Legal provisions of COM(2018)699 - Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments: Third biennial report

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dossier COM(2018)699 - Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments: Third biennial report.
document COM(2018)699 EN
date October 17, 2018
EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 17.10.2018

COM(2018) 699 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments:
Third biennial report

{SWD(2018) 440 final}


1. INTRODUCTION

This is the third report highlighting the progress the EU and its Member States have achieved towards implementing their common policy on food security 1 . This report is accompanied by a Commission Staff Working Document, which provides further information on analyses and case studies. Throughout the report, various examples reflect how the EU and its Member States have further stepped up support and responded to the recommendations and Council conclusions made in 2016.

2. GLOBAL AND EUROPEAN POLICY DEVELOPMENTS

With 821 million people suffering from hunger worldwide, in 2017 food and nutrition insecurity was on the rise for a second year, after steadily declining for over a decade. Chronic child malnutrition has been declining, although one in four children under five is still affected. Global population is expected to reach over 9 billion by 2050, resulting in increased competition for finite resources. This will be compounded by the accelerating impacts of climate change, conflicts and growing pressures on land and natural resources as well as on food, water and energy supplies. These challenges will significantly affect the ability of the agri-food system to deliver healthy and nutritious diets to a rapidly increasing population.


The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in particular SDG 2, seek to renew momentum and rally countries around targets to “end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” by 2030. Consistent with the EU’s rights-based approach, including the right to food, ending hunger and improving the nutritional status of the most vulnerable are key responsibilities within the new European Consensus on Development 2 . The 2016 Global Strategy for the EU’s Foreign and Security Policy emphasizes redoubling efforts on the prevention of conflicts and in tackling the root causes, such as inequality, resource stress and climate change, in light of their impact on desertification, land degradation, water scarcity and food crises. Through this, the EU and Member States are supporting governments lead sustainable prevention and response strategies that contribute to resilience building.


The EU and its Member States continue placing a strong emphasis on transforming the role of women. A particular focus is on promoting a transformative approach, seeking not only to improve women’s access to resources, but also to guarantee their equal rights, thereby making sure that interventions benefit and empower women and men.


The EU and its Member States are contributing to strengthen vulnerable people in partner countries by promoting the creation of better jobs and income generation opportunities. With the launch of the External Investment Plan in 2017, the EU is partnering with financial institutions in order to kick-start or rekindle economic dynamism in partner countries to improve equitable economic growth in rural economies. To further address the complex link between food insecurity, rural poverty and migration, the EU is stepping up its cooperation and dialogue within the EU-African Union (AU) Partnership and is organising EU-Africa Business Forums to facilitate the creation of employment opportunities for youth and women. The most recent one was held in November 2017 in Abidjan where an emphasis was placed on scaling up public-private partnerships in the agri-business domain. Such emphasis goes hand-in-hand with the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa in order to address the root causes of instability, forced displacement and irregular migration and to contribute to better migration management and build on opportunities.


Fostering innovation and research is essential to improve agriculture and food systems. At the One Planet Summit in 2017, the EU and the Gates Foundation each committed EUR 270 million over 2018-2020 to work together on climate-relevant innovation and research in agriculture in third countries. Agriculture plays a key role since this sector is central to many countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and to which the EU and its Member States contribute to support through cooperation on sustainable agriculture programmes. Following France’s leadership, the EU is seeking to catalyse Member States and other organisations around the 'USD 1 billion target'. Furthermore, the EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership on FNSSA has started to become operational, with funding allocated under the Horizon 2020 programme and through the AU Research Grant Scheme.


G7 leaders remain committed to help lift 500 million people out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030 and, at the 2017 Taormina Summit 3 , have decided to raise their collective support for food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa through an array of action, including by increasing ODA. Recognizing that rural transformation is a critical process to create jobs, raise income and achieve food and nutrition security, in 2017 G20 leaders launched the Initiative for Rural Youth Employment, which forms part of the G20 Partnership.

3. REPORTING AND PROGRESS

This section provides a snapshot of the food and nutrition security disbursements by the EU and its Member States and the latest progress towards the policy priority performance criteria.


