choices have on livelihoods and the environment; they are considered to be merely passive recipients or customers.

Conventional agriculture often has a large environmental impact and is not prepared to deal with climatic changes. The policies and institutions currently struggling to solve poverty and other issues causing food insecurity are increasingly inadequate. The present development model privileges economic issues, with no consideration of either socio-cultural dimensions or management of landscapes or ecosystems.

There is a persistent institutional bias of food and agriculture policies and practices towards international trade and specific commodities and species. Cost-effectiveness has been given priority in recent decades, resulting in investment being withdrawn from remote and upland areas. In addition, corruption remains an obstacle to sustainable development. Shift towards integrated and sustainable systems The contributors called for a shift in policy emphasis towards the promotion of sustainable, resilient and low-emission food systems. It was also recommended to discourage production practices that deplete and contaminate the water supply, destroy native ecosystems, and undermine health and nutrition. The public sector urgently needs to adopt a rights-based approach, reinvest in smart advisory services, and focus on smallholders. Support to family agriculture and to women in particular was also deemed necessary. The promotion of traditional foods and species, coupled with efforts to reduce food loss and waste, will contribute to more healthy ecosystems and populations.

Such a shift will entail a series of institutional challenges. Addressing both climate change and food security and nutrition in an integrated manner will require both a multidisciplinary approach and a dynamic process of innovation that engages all actors. Integrated watershed management, for example, is an area where multisectoral collaboration is a necessity. Policy makers, civil society, the private sector, development partners and researchers must work together to increase local effectiveness and to build leadership, cooperation and coordination at the community and neighbourhood level. Interdisciplinary teams, participatory planning, multisectoral information, and impact assessment systems will also be needed. Particular attention should be given to ensuring that policy-setting processes acknowledge social impacts and avoid being dominated by commercial interests. Successful solutions to existing problems can be found in traditional food systems, and these could be adapted to other contexts and combined with the latest knowledge, for example on expected climatic changes. Multidisciplinary research teams should therefore concentrate on generating practice-based evidence. Collaboration between local health and agriculture extension workers has proven essential to successful community-level strategies.

It is time to promote sustainable food systems that include common property resource Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition


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management.

The climate-smart agriculture approach is part of sustainable agriculture. Agriculture must also nurture healthy ecosystems that can provide the services we need.

Several contributors said that it is time to shift away from monoculture to locally specific, lowcost, low-risk agro-ecological systems, which can include agroforestry and other integrated food systems. It is important to revive and propagate indigenous varieties that are drought and disease resistant, and that contribute to healthier diets.

The production of organic food should be encouraged – in particular through more affordable certification processes. There is a need to make both the production and consumption of livestock products more sustainable and resource efficient in order to improve diets, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water contamination, and enhance biodiversity. Education in locally relevant agricultural practices that increase carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve productivity, and produce healthy foods in season should also be a priority.

Local institutions, producers and civil society must be jointly engaged in and responsible for the management of water resources and the protection and conservation of environmental services (forests and aquatic ecosystems). Efforts should be made to substitute wood and fossil fuels with renewable sources, such as solar and bioenergy, in the production, processing, and preparation of foods. Markets and consumers – sustainability throughout the food system Priority should be given to reviving local and regional agricultural markets. Markets are where consumers come and buy food from producers they know and trust, but they are also essential to social exchanges, community cohesion and local culture.

Processors and retailers should be encouraged to align their practices with public health and environmental goals. Trade policies and subsidies all along the food chain (from production to consumption) should be revisited, and corporations should be held accountable to the principles of sustainability and human rights.

Last but not least, consumers have a key role to play in addressing the issues of climate change and food security and nutrition. Awareness raising and training of local institutions will be key for the promotion of sustainable diets that are not only healthy and safe, but also compatible with sustainable environmental management, social equity, and decent employment.

It is essential that food security and nutrition remain on the agenda of the Climate Talks and that relevant recommendations of the 2nd International Conference of Nutrition be integrated.



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