Dr. Modibo TraoréAssistant Director General

Agriculture and Consumer Protection

The role of the agriculture sector in nutrition Narrowing the: “nutrition gap” Helping vulnerable households Direct nutrition interventions Nutrition-sensitive development Nutrition - an added value: new initiatives

It produces food : ◦ Production/Management of biodiversity◦ Processing and storage◦ Marketing and distribution◦ …and contributes to its preparation (access to water

and bioenergy) It provides jobs and generates income: it

contributes directly or indirectly to the livelihoods of a significant part of the world’s population (subsistence agriculture, agriculture labourers, informal food sector)

It is a key determinant of food consumption

Diets are often low in quantity, quality and variety ( hunger and micro-nutrient deficiencies)

Increased production of staple foods is not sufficient

We must ensure local availability of the right mix of foods in all seasons

Consumers must be informed Collaboration must be established with social

protection programmes to support the poorest

Identifying vulnerable livelihood groups◦ Crisis-affected (natural disasters, conflicts, HIV/AIDS)

◦ Poor and food insecure (rural and urban)

Understanding the causes of malnutrition: food, health and care

Ensuring inter-sectoral collaboration for integrated support

Assessing the impact of interventions

Helping families with malnourished children:◦ Improving food availability (quantity, diversity, safety)

◦ Increasing income◦ Saving time for women

Example of direct interventions: Improved homestead food production Small-scale food processing

Enabling families to make informed decisions and improve food practices (in particular improved complementary feeding)

Linking with the health sector

Mainstreaming nutrition in food and agriculture policies and programmes

Implementing local, national and regional food and nutrition security strategies

Ensuring the progressive realization of the right to food

Key challenges: ◦ Feed 9 billion people in 2050◦ Manage rising food prices ◦ Adapt to climate change

We cannot deal with complexity without inter-sectoral collaboration at all levels

Nutrition is the perfect entry point: ◦ for gender◦ for poverty alleviation◦ to accelerate progress towards the MDGs◦ …but also for inter-disciplinary collaboration

We must work with partners: ◦ UN Standing Committee on Nutrition◦ REACH (Renewed Efforts Against Child Hunger)◦ Nutrition Cluster

SUN, a decisive process: ◦ in terms of advocacy ◦ to accelerate country action

Healthy people...in healthy environments

Biodiversity and Sustainable DietsFAO, Rome, 3-5 November 2010

International Symposium on Food and Nutrition Security: Food-Based Approaches for Improving Diets and Raising Levels of Nutrition, FAO, Rome, 7-9 December 2010