Disbursements 4


Compared to the first and second reports, annual financial assistance from the EU and its Member States to food and nutrition security increased to EUR 4,200 million; a rise of 14.7% since 2014 and 24.8% since 2012. This represents about 6% of total Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2016; however, this is a slight drop from about 8% of ODA in 2012 and 2014 5 .


While support for global initiatives and the delivery of global public goods in support of food and nutrition security remains solid (19% - a decrease from 25% in 2014), in 2016 support at country level increased from 66% to 69%. Regional support to food and nutrition security increased from 9% to 12%.


Table 1 shows that support to sub-Saharan Africa further increased in 2016, comprising 53% of support to food and nutrition security. While support to Asia decreased somewhat in 2016, support to Latin America and the Caribbean and the Neighbourhood increased. Overall, there has been no major change and the data shows that despite external pressures and emergency responses, support to food and nutrition security remains a top priority for the EU and its Member States.


Table 1: Geographical distribution of aid disbursements from the EU and its Member States to food and nutrition security in 2012, 2014 and 2016


Table 2 provides an overview of the disbursements, highlighting the number of programmes, the level of support and the number of countries which received support. Policy priority 1 continues to receive the bulk of support, although this declined from 60% to 50%, with increases in support to the other five policy priorities. Overall, the number of programmes has increased in the past two years and the number of countries where food and nutrition security support is targeted has increased with respect to nutrition and social protection-relevant interventions. Furthermore, there was strong attention devoted to ensuring gender-sensitivity and contributions to climate change adaptation and mitigation. In 2016, 57% of support can be considered as gender-sensitive, 43% promotes adaptation to climate change and 16% contributes to climate change mitigation efforts. In terms of overall support, about 12% is dedicated to research.


Table 2: Progress against performance criteria


Progress towards policy priorities and performance criteria


This section includes an overview of efforts carried out, with more detailed and specific examples provided in the accompanying staff working document.


Policy priority 1 continues to receive the majority of attention, showing that this support is a central part of the EU and its Member States’ development cooperation. Efforts in this area include support to enhance the resilience of rural communities, sustainable intensification of production, financing of agribusiness development, climate-smart agriculture and support to placing science more centrally in development cooperation in agriculture, in particular, with a view to foster innovation for increased impact. Many projects concern rural transformation and territorial approaches and contribute to supporting the creation of decent jobs in rural areas – particularly for women and youth.


Policy priority 2 demonstrates that effective governance remains a key area of support. In 2017, the EU partnered with the FAO to host an event and commemorate the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests and showcase progress in its application. The EU and its Member States are fervent supporters of initiatives such as various regional economic communities and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).


Under policy priority 3, support to regional initiatives has been gradually increasing over the past years, such as, through support to regional fisheries programmes and further support to strengthen capacity for regional sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures.


While policy priority 4 saw a drop in disbursements in the last report, this report is able to demonstrate a substantial increase in support to social protection mechanisms (EUR 121 million more), as well as the number of programmes and countries where EU and/or Member State partnerships are thriving.


Under policy priority 5, through strengthening a joint multi-sectoral support approach to tackling undernutrition, efforts continued, steadily since 2014, to foster collaboration to promote country-level commitment and leadership, and to promote accountability of the EU and Member States support at country and global level.


Policy priority 6 has received deserved attention with an increase of EUR 107 million compared to 2014. The Global Report on Food Crises 2018 indicated that nearly 124 million people were in a food crisis situation and demonstrated the need for tackling the drivers of food insecurity. In line with the EU’s Global Strategy and with Member State activities in operationalizing the humanitarian, development and peace nexus, the EU works jointly with other partners in the Global Network against Food Crises on joint analysis and coordinated responses.


Table 3: Specific examples of interventions showing results

Policy Priority 1

Germany is supporting smallholder resilience and livelihoods in over 81 countries. Through the Global Programme of Green Innovation Centres (part of the One World – No Hunger initiative) 600,000 small-scale farmers were trained (40% women, 30% young people) and a productivity increase of 35% has been achieved. In Ethiopia, Austria has helped 348,513 farmers (23.6% of whom are women) improve their agricultural productivity, and over 6,000 households benefitted from rehabilitation measures in watersheds and 52 out of 78 people surveyed were able to accumulate cash savings.
Policy Priority 2

