FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (NENA) and the Secretariat of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), organized the 4th Regional Multi-stakeholder Workshop on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN), which was held during 28-29 April, 2015, in Amman, Jordan.
The workshop was held in collaboration with World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Bureau for Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, and under the Patronage of H.E. The Prime Minister of Jordan Dr. Abdullah Ensour and with the participation of several Ambassadors/Permanent Representatives of the Near East Group to the Rome Based Agencies.
Partners from the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) Thematic Working Group* (TWG) on Food Security and Nutrition , United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the League of Arab States (LAS), and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) among others were also in Amman during this two day workshop. The event has become an important platform for policy dialogue that provides opportunity to Member Countries, donors, Financial Institutions, Regional Organizations, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Private Sector, UN System, Academia and Research Institutions, and other participants to discuss FSN.
The workshop provided a platform where participants discussed food security and nutrition challenges in the region and, proposed solutions which will feed into the global processes through the annual sessions of Committee on World Food Security (CFS). Mechanisms for greater coordination at the regional and national levels for the overarching goal of food and nutrition security were also discussed.
Topics of particular importance discussed this year included the impact of growing regional instability due to conflict, civil insecurity, and protracted crises; the role of social protection and the important role of evidence-based policy making for food and nutrition security. “The ongoing conflicts/instability in many parts of the region continue to affect social, economic, political, and environmental dimensions, and will have a lasting impact on regional food security and nutrition as well as the region’s long-term development” says Mohamed Aw-Dahir, FAO’s Regional Food Systems Economist in the NENA region. A ‘Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises’ (which is to be endorsed at CFS 42 in October 2015), and the framework’s policy, programming, and monitoring implications were also under discussion this year.
The participants also discussed ‘the ICN2 (Second International Conference on Nutrition) Declaration’ and its accompanying action plan (endorsed in November 2014) to achieve nutrition security in the region; the principles for responsible investment and their implementations from the perspectives of Regional Institutions and countries in the region. Another topic of interest was the regional food losses and waste reduction strategies.
Several recommendations from past workshop were also highlighted as having been implemented. Among this year’s key recommendations were the following:
o As recent research has shown, food insecurity is one of the causes of conflict in Arab countries. Policy-makers and development actors need to better take into account the complexity and triggers of ongoing conflicts and associated FSN problems, as a crucial element of policy and strategic decision-making.
o Governments need to engage with all the relevant ministries (which may include the ministries of Agriculture, Health, Planning, and Education, among others) for joint implementation of ICN2 commitments in nutrition.
o Governments should give priority to creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems through policy reforms, public investment in infrastructure to facilitate market access, safeguarding of tenure rights, including in times of conflict.
o Member countries and stakeholders should intensify regional networking as a mechanism for knowledge, experience, best practice and data and information exchange, and to consolidate efforts and track progress for food loss and waste reduction. A promising example is the online Arab Spatial Food and Nutrition Security Analyzer initiative, which features tools and an expert blog.
The significant role of the dialogue and exchange among region’s stakeholders was acknowledged repeatedly during the workshop, with a remark on the inevitability of transforming recommendations to effective actions in order to achieve improved food security and better nutrition.
All the background documents, presentations and reference materials of the workshop are available online
- The Thematic Working Group (TWG) on Food Security and Nutrition is a network of organizations advancing food security policy dialogue as part of the League of Arab States (LAS) and UN’s Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) in the region.
