EVENTS
THEMATIC GROUPS AROUND THE WORLD
Africa
Asia
Latin America and the Caribbean
Near East
PUBLICATIONS
WEBSITES
EVENTS
At the World Food Summit (WFS) in November 1996, the Heads of State or Government or their representatives from 185 countries and the European Community pledged their political will and their common and national commitment "to achieving food security for all and to an on-going effort to eradicate hunger in all countries, with an immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015".
But what advances have been made in translating these words into action? Although some progress has been made in individual countries and communities, much remains to be done. Indeed, current data indicates that the number of undernourished is declining at a rate of 8 million each year - far below the average rate of 20 million per year necessary to reach the WFS target.
In November 2001, heads of State and Governments from around the world will gather in Rome to review progress made in implementing WFS goals at World Food Summit: Five Years Later (WFS:fyl). This global forum will be held at FAO Headquarters within the framework of the FAO Biennial Conference (2 - 13 November 2001).
There will be no re-opening of debate on any part of the Rome Declaration and World Food Summit Plan of Action. The aim of bringing Heads of State or Government together is to re-affirm commitment to the already agreed WFS goals, and to provide additional impetus, support and follow-up to ensure the fulfilment of the undertakings contained in those two documents.
The ACC Network on Rural Development and Food Security is a mechanism for follow-up to the World Food Summit at the country level, and as such many of its 70 established national Thematic Groups are set to play a key role in supporting government preparations, particularly country papers, for WFS: fyl.
The Thematic Group, typically composed of a cross-section of representatives of UN, government, civil society and donors, is a well-placed to collect and consolidate information on the national experience in the five years since WFS; determine collective and individual actions to date; highlight achievements and constraints; define future steps; and to propose initiatives to facilitate investment and political will in the fight against hunger.
Some Thematic Groups have already started planning their support to WFS: fyl: We will post reports on their activities in subsequent updates of this site.
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Commitment One: we will ensure an enabling political, social and economic environment designed to create the best conditions for the eradication of poverty and for durable peace, based on full and equal participation of women and men, which is most conducive to achieving sustainable food security for all; Commitment Two: we will implement policies aimed at eradicating poverty and inequality and improving physical and economic access by all, at all times to sufficient, nutritionally adequate and safe food and its effective utilization; Commitment Three: we will pursue participatory and sustainable food, agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development policies and practices in high and low potential areas, which are essential to adequate and reliable food supplies at the household, national, regional and global levels, and combat pests, drought and desertification, considering the multifunctional character of agriculture; Commitment Four: we will strive to ensure that food, agricultural trade and overall trade policies are conducive to fostering food security for all through a fair and market-oriented world trade system; Commitment Five: we will endeavour to prevent and be prepared for natural disasters and man-made emergencies and to meet transitory and emergency food requirements in ways that encourage recovery, rehabilitation, development and a capacity to satisfy future needs; Commitment Six: we will promote optimal allocation and use of public and private investments to foster human resources, sustainable food, agriculture, fisheries and forestry systems, and rural development, in high and low potential areas; Commitment Seven: we will implement, monitor, and follow-up this Plan of Action at all levels in cooperation with the international community. |
Read the following key preparatory documents for WFS: fyl:
THEMATIC GROUPS AROUND THE WORLD
Cassava (manioc) is one of the most important food crops in Africa. Moreover, it is easy to grow, produces even on poor soils and can be harvested progressively at the time of consumption. In recent years, however, the rapid spread of a new and abnormally virulent strain of cassava mosaic virus (CMD) has caused devastation to cassava production in East Africa and has begun to threaten other parts of the continent.
Reports in 1999 and 2000 indicated that the phytosanitary status of cassava in the western and eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was a matter of some concern: it was feared that this was likely to worsen the existing food deficit in the country, given that cassava is a staple food for 70% of the population. Annual cassava production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is significantly decreasing (from 19.4 million tons in 1995 to 15.9 million tons in 2000), and several cases of famine and serious food insecurity prevail in some regions of the country. Moreover, reports have shown that, in addition to traditional diseases and pests, different strains of the cassava mosaic virus as well as new pests have been causing havoc to cassava yields.