As part of the America Latina y Caribe sin Hambre Initiative, Spain has been an active partner by promoting parliamentarians against hunger as one of the main actors in food and nutrition security governance.
Policy Priority 3

Italy supported the development of coastal communities in the Mediterranean Area, succeeding to support 2,000 fishermen with collective grants, women with 60 grants for starting-up food services, the training of 500 fishermen, the creation of 3 associations of fishermen/farmers, and the construction of a port for 100 fishing boats.
Policy priority 4Ireland contributed to the productive safety nets programme in Ethiopia through which 10,200,000 people received food assistance in response to the 2016 El Nino drought.
Policy Priority 5Belgium supported chicken and sunflower value chains in two districts in Northern Tanzania where the income of the beneficiaries has increased by 24% despite droughts in 2009-2010. The consumption of eggs and chicken has also significantly increased in the beneficiary households, which is having a positive effect on the nutritional value of the food of all family members, especially children.
Policy Priority 6France supported a resilience project in south-eastern Senegal, which showed that increases in food production and food assistance have meant that now 61% of programme participants have an acceptable food consumption score based on WFP's categorization, compared to 36% for non-participants. The UK, with the Commission and others, helped successfully develop the IPC Chronic Food Insecurity Classification, to support evidence-based food security decision-making.


Coordination, Complementarity and Coherence


The new European Consensus on Development places Joint Programming (JP) at the centre of the EU’s efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda and support to partner countries’ national development plans by improving the coordination and coherence of EU and Member States’ development assistance. JP has made significant progress, with 45 countries making concrete steps towards a JP process and 17 more taking first steps in engaging in JP. From 10 JP Documents at the end of 2014, the number of JP Documents has increased to 26 in February 2018. In Laos and Senegal, JP has been proving its added-value for several years through achieving significant results in key areas such as food and nutrition security.


Textbox 1: EU joint programming in Senegal

Since 2013, the EU and its Member States have been engaged in joint programming in Senegal. The second joint programming document covering the period 2018-2023 in line with the Plan for an Emerging Senegal was recently endorsed. The joint analysis showed that, despite some positive achievements in the fight against malnutrition in the past years, the issue remains a major concern in the country. The joint programming process tackles these challenges by focusing on the inter-dependence between nutrition, food security and agriculture, particularly in rural areas. The EU, France, Italy and Spain work jointly to support food security and the fight against malnutrition.


Textbox 2: EU joint programming in Laos

Joint Programming in Laos was launched in 2012 and resulted in a Joint Transition Strategy for 2014-2015. Following this first phase, the EU and seven Member States plus Switzerland endorsed the European joint programming for Lao People's Democratic Republic 2016-2020. Nutrition figures as one of the strategy's seven priority sectors, in which the EU is working jointly, mainly with France, Germany and Switzerland. Joint programming in Laos is an excellent example of how the EU+ supports Laos' nutrition policy and ensures the significance of nutrition throughout other sectors. To illustrate this, the EU and France are jointly supporting priority interventions around nutrition-sensitive value chains and rural advisory services, while the EU and Germany are jointly supporting investments in clean drinking water infrastructure.


4. RESULTS REPORTING

There is a vast number of results being reported by the EU and its Member States which shows impact on the ground. A selection is presented in Table 4. The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the Commission continue to provide aggregated data from across their programmes and present a number of corporate results. While efforts are ongoing in order to try to streamline methodologies to measure and report impact at an aggregated level, challenges do remain. The results presented below should not be taken as complete nor comparative but should rather be taken as a snapshot of different methodologies, covering different time periods and according to different criteria. Ongoing work on common indicators and application of efficient methodologies in the context of SDG reporting will further strengthen this process.


