In the last week of January, the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Food Systems for Latin America and the Caribbean decided that the World Food Programme (WFP) will be a strong supporter of the Brazilian government for Food Systems – a network of actors and activities involved in the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food products from agriculture, livestock, fisheries and the food industry.
The expectation is that the WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger Brazil will support the Brazilian government by promoting the development of a national action plan that outlines the steps to be taken in order continue the work related to the implementation of roadmaps, coalitions and other key issues part of the commitment made by Brazil at the Food Systems Summit.
“Discussing the improvement of Food Systems within a country is a fundamental condition for its growth in a sustainable way and it contributes to reduce the existing inequalities in its territories. Brazil has a great responsibility and will certainly be an excellent example of good practices in this area”, says Daniel Balaban, Director of the Centre of Excellence against Hunger and WFP Representative in Brazil.
Food Systems Summit
In 2021, the UN Secretary General António Guterres convened the Food Systems Summit as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The main objective of the Summit was to gather proposals and promote alliances between different stakeholders to advance the 17 SDGs, as well as to promote a public discussion on the importance of Food Systems in the 2030 Agenda.
Currently, the WFP Regional Office in Panama coordinates the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Food Systems for Latin America and the Caribbean, created with the aim of supporting the commitments made by Latin American countries during the Food Systems Summit. Initially composed by FAO, IFAD and WFP, the group was reactivated in early 2022 with the addition of UNEP, PAHO and ECLAC and seeks to contribute to the promotion of the post-Summit Food Systems agenda through support at the regional and/or national level to its member countries. Sixteen countries are part of the group, four of which are supported by WFP: Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti and Bolivia.
Food Systems and the Centre of Excellence
The Centre of Excellence against Hunger is currently developing two projects with action lines directly related to food systems. The Beyond Cotton Project aims to support, through South-South cooperation, small cotton producers in the sale of cotton by-products and products resulting from its intercropping, in order to contribute to the increase of small producers’ income and to their food and nutritional security. The project is the result of a partnership between the Centre of Excellence, Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), Brazilian Cotton Institute (IBA) and WFP offices in Benin, Mozambique and Tanzania.
The Nurture the Future project, a partnership between the General Food and Nutrition Coordination of the Brazilian Ministry of Health (CGAN/MS), WFP and ABC, aims to produce evidence and exchange experiences between Brazil, Colombia and Peru on combating the multiple burden of malnutrition in school children.