In efforts to counter the threat to production, the Consultative Group on Cassava - affliated to the ACC Network - periodically meets to exchange experiences and views on the phytosanitary status of cassava in the country. In a recent initiative, the Group - composed of FAO, government representatives, donors, scientists, civil society and the private sector - recommended that a team of scientists from the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) assist in the assessment of the phytosanitary status of cassava and participate in the development of an action plan to stop the spread of pests and diseases, increase yields and restore national production.
In December 2000, a multi-disciplinary team of IITA scientists visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo and made field trips to the Kinshasa and Bas Congo provinces. It was unanimously recognised that pests and diseases, including CMD are the major causes of the decrease in cassava production. The ensuing report, 'The Assessment of Cassava Pests and Diseases in Kinshasa and Bas Congo', relates to these findings; describes the subsequent meetings coordinated by FAO with INERA, members of the government, the international community and the private sector; and presents immediate and medium-term measures for action.
A multi-donor project is being formulated concerning "Accelerated generation and deployment of cassava technologies for enhanced and sustainable food availability and poverty alleviation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo" with an estimated budget of about US $ 5 million for five years, to cover the eleven provinces of the country.
For further information on the Consultative Group on Cassava, contact the FAO Representative, Mr. A. Spijkers, at: FAO-ZAR@field.fao.org
Since its creation in 1998, the Thematic Group in the Gambia has expanded its membership to include representatives of the main UN, NGO and government partners in the country: this strong profile and capacity for networking has enabled the Group to focus its collective efforts on priority areas of interest. In the recent past, the Group has helped WFP in Food-for-Work interventions, implemented a rapid rural appraisal mission to estimate food aid needs and prepared a study assessing the feasibility of the alternative ways to target food aid in the country. This year, the Thematic Group has turned its attention to enhancing collaboration between agricultural training centres in the country.
A recent Group meeting recognized that, although the four main agricultural training centres in the country operate independently and have received support from some Group member organizations, there is little or no inter-centre collaboration and a poor level of awareness about the type of training organized by each centre. While all the agricultural training centres in the Gambia have their own particular areas of expertise in agriculture, agroforestry, livestock and rural development, there is undoubted scope for cooperation and coordination between centres: for example, staff could organize visits and exchange programmes to share experiences and lessons learnt. Furthermore, centres could reinforce each other's expertise in various areas by exchanging resource persons or trainers.
In efforts to increase collaboration between centres, the Thematic Group organized a three-day field trip to four agricultural centres to determine their current status and activities, identify constraints faced by staff and to establish a mechanism for supporting the activities of these centres in a coordinated manner. The field trip team - including Group members from the Department of State for Agriculture, the European Development Fund, Action Aid The Gambia, Catholic Relief Services, Concern Universal and FAO - visited the following:
the Agricultural Rural Farmer Training Centre at Jenoi, which trains rice producers using the Farmer Field School methodology; the Chamen Agricultural Training Centre, which encourages self-employment for youth in rural areas; the Njawara Agricultural Training Centre, which provides youths and adult farmers with training in agroforestry techniques and sustainable natural resources management; and the YBK Training and Demonstration Centre, which specializes in livestock production and organizes training both for farmers and the field staff of the Department of Livestock Services.
The field trip team recommended, inter alia, that more emphasis and resources should be focused on measuring the impact after training; all training courses should include information on existing credit facilities; and there was a need to strengthen the linkages and information sharing, even within the Government, on the training activities conducted by various governmental institutions. Furthermore, the team suggested that the centres could be developed to become multi-disciplinary training centres to cover other themes related to food security, such as nutrition and reproductive health. In order to strengthen inter-centre collaboration in the country, the field trip team also recommended that a common work and cooperation plan be developed for all the agricultural training centres in the Gambia.
As a follow-up to the field trip, the Thematic Group took the initiative of bringing together staff of the four agricultural training centres at a Consultative Forum (Jenoi Training Centre, 27-28 February 2001). The Forum, funded by the Action Aid, aimed to strengthen inter-organizational links and collaboration between the agricultural training centres in the country, by exchanging information on the activities of each of the training institutions; sharing the findings and recommendations of the ACC Network Thematic Group's visit to the centres; discussing possible areas of co-operation between centres; and developing a common work and co-operation plan for national agricultural training centres.
The Forum attracted participation of representatives of the Thematic Group, the four agricultural training centres, as well as St. Joseph's Family Farm, the Methodist Mission Agricultural Programme (MMAP), the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Concern Universal and the Department of Agricultural Services.
