Mountain people among the world’s hungriest as biodiversity loss and climate change take their toll

Mountains host about half of the global biodiversity hotspots and are home to a growing number of the world's hungriest people, according to a new study launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and partners to mark International Mountain Day 2020.
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Small Island Developing State leaders join FAO Director-General to explore pathways to resilience

“SIDS are particularly vulnerable to a host of threats and COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated their challenges,” FAO's Director-General said at a high-level event organized by the FAO Liaison Office in Brussels.
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FAO calls for anticipatory action in support of agriculture to give relief and hope to households in crises

Timely and robust actions can reduce hunger as a result of crises, and that’s truer than ever in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, participants in the High-Level pledging event for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the second-largest donor to FAO’s humanitarian programme, heard.
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Leveraging trade to end hunger

Policy makers and senior FAO officers today discussed the importance of food and agricultural trade for ending global hunger, seeking to identify critical trade-offs at an online inter-sessional event of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP).
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UNICEF Nutrition Strategy 2020–2030: Nutrition, for Every Child

The UNICEF Nutrition Strategy 2020–2030: Nutrition, for Every Child outlines UNICEF’s strategic intent to support national governments and partners in upholding children’s right to nutrition, and ending malnutrition in all its forms over the next decade.

Today, at least one in three children is not growing well because of malnutrition. New forces are driving the nutrition situation of children – globalization, urbanization, inequities, environmental crises, health epidemics and humanitarian emergencies – posing critical challenges to feeding children sustainably today and for generations to come.

Yet there is reason to be optimistic.

Since 2000, the proportion of children under 5 suffering from stunting has declined by one third and the number of children with stunting has dropped by 55 million. While there are important challenges ahead, this achievement makes clear that a future without malnutrition is within our grasp.

To drive progress over the next decade, the Nutrition Strategy recommits to rights-based and context-specific programmes that are informed by evidence and innovation.

We expand our traditional focus on early childhood to middle childhood and adolescence. We renew our focus on preventing stunting, wasting and micronutrient deficiencies, while increasingly responding to the challenge of childhood overweight and obesity.

And we propose a systems approach to nutrition that strengthens the ability of five key systems – food, health, water and sanitation, education, and social protection – to deliver diets, services and practices that support adequate maternal and child nutrition.

The strategy builds on UNICEF’s past strategic guidance and programme experience, while embracing six strategic shifts to respond to the evolving face of child malnutrition:

  • An explicit focus on addressing child malnutrition in all its forms
  • A comprehensive life cycle approach to nutrition programming
  • A deliberate emphasis on improving diets, services and practices
  • A systems approach to maternal and child nutrition
  • A greater attention to private sector engagement
  • A universal vision and agenda relevant to all countries

UNICEF Nutrition Strategy 2020–2030: Nutrition, for Every Child 

Summary

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4th International Conference on Global Food Security

7-9 December 2020 - ONLINE: Live and on-demand

Pre-conference mini-symposia on 4 December 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create so much uncertainty, the in-person 4th International Conference on Global Food Security that was scheduled for 6-9 December 2020 in Montpellier, France has been canceled.

The 4th International Conference on Global Food Security Online will take place as a live-streamed and interactive event 7-9 December 2020, 12:00-18:00 CET, with pre-conference mini-symposia on 4 December 2020, 12:00-18:00 CET.

Register now to participate in an interactive conference experience direct from your desktop or mobile device: live-stream presentations and take part in discussion through live chat and Q&A.

Register here

 

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FAO governing Council approves new private sector engagement strategy

In the final report adopted unanimously, Members noted that the Strategic Framework "builds on the momentum and harmonized transformations already taking place in the Organization, including structural reforms, the Hand-In-Hand Initiative and FAO's COVID-19 Response and Recovery Programme."
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World Soil Day highlights the role of soil biodiversity in boosting food production and nutrition

Soil organisms play a crucial role in boosting food production, enhancing nutritious diets, preserving human health, remediating polluted sites and combating climate change, but their contribution remains largely underestimated, FAO said today in its report on “The State of Knowledge of Soil Biodiversity”.
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World Soil Day Global Cerimony

4 December 2020 | 13:00-14:30 CET
Register here

World Soil Day (WSD) is held annually on 5 December as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocating for the sustainable management of soil resources.

This year's campaign, "Keep soil alive, Protect soil biodiversity" urges us to focus our attention on the workers belowground - from tiny bacteria to agile millipedes and slimy earthworms - all of which contribute to processes that are indispensable to life on Earth.

The WSD ceremony will be held virtually on 4 December with the participation of Mr Qu Dongyu  - FAO Director-General, Ms Elizabeth Maruma Mrema (tbc) - Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity and thousands of soil fans. The winners of the Glinka prize and King Bhumibol WSD award will be announced during the celebration. An interactive quiz will challenge your knowledge of soil biodiversity.

More info available here

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International Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture can bring huge benefits to the sector, high-level panel says

The Director-General spoke at the High-Level Dialogue on the Establishment of the International Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture, an online event FAO hosted to discuss the digital world’s opportunities for agri-food systems with policy makers, farmers’ representatives, business managers and technology companies.
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FAO Food Price Index rises sharply

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 105.0 points during the month, up 3.9 percent from October and 6.5 percent higher than its value a year earlier.
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FAO Director-General cites inclusiveness, market access and innovations as key to food security in the COVID-19 context

Ensuring the free movement of food across the world and well-functioning markets has been a central pillar of the global response to COVID-19 pandemic but difficulties with access to food at national level still remain, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said today at a high-level panel discussion.
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