What is the EU and the FAO doing to boost food and nutrition security with regards to sustainable agriculture?

What is the EU and the FAO doing to boost food and nutrition security with regards to sustainable agriculture?

The EU, an important politico-economic union of 28 member states, as well as the FAO, an agency aiming to defeat global food hunger, are aiming to boost food and nutrition security through sustainable agriculture, based on a partnership agreement that hopes to see such impacts in at least 35 countries. But what does this entail? An FAO report published in July 2015 focuses on the agreement.

First of all, budget-wise the EU is going to contribute approximately €50 million, with the FAO contributing €23.5 million to the programme. According to the FAO commissioner Mimica, this initiative “will be crucial to support partner countries and regional organizations in pulling together political, technical and financial means towards the common goal of reducing food and nutrition insecurity”. It consists of two five-year programmes:

• The Food and Nutrition Security Impact, Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation (FIRST) - this aims to enhance capacities of governments and regional administrations to improve food security, nutrition and sustainable agricultural policies.
• The second programme is the Information for Nutrition Food Security and Resilience for Decision Making (INFORMED), which should contribute to strengthening resilience to withstand food crises as a result of human-induced and natural disasters.

But on a more scientific, and regional level - what is the potential of extensification of European agriculture for a more sustainable food system, by focusing on nitrogen? This is a food security strategy employed by many countries worldwide, using increased nitrogen amounts as well as manure. 

What are the benefits of extensification? Extensification leads to higher biodiversity as well as reduced environmental pollution. However, extensification could lead to lower yields and a reduction in GDP, and could even lead to an increase of global demand for land. Van Grinsven [2015] predicts that a 2030 scenarios for the EU27 reducing consumption and production of animal products by 50% would reduce nitrogen pollution by 10%, which also benefits human health. He also acknowledges that this form of diet would allow the EU27 to become a food exporter, but at the same time reducing land demand outside Europe in 2030 by more than 100 million hectares (2%), which ultimately more than compensates increased land demand. Van Grinsven ultimately concludes that extensification of agriculture within Europe is sustainable when combined with adjusted diets and externalization of environmental costs to food prices.

This is just one of many strategies that agreements and programmes made by the EU and FAO have to consider, as the latest UN food security report suggests that even after several decades, about 800 million people currently still suffer from hunger. Another report by the FAO suggests that to eradicate world hunger by 2030 would require an additional $267 billion a year in investments. Therefore, eradicating such issues is a shared global priority between global nations, and this latest agreement only strengthens and expands global efforts. The two programmes, FIRST and INFORMED will ultimately need the coordinated action by all stakeholders involved to combat the issues and succeed in their aims.