Table 4: Impact on the ground

The Netherlands (2017)


33,700,000 undernourished people received assistance, of which about 15,500,000 demonstrably benefitted in the form of improved food intake;

7,370,000 smallholder family farms received support, of which 1,950,000 demonstrably benefitted in the form of increased productivity and/or income and 1,590,000 gained better access to markets;

1,360,000 hectares of farmland were improved, of which 366,890 with more eco-efficient practices and 179,360 hectares became more resilient to stresses and shocks;

1,220,000 farmers obtained secure tenure of land.
United Kingdom


In 2015-2017, 26,300,000 children under five and pregnant women supported through nutrition-relevant programmes (of whom 15,200,000 were women or girls);

In 2016–17, the UK supported agribusiness investment projects that benefitted over 2 million farmers in developing countries;

From 2011-2015, 8,900,000 people (including 4,600,000 women) received support from cash transfer programmes;

From 2011-2015, 3,700,000 people (including 1,900,000 women) provided food security;

From 2011-2015, 6,100,000 people helped (including 3,000,000 women) to improve their land and property rights.
Commission (2013-2017)


11,976,000 women of reproductive age and children under five benefitted from nutrition-related programmes;

14,159,000 food-insecure people received assistance through social transfers;

3,675,000 hectares where sustainable land management practices have been introduced;

3,841,000 people received rural advisory services to add value to their

produce and improve the links between farmers and market;

815,000 people who were supported to secure tenure of land in support of sustainable livelihoods.


5. THEMATIC FOCUS


As requested by the Council in 2016, this report provides a deeper focus on two specific themes.


Climate-resilient approaches


Agriculture is one of the sectors most seriously affected by climate change. The EU and its Member States promote an agricultural development that serves multiple purposes of improving the natural resource base and the environment, tackles climate change, as well as increasing land and labour productivity and boosting food supply. This has a win-win effect in creating income and decent employment opportunities. In 2014, 38% of all support to food and nutrition security contributed to climate change adaptation. In 2016, this has risen to 43%.


The EU and its Member States safeguard climate mainstreaming in their existing agricultural development programmes and promote specific adaptation and mitigation measures in this sector. Through sustainable management of natural resources, agro-ecological intensification for family farming, sustainable planning of rural areas and risk management, climate-resilient approaches are integrated in programmes. Advice, information, locally adopted technologies and infrastructure support are provided, enabling partner countries to become more resilient to climate stresses and shocks. Together, Member States and the EU are also strongly supporting research and learning on climate-resilient agricultural practices, through the CGIAR and other research programmes. In April 2018, they also supported a debate at an FAO symposium on the role of agroecology in building a sustainable agri-food system.


This goes hand-in-hand with support for partner countries' NDCs and monitoring, reporting and verification to the UNFCCC. International organizations and funds, such as IFAD, the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility are supported by the EU and its Member States to boost mitigation and adaptation at all levels.


Textbox 3: Supporting research and learning on nutrition-sensitive and climate-resilient agricultural technologies

The EU and its Member States continue their focus on the role of smallholders, particularly women, within sustainable food systems, and support research and learning on nutrition-sensitive and climate-resilient agricultural technologies and techniques via CGIAR research centres and Research Programmes. Efforts are made to integrate local techniques and capitalise on the agro-environmental and socio-economic effects of practices.


Textbox 4: The Rural Village Water Resources Management Project in Nepal

The Project was started in 2006, with joint funding from Finland and Nepal. The project is now in its third phase which will run until 2022 and aims to achieve improved well-being and reduced poverty in village development communities through sustainable management of local water resources. Some of the results include: domestic water supply as per national standards for 144,000 beneficiaries; basic sanitation, including household toilets for 358,000 beneficiaries; irrigation for 28,000 beneficiaries; electricity through micro-hydro power for 41,000 beneficiaries; improved cooking stoves for 67,000 beneficiaries; and basic livelihoods through home garden management for 164,000 beneficiaries.


Nutrition-sensitive agricultural practices


Under-nutrition and malnutrition are major obstacles to development and a lifelong burden. Appropriately designed agricultural interventions can play a key role in providing sustainable solutions to access to food and dietary quality. Nutrition-sensitive agriculture is an approach that seeks to ensure the production of a variety of affordable, nutritious, culturally appropriate and safe foods in adequate quantity and quality to meet the dietary requirements of populations in a sustainable manner.


The EU and its Member States have come together to adopt a more comprehensive understanding and a multi-sectoral approach. They are working jointly on: the design of nutrition-sensitive agricultural policies and strategies which place women at the core in countries with high levels of stunting; implementation of national nutrition-sensitive policies and strategies by enhancing skills and know-how; monitoring of programmes, including by incorporating dietary diversity indicators as well as affordability indicators; and stronger evidence for cost-effective approaches for returns on nutrition investments in the agriculture sector.


