Regional Consultation Meeting: Promoting Healthy, Sustainable, and Inclusive Food Systems in Response to COVID-19 in South Asia

Regional Consultation Meeting
Promoting Healthy, Sustainable, and Inclusive Food Systems in Response to COVID-19 in South Asia
29-30 March 2022 | 10:30 – 14:30 GMT+6 (Bangladesh)

REGISTER

Background

Globally, around 30% of the population suffer from multiple micronutrient deficiencies, around 10 million children die each year before they attain the age of 5 years and 2 out of 5 below the age of 5 years are stunted and malnourished. Despite producing more food, there are still 690 million people hungry and about 2 billion people are overweight or obese, contributing to a growing incidence of food-related diseases (FAO, 2020). South Asia consists of eight countries where one-fourth (1.891 billion) of the world population (7.8 billion) residing of which about 65% live in rural areas, and more than 50% of them relying their livelihoods on agriculture (FAOSTAT, 2019). The average of Prevalence of Undernourishment (POU) in the region is 19.44%, which is much higher in Afghanistan (30.95%) followed by Pakistan (22.26%), India
(18.44%), Bangladesh (16.87%), Sri Lanka (14.66%) and Nepal (13.46%) (FAOSTAT, 2019). Agriculture value added per worker in the region is
estimated to be US$ 2452.63 (constant US$) in 2016, which is lower than in the world average (US$ 3,542).

As half of the land in South Asia is arable, there is high potentiality of the agriculture and food system in the region to effectively address the
widespread poverty, hunger and malnutrition. Food systems encompass all people and the entire range of actors and their interconnected activities growing, harvesting, packing, processing, distributing, selling, storing, marketing, consuming, and disposing of food. The pervasive poverty and hunger in the rural areas, especially women and men farmers who rely on agriculture for a living, infers that the current food systems are unjust and unsustainable. Meanwhile, the health issue is being undermined due to lack of availability of safe, nutritious and healthy food. Severity in food insecurity is being further aggravated by higher rate of food lost/waste estimated to be one-third of all food produced globally. At the same time current food systems contribute up to 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions, including 44% of methane, with adverse impact on biodiversity.

Recent surge of the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed dangerous deficiencies in the food systems threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people around the world. According to IPES-Food (2020), “COVID19 has laid bare the underlying risks, fragilities, and inequities in global food systems, and pushed them close to breaking point. The lockdowns and disruptions triggered by the efforts to contain COVID-19, have shown the fragility of people’s access to essential goods and services.

Therefore, the current food systems need to be transformed and provide a more sustainable, fair and inclusive access to healthy and nutritious food for people. It is also necessary to keep balance between food systems and the natural environment by transforming them to work better with nature and for the climate. Better food systems are critical to build a future with improved health, equality, and peace that create a world with rich biodiversity and ecosystems, and people who are resilient and empowered.

The way food is produced, harvested, processed, distributed, marketed, eaten, and disposed of should promote human, ecological, and animal health and well-being. All actors should actively shape and contribute to healthy, fair, renewable, resilient, inclusive, and culturally diverse food systems. In this context, it is crucial to respond appropriately through sustainable agriculture and food systems promoting nutritious diet and healthy foods.

Under the leadership of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, a Food System Summit in 2021 with the main theme “healthy, sustainable and inclusive food systems” has been held in September 2021 to foster a world without poverty or hunger, a world of inclusive growth, environmental sustainability, social justice, and a world where no one is left behind. FAO Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (FAO RAP), in collaboration with the SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC), an intergovernmental organization of the eight Member States in the South Asia region, Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), intends to organize a regional consultation meeting on “Promoting Healthy, Sustainable and Inclusive Food Systems in Response to COVID -19 in South Asia”.

Objectives

This Post-Summit regional consultation meeting intends to support food systems transformation actions, thereby contributing to resolve hunger and reducing diet-related diseases problems amidst COVID-19 pandemic in the South Asia.

The specific objectives are as follows:

1. To increase awareness about the Food Systems Summit outcomes;
2. To share the commitments made by Member States and other stakeholders during the Food System Summit last Sept 23, 2021, as well as the Coalitions they are engaged with.
3. To share examples of inclusive agriculture value chains and sustainable food systems in the region and highlight how they contributed to limit the impacts of COVID19 and could help preventing or mitigating impacts of similar pandemics in the future.
4. To formulate recommendations that will support the food transformation into healthier, more sustainable and inclusive food systems in the region.

Target Participants

At least 60 participants consisting of National Focal Point Experts (government representatives) who convened the Food System dialogue processes in their countries as well as those who delivered their commitments during the Food Summit, representatives from farmers’ leaders, policy makers, intergovernmental organization, development partners, AFA, IFAD, SAC, FAO RAP.

Organizers

FAO Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (FAO RAP), SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC) and Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Final Agenda (Bangladesh time)