The event will bring together more than 150 participants from around the world, to discuss how to address the urgent challenge of transforming our currently unsustainable food systems through a more systemic approach, which can simultaneously address all forms of malnutrition, environmental degradation, and inclusive prosperity.
San José, Costa Rica, January 25, 2019 (IICA). The second Global Conference of the Sustainable Food Systems Programme of the UN’s One Planet Network will be held between 5-7 February on Costa Rican soil. The aim of the second conference will be to further strengthen multi-stakeholder action, and to trigger increased political commitment to address the urgent need to transition to sustainable food systems.
Following the call by the UN’s High Level Political Forum 2018 Ministerial Declaration that encouraged “all stakeholders to adopt a sustainable food systems approach”, the 2nd global conference represents a concrete opportunity to start responding to this important challenge.
The SFS Programme is a global multi-stakeholder partnership with over 150 global members with the aim to accelerate the shift towards more sustainable consumption and production across all the elements that form our food systems. The SFS Programme defends that a more holistic approach is required in order to successfully address the multiple challenges present today in our unsustainable food systems.
Following this rationale, the theme of the conference is “Good Food for People and the Planet – Working together towards 2030”, which highlights the interaction between natural resources, livelihoods, and nutrition, and which underscores the need to apply a systemic approach that involves multiple stakeholders – including the most vulnerable or disadvantaged groups – for the identification and implementation of solutions. The conference also emphasizes the importance of taking action on food systems as a means to ensure the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, given the cross-cutting nature of food.
The event is hosted by the Government of Costa Rica, under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG); the Government of Switzerland; UN Environment; HIVOS; the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), with the support of the Government of Germany (Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety); and the technical support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The conference will be held at IICA’s headquarters, in Coronado.
Welcoming more than 150 participants from across governmental entities, private sector companies, civil society organizations, research institutions and UN agencies, the conference will feature various speakers, including the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Renato Alvarado Rivera; the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Hilal Elver; Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to FAO, IFAD & WFP and Chair of the FAO Committee on World Food Security (CFS), H.E. Mario Arvelo and the Director of Hivos and Latin America and the Caribbean, Myrtille Danse.
Also participating in the meeting will be the Lawrence Haddad, winner of the World Food Prize (2018) and Executive Director of the Global Alliance to Improve Nutrition (GAIN); the Secretary of State and General Director of the Federal Office of Agriculture of Switzerland; Bernard Lehmann, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Mesoamerica and Non-Resident Representative of Costa Rica, Adoniram Sanches; the Deputy Director General of IICA, Lloyd Day, and Myrtille Danse, among other high-level international experts representing different sectors.
In addition, the conference has been registered to opt for the Ecological Blue Flag-category of Special Events, which will feature for the first time a parameter on the management of food waste, promoted by the event’s Organizing Committee and the Costa Rican Network for Loss Reduction and waste of food with its members. This is a free and voluntary badge that will recognize if during the event, there was evidence of agreement with the protection of natural resources, the implementation of actions to face climate change, the prevention of food waste, the search for better hygienic sanitary conditions and the improvement of public health.rutrum lacus.
What do we mean by a Sustainable Food System?
The food system brings together all elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures, institutions) and activities related to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food and the impacts of these activities, including economic and environmental outcomes.
A sustainable food system (SFS) is one that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to produce food are not compromised for future generations.
In other words, the food system determines the quantity, quality and diversity of food available for consumption. The growing urbanization, the change in food patterns and the new ways of producing and processing food has changed the quantity, quality and social and environmental impact of the food consumed today.
Under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, food systems must guarantee a better nutrition for all people, in a more sustainable way, mitigating climate change, with the aim of ensuring adequate food and a healthy life for all people now and in the future.
About IICA
IICA is the specialized agency for agriculture in the Inter-American system, with a mission to encourage, promote and support its 34 Member States in their efforts to achieve agricultural development and rural well-being through international technical cooperation of excellence.
More information:
Mei-Ling Park (UN-Environment): mei-ling.park@un.org
Michael Mulet Solon (WWF): mmulet@wwf.fr
Rosa Brenes (MAG): rbrenes@mag.go.cr
Laura Meza (IICA): laura.meza@iica.int