Examples of nutrition-sensitive agriculture practices include the promotion of nutrition-sensitive value chains, innovative food fortification approaches, nutrient-rich local diversification and home-garden components of rural development projects in countries where a comprehensive approach in developing livelihoods in communities is taken. National and local stakeholders are encouraged to engage and their leadership is favoured in promoting sustainable production practices such as organic agriculture, sustainable pasture management and integrated pest management. Support for nutrition-sensitive agriculture is also provided to the CGIAR.


The EU and its Member States support the work of UNICEF in community-based nutrition and align behind the Scaling Up Nutrition movement. With regards to the public-private space, on-going support to the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) by a number of Member States focusses on improvements in nutrition outcomes for the poor in low and middle-income countries through market-based solutions in the food system.

6. OVERALL FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

By reporting on their latest disbursements worth EUR 4,200 million in 2016, as well as on their policy involvement, the EU and its Member States have demonstrated that key issues on food and nutrition security are consistently placed on global agendas and efforts have been amplified across numerous countries to enhance nutritional outcomes and stimulate better livelihoods in the agricultural sector. The analysis presented in the accompanying Staff Working Document demonstrates the importance of:


1.Maintaining food and nutrition security at the forefront of development cooperation in order to address systemic issues in the global food system and development challenges in which the food and agricultural sector plays a key role. As a global actor, the EU and its Member States need to continue to shape the international agenda and work with all partners to address current and future challenges.


2.Continuing joint efforts in building a strategic approach to food crises, along the humanitarian, development and peace nexus, and boost the Global Network against Food Crises towards joint analysis, common strategic allocation of resources and coordinated responses.


3.Pursuing the drive towards a common vision on nutrition and build a shared understanding of nutrition-sensitive agriculture among the EU and its Member States, which will help support all potential pathways whereby agriculture impacts on nutrition.


4.Stepping up the attention of the EU and its Member States on the critical role of agriculture in climate change as highlighted by the UNFCCC and in achieving the SDGs. Support could stem from ongoing work on the implementation of the Paris Agreement, such as the Koroniyia Joint Work on Agriculture and other relevant commitments to support countries deliver on their NDCs.


5.Enhancing support for women in addressing food and nutrition security at national and local levels. Further attention could be placed on better capturing women’s contributions. Efforts could also focus on approaches to reach, benefit and empower women and systematic sex-disaggregated reporting on relevant indicators could be conducted by the EU and its Member States.


6.Accelerating work on a results chain and common indicators to monitor progress and outcomes at an aggregated level. There would be merit in showing how the EU contributes to achieve SDG2 targets. Knowledge and guidance on measuring impact need to be suitable for use by all, including the private sector.


7.Enhancing agricultural national and regional research capacities conducive to innovation through partnerships. This effort could promote development-smart innovation in agriculture in particular through capacity development and partnerships, such as Development-Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA).


8.Further anchoring rural youth employment in policy dialogue and investment in the creation of jobs and training opportunities and ensuring youth is reflected in policy and projects at all stages. Efforts made by EU Member States, as well as through the External Investment Plan and the Trust Fund for Africa, should be further pursued and scaled up, linking to G20 initiatives where relevant.


9.Promoting regional agricultural trade by supporting existing efforts towards a sustainable food systems approach. This includes linking farmers to markets, upholding human and labour rights as well as protecting the rights of local communities by applying the principles for responsible agricultural investment and implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests.


10.Working jointly with all legitimate actors in the food system on enhancing global institutions and processes to guide the sustainable transformation of food systems by reinforcing cooperation and coherence, as well as strengthening evidence-based action.

(1)

An EU policy framework to assist developing countries in addressing food security challenges, COM(2010)127.

(2)

Official Journal C201/1 of 30.6.2017

(3)

http://www.g7italy.it/en/documenti-altri

(4)

It is worth noting that many Member States have disbursed additional funds well above the total amounts recorded here. However, for the purpose of this report, only disbursements above EUR 100,000 are reflected. Moreover, across the EU and its Member States, there are different methodologies for reporting. The figures reported in this report solely reflect the specific methodology for this exercise.

(5)

Like the previous reports, this third report – issued in 2018 – is reporting on the latest official figures available, which cover 2016.