During the event, all the participating centres delivered presentations on their individual centres, outlining their history, areas of expertise, current programmes, facilities, and the problems faced. Participants were then divided into three working groups to discuss common areas of interest and identify areas for cooperation. Based on group suggestions, a work and co-operation plan was devised during a plenary session. Activities outlined in the plan include the establishment of a network (the Gambia Agricultural Training Centres Network), which would meet bi-annually to share information and work towards common goals; a databank of resource centres; the publication of a newsletter; and the production of radio programmes drawing on contributions and input from the all the agricultural centres in the Gambia.
One of the proposed activities for the Thematic Group in the Gambia will be the preparation of a catalogue of potential donors to support the further development of agricultural training centres in the Gambia.
For further information on the past or present activities of the Thematic Group in the Gambia, please contact the Coordinator, the FAO Representative Mr. Heimo Mikkola at FAO-GMB@field.fao.org
In Sri Lanka, the Theme Group on Food Security has agreed to start collecting information for an inventory of past projects and programmes in food security and agriculture that have been implemented in the country since 1997. This exercise, similar to the one being undertaken by the Thematic Group in Niger, will contribute to the preparation of Sri Lanka's input to the World Food Summit: Five Years Later (WFS: fyl), as well as feed into the recently initiated UN common database for the country. Importantly, the Ministry of Agriculture has agreed to help coordinate the collection of information in close collaboration with FAO.
These future Group activities formed the basis of discussions at the recent Group meeting on 8 March, but members also explored the possibility of supporting the implementation of FAO's Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) in the near future. The Programme, which aims to support low-income, food-deficit-countries (LIFDCs) in their efforts to improve national food security, reduce year-to-year variability in agricultural production and improve people's access to food, is now in operation in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. Meeting participants were in agreement that the Group could act as an effective coordination mechanism for activities of the SPFS Programme, which is formulated and implemented by national experts under the direct responsibility of each national government.
For further information on the Thematic Group in Sri Lanka, please contact the FAO Representative, Mr. Jusoh, at FAO-LKA@field.fao.org
The ACC Network Thematic Group in Thailand was established in May 1999 within the UN Resident Coordinator System and integrated in April 2000 into the Thematic Working Group on Poverty Alleviation, Rural Development and Food Security (TWG-PARF). The Group is a collaborative mechanism for regional cooperation and includes members from all Bangkok-based UN agencies: FAO (Chair and Technical Secretariat), ILO (Co-Chair), UNDP (Co-Chair), ESCAP (Co-Chair), UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNEP, WHO, UNIFEM, UNDCP and UNIDO.
In order to provide focus to Group efforts, the TWG-PARF agreed at the end of 2000 to pursue joint interventions for decentralization and development at the tambon ('village') level in the Mae Chan district of northern Thailand. In efforts to start formulating joint UN activities in the area, a three-day fact-finding mission involving FAO, UNDP, UNICEF and ESCAP was undertaken to Mae Chan in early March 2001 to collect information on poverty alleviation efforts and best practices. Participatory consultations were held with district, sub-district level government officials, resource persons from Chiang Mai University and village representations.
The ensuing TWG-PARF Mission Report was presented and endorsed by UN member agencies at the Third Meeting of the TWG-PARF on 20 March. The Report highlights concrete examples of short- and long-term joint activities that could be undertaken in four key areas, namely: income generation and agriculture (e.g. mushroom production training, farm and non-farm vocational training in small-scale enterprise development); institutions and governance (e.g. reinforcing favourable formal / non-formal institutional linkages, capacity-building at the decentralized level); human poverty (e.g. the socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS, assistance to drug-related problems, improved access to primary and secondary education); and environment and natural resource management (e.g. improved access to watershed management). The target groups would include hill tribes, ethnic people, landless farmers, HIV/AIDS victims (particularly orphans), women and youth. Importantly, the Report proposes joint follow-up activities to be shared with other Theme Groups in the country, in order to facilitate their planning of collaborative activities.
The TWG-PARF now plans to recruit a consultant to prepare small, field-level project proposals in line with the joint activities recommended in the mission report.
For further information on the TWG-PARF, contact the Chairman, Mr. Dong Qingsong at dong.qingsong@fao.org or the Technical Secretary, Mr. Wim Polman at wim.polman@fao.org
As part of World Food Summit follow-up activities, a regional workshop "Productive Alliances for Food Security and Sustainable Rural Development" was recently held in Chile (Santiago de Chile, 4-5 December 2000). More than 30 civil society organizations from different countries in the region participated in the meeting, which aimed to review and assess the steps already taken in the fight against food insecurity and to analyze future approaches.
