Towards Sustainable Food
Systems,
FAO's Perspectives
Sandro Dernini,
Sustainable Food Systems Programme, FAO
EUROPEAN FOOD
SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION & PRODUCTION
ROUND TABLE
20 November 2013, Brussels
FAO/UNEP Sustainable Food
Systems Programme (SFSP)
• The SFSP was established in 2011,
with the support of the Government
of Switzerland, with the aim to
improve resource use efficiency and
reduce the pollution intensity of food
systems, from production to
consumption, while addressing issues
of food and nutrition security
FAO/UNEP Sustainable Food
Systems Programme (SFSP)
• The FAO/UNEP Agri-food Task Force-SCP of SFSP
(established in 2010) brings together a broad
coalition of concerned stakeholders:
– Barbados, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, India,
Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Marocco, Netherlands, New
Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom,
United States of America, European Commission,
Consumers International, European Food SCP
Roundtable, ICTSD, ISEAL Alliance, IUCN, Sustainable
Agriculture Initiative, South Centre, WBCSD, WWF,
Fertilizer Association, Action Contre la Faim, FAO,
UNCTAD, UNDESA, UNIDO, UNEP
FAO/UNEP Sustainable Food
Systems Programme (SFSP)
• Activity cluster:
Activity Cluster 1
Information sharing on SCP
in Agri-food
Activity Cluster 2
Consumer-related
Communications for SCP in
Agri-food
Activity Cluster 3
Create enabling conditions
for the uptake of SCP in
food systems
Activity Cluster 4
Market based approaches
for supply chains actors
SFSP Recent Activities
Towards Sustainable Food Systems
Multistakeholder Engagement for Action
World Food Day/Week
Conference held 18
October 2013 at FAO
headquarters, Rome
• Sessions:
– Food consumption as a driver
– Sustainable food production
– Improving food chain
efficiency
– Sustainable food systems:
ideas for action
Voluntary Standards for Sustainable Food
Systems: Challenges and Opportunities
Workshop held 10-11 June
2013 at FAO headquarters,
Rome
•
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•
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Overview of voluntary standards
Lessons from the field: projects
related to food voluntary standards
How to make sustainability
standards work for farmers and
small foo producers
What interest and role for the
private sector
How to make sustainability
standards for consumers
What is the role of national and
international public actors
Think.Eat.Save
• In January 2013, FAO, UNEP and partners
launched the Think.Eat.Save: a global
campaing to prevent and reduce food
waste, from consumers, retailers and
hospitality.
• Think.Eat.Save contributes to SAVE
FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and
Waste Reduction and to the UN SecretaryGeneral’s Zero Hunger Challenge.
UN Secretary-General’s
ZERO HUNGER CHALLENGE
• 100% access to adequate food all
year round
• Zero stunted children less than 2
years
• All food systems are sustainable
• 100% increase in smallholder
productivity and income
• Zero loss or waste of food
Development of Guidelines for
Sustainable Diets
•
FAO/CIHEAM discussion paper Towards
the Development of Guidelines for
Improving the Sustainability of Diets
and Food Consumption Patterns in the
Mediterranean Area.
•
CIHEAM/FAO, Feeding Knowledge
Project, White paper priority 5: Food
consumption patterns, diet,
environment, society, economy and
health. Expo 2015 Milan
Inclusion of the SFSP within
the 10YFP-SCP
• At the Fourth Meeting, the FAO-UNEP Agrifood Task Force (11-12 June 2013 at FAO
headquarters, Rome) agreed to move
forward to the inclusion of the SFSP
within the 10YFP-SCP, adopted at the
Rio+20 Conference
FAO Initiatives
Sustainability Assessment of Food
and Agriculture Systems (SAFA)
• An international
reference tool
• Defines the elements
of sustainability
–
–
–
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Good governance
Environment integrity
Economic resilience
Social well-being
Sustainability Assessment of Food
and Agriculture Systems (SAFA)
• SAFA results
presented through a
polygon over a traffic
light colour code
• Highlighting hotspots
that require
consideration to
improve delivery on
specific sustainability
themes
SAVE FOOD
Global Food Loss and Food Waste
1.3 billion tonnes
( 1 300 000 000 000 kg )
1/3
SAVE FOOD
• The initiative SAVE FOOD aims at encouraging the
dialogue on food losses between industry,
research, politics and civil society
• Objectives:
• Make sure that food is packaged properly on its way from
the field to the market, so that it remains edible for longer
• That in the industrialized countries less food gets wasted
and that the consumers plan their purchases more
carefully
• Raising the awareness of the industry for the issue of food
loss, which is one of the most important for the future
Save and Grow
• An integrated approach to sustainable production
intensification
• Key elements:
• Builds on ecosystem services
• Conserves and enhances natural resources
• Makes more efficient use of inputs
• Key lessons
• Increasing production alone is not sufficient
• There is no “one size fits all” or “silver bullet”
• Sustainable production is knowledge intensive
Global Agenda of Action
in support of sustainable livestock sector development
• A partnership of livestock sector stakeholders committed to
the sustainable development of the sector
• Objectives
• Huge performance gaps within systems/species and across
countries
• Large potential for social, economic and environmental gains
• Technical solutions are available but policies need to be better
aligned
• Safeguards: respect socially desirable outcomes: public health,
animal genetic diversity, animal welfare…
• Focus areas
– Closing the efficiency gap
– Restoring value to grassland
– Waste to worth
Thank for your
attention
Sandro.dernini@fao.org
alexandre.meybeck@fao.org