3rd Regional Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on Food Security and Nutrition

3rd Regional Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on Food Security and Nutrition

Descripción

The Near East and North Africa region (NENA) faces many structural constraints in meeting its food security and nutrition requirements. High population growth coupled with high unemployment, rising urbanisation and single-sector economies are exacerbated by scarce natural resources (particularly arable land and water) and climate-change, which have made the Region dependent on imported food. The region has also been impacted by the global financial economic crises, global food price volatility, and the slowdown of economic investment. The ongoing social and political transition also poses several challenges; this includes social and political unrest such as armed conflict, civil insecurity, disruption of economic activities and interruptions to cross-border livelihood movements, as well as the rising costs of subsidies The above mentioned as well as numerous other food security challenges in the region continue to be a source of concern for policy makers. As a result, during the 31st F AO Near East Regional Conference (NERC) held in Rome, Italy, from the 14th-18th May 2012, the Member Countries agreed on the importance of organising a regional food security and nutrition workshop to prepare for the 39th CFS Plenary Session. Building on the successful experiences of the first and second Regional Multi-Stakeholder Workshops on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN), that took place in Cairo and Khartoum in 2011 and 2012, respectively, the event’s objective was to contribute to a more effective food security and nutrition governance mechanism. The workshop also provided a platform where countries and other participants could provide policy inputs into the Committee on World Food Security’s (CFS) consultative process on responsible agricultural investment (RAI) and an agenda for action on food security in protracted crises, a draft technical paper on food security in the NENA region and a draft strategy document on the reduction of food waste and food loss. Key topics of rele vance to the region and to the CFS were discussed through a participatory process in order to ensure that the CFS Plenary sessions and inter-sessional activities are based on latest developments on the ground.