How to improve productive alliances in efforts towards solving food insecurity and ensuring rural development was the core message, which was complemented with a discussion of FAO's role and the presentation of national case studies from Peru and Mexico.
For further information about the workshop, visit the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean website and read the final workshop report
The Thematic Group in Peru is noted for its active exchange of information and the coordination of activities between different country-level partners on issues related to food security, rural and alternative development. Last year, the Group supported a project for the promotion and consumption of traditional Andean crops. In March 2001, the control of locusts was the theme of the Group's meeting, which was attended by UN partners, as well as a cross-section of government and civil society, including representatives from the Ministry of Promotion of the Women and Human Development (PROMUDEH), the National Programme of Nutrition (PRONAA), the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Executive Secretary of International Technical Cooperation (SECTI), and the Coordination of Rural NGOs.
Ms. Carbonnell, Chief of the National Service of Agrarian Health (SENASA) informed Group members about SENASA's proposed strategy for control of the locust plague in the country, and acknowledged the work of various country-level partners in addressing the problem.
The Group meeting was also an opportunity for members to be informed about some relevant forthcoming activities in the country, such as a national workshop on Productive Alliances for Food Security and Sustainable Rural Development, and a preparatory workshop on the International Year of the Mountains that will take place in Cuzco (April 25-27, 2001).
For further information about the Thematic Group of Peru, contact Mr. N. Bellino, FAO Representative at: FAO-PERU@field.fao.org
In Uruguay, a national workshop, 'Productive Alliances for Food Security and Sustainable Rural Development' is to be held in May with the support of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and under the auspices of the ACC Network Thematic Group in Uruguay. This national workshop, a follow-up to the recent Regional Workshop on Productive Alliances for Food Security and Sustainable Rural Development" ( Santiago, Chile, 4-5 December 2000), is expected to attract the active participation of representatives of national NGOs and CSOs, in efforts to evaluate the experiences and strategies of national producers and to ultimately prepare a report on the state of food insecurity and the rural sector in Uruguay.
The national workshop should also provide a good opportunity for the Thematic Group in Uruguay to disseminate information on current and proposed activities as well as to initiate preparations for the World Food Summit: five years later (WFS: fyl). It is hoped that the conclusions of the workshop will be used as working material for the National Committee of the World Food Summit: five years later.
For further information about the Thematic Group in Uruguay, contact the FAO Representative, Ms. M. G. Teixeira at: FAO-URY@field.fao.org
The Common Country Assessment (CCA) is a collaborative country-based process for reviewing and analysing the national development situation and identifying key issues as a basis for advocacy, policy dialogue and preparation of a common UN response: the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). The CCA process allows countries to think and work together to achieve a common understanding for a country's development challenges and to identify new ideas and opportunities together with national authorities, civil society and development partners. The findings emerging from this exercise are then described in a CCA document, which is undertaken by the United Nations system with key partners: the government, civil society, the private sector and donors.
The model of the ACC Network Thematic Group is therefore an ideal mechanism for initiating and coordinating the CCA process, as Groups typically encourage the participation of the main development partners in a given country for collective action to address country-specific needs, challenges and priorities. To date, some 12 Thematic Groups affliated to the ACC Network have contributed to various stages of the UNDAF/CCA process - from coordinating the inputs of UN agencies to participating in the development of indicators - in Bangladesh, Bolivia, China, Congo D.R., Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Nepal, Philippines, Samoa, Thailand, Turkey and Zimbabwe.
The most recent example of Group involvement in the CCA process is in Egypt, where the ACC Network-affliated Donor Sub-Group on Natural Renewable Resources (Water and Agriculture), is helping to coordinate inputs for the UN/CCA Egypt documents covering Agriculture; Water; Nutrition and Food Security; Water and Sanitation. In January 2001, the sub-group - under the joint chairmanship of FAO and the World Bank - convened a meeting of UN agencies, donors, and NGO, during which participants discussed the CCA documentation and donors delivered brief overviews of their ongoing and pipeline activities in natural resources in Egypt.
For further information on the Donor Sub-Group on Natural Renewable Resources (Water and Agriculture), contact the Coordinator, the FAO Representative, Mr. N. Doumandji at: FAO-EGY@field.fao.org
For further information on the UNDAF/CCA process around the world, please visit the UN Resident Coordinator Network - RCNet
PUBLICATIONS
The UN Works is the title of the newly-launched cyber magazine of the UN system, which relates the stories of people around the world who have been helped by the UN. The site tells the stories of individuals through text and photos, and highlights UN programmes, including grassroots development projects, the global vaccination campaign and a treaty to cut ozone depletion. The site will feature up to 48 stories at a time and invites contributions.
Disabled farmers are farmers - that is the clear message of the newly-released FAO video, 'Empowering the Rural Disabled'. The majority of the world's disabled live in rural agricultural settings: FAO is helping to promote greater public awareness of the specific needs of farmers with disabilities and seeking ways of integrating the rural disabled into its programmes.
The video shows that farmers and other rural workers with disabilities can be active and self-sufficient, while at the same time providing food for their families and communities, and uses as examples two initiatives in Asia: a mushroom cultivation training project in Thailand and a community integrated pest management project in Cambodia.
This latest resource on disability in the agricultural context complements the on-line FAO Database on the Rural Disabled, which provides users with basic information for accessing resource persons, organizations, projects, publications and photos either involved in, or concerned with, the improvement of the livelihood conditions of rural disabled populations, particularly in developing countries.
For further information on FAO's work with the rural disabled, contact Lawrence Jacobson, FAO Focal Point for Disability Matters, at: lawrence.jacobson@fao.org
WEBSITES
Rethinking rural financing is the title of an interesting e-discussion recently organized by the Chorlaví Group (5-23 March, 2001). The aim of the discussion was to develop new forms of intervention in financing agriculture and the rural economic sector, taking into consideration lessons learnt, and it covered four key areas: the role of financial services in the rural development; how to build lasting financial institutions; the regulation problems facing rural financial institutions; and the public institutions' role in the development of equitable rural financial markets.
Although the conference is already over, conference documentation, including reference materials, weekly conference summaries and participants' messages, can still be viewed and provide a useful information resource.
The Chorlaví Group brings together more than 65 NGOs and farmers' organizations from throughout the Latin America and Caribbean region, in order to enhance dialogue, understanding and co-operation between development partners in the region. Already, this has resulted in the creation of six working groups - on land, financing systems, rural organizations, local and micro-regional development, commercialization and agroindustries, and technology and production systems - who aim to strengthen the process of knowledge building in a participatory way through theoretical and methodological perspectives.
IFAD is linking poor communities to the Internet in order to cultivate grassroots information exchange and e-commerce opportunities. How? The Fund has created three regional networks on-line: FIDAmerica in Latin America and the Caribbean; the Electronic Networking for Rural Asia/Pacific (ENRAP) in Asia; and FIDAfrique in Western and Central Africa. The networks operate through and connect the beneficiaries of 76 ongoing IFAD field programmes - non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and localized private volunteer organizations (PVOs), such as farmers' associations - and provide farmers' leaders with computer skills training, hardware, and the means of accessing the Internet.
FIDAmerica links approximately 550,000 poor rural households reached by 34 IFAD projects in 16 countries, and since 1995 has been online at Participants in FIDAmerica share lessons learned from their experiences through chat rooms and/or online conferences. They can also market and sell their products at premium prices via a virtual farmer's market.
ENRAP links nearly 250,000 poor rural households reached by 12 IFAD projects in 6 countries. This Asian network focuses largely on information exchange to help rural communities identify strategies to improve their livelihoods, based on the lessons learned from other similar communities. Networking is achieved mainly through issue-specific chat-room discussions, and the circulation of a monthly e-newsletter that is distributed on paper to remote communities.
More recently, IFAD has been expanding its Internet-based outreach with the development of FIDAfrique - a network of IFAD projects and institutions fighting rural poverty in western and central Africa. FIDAfrique aims to reach approximately 500,000 households reached by 30 IFAD projects.
For further information, visit the re-designed IFAD Website
The Farmer Information Network for Agricultural and Rural Development (FarmNet) is a concept model for using new information and communication technologies (ICTs) for agricultural and rural development. It aims at creating a network of rural people, supported by intermediary organizations such as extension services, using ICTs and conventional media to facilitate the generating, gathering and exchanging of knowledge and information for improved livelihoods. To learn more about FarmNet works, read the pdf file at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/sd/farmnet.pdf