The Brussels Policy Briefing n. 54 on ”Sustainable agriculture: where are we on SDGs implementation?” took place on 27th February 2019 (European Commission, Charlemagne Building, Alcide de Gasperi Room, Rue de la Loi 170, 1040 Brussels).

1. Sustainable agriculture: where are we on SDGs
implementation?
A global narrative towards food security
and nutrition AND Agenda 2030
Dr Patrick Caron, HLPE Steering Committee Chair
Brussels Development Policy Briefing, CTA
Brussels, 27 February 2019

3. SDG 2 : between SDG 1 and SDG 3
SDG 2 : Eradicate hunger, ensure food security and nutrition and
promote sustainable agriculture
Poverty
Health
Choices which are
not natural!

4. 5 Targets SDG 2
1. By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable
situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round
2. By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on
stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls,
pregnant and lactating women and older persons
3. By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular
women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal
access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and
opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
4. By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that
increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation
to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve
land and soil quality
5. By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals
and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at
the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of
benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as
internationally agreed

5. Gaps, trade-offs and contradictory
injunctions
1. By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all
people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable
situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and
sufficient food all year round
2. By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including
achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on
stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age,
and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls,
pregnant and lactating women and older persons
3. By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and
incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular
women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists
and fishers, including through secure and equal access
to land, other productive resources and inputs,
knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities
for value addition and non-farm employment
4. By 2030, ensure sustainable food production
systems and implement resilient agricultural practices
that increase productivity and production, that help
maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for
adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought,
flooding and other disasters and that progressively
improve land and soil quality
5. By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds,
cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals
and their related wild species, including through soundly
managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the
national, regional and international levels, and promote
access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits
arising from the utilization of genetic resources and
associated traditional knowledge, as internationally
agreed
Obesity ?
Productivity – income?
Priorities and trade-offs?

6. Nexus:
Synergies
Contradictions
… and actions
Levers
Compromise

7. Agricultural
production
Food security
Ecosystems
health
Human
health
Social
development
Food systems
Agriculture Food systems
Producing more to eat
enough
Producing better towards
healthy eating

8. Goals and challenges to reach them
• 1st paradox
– Never so bad
– Never so well
• 2nd paradox
– The house is burning…
– Inaction… no change…
• Evidence
– A lot of change… not always in the “right” direction
– But not fast enough to address the expectations and the risks
• If not faster
– Not because laziness, procrastination, or lack of will or funding
– “Good” reasons:
• Lack of data, cost and risk of change, path dependency
• Asymmetry of power, conflict of interest
• Incapacity to discuss and agree ! This is why the HLPE has been created!

9. HLPE report
• “What is your opinion about the lack of food in the rest of the world?”
• HLPE report is different from
– A scientific report
– An advocacy report
– An intergovernmental report
To identify disagreements
… and formulate an agreement on disagreements
… to contribute to policy convergence

10. FSN: Building a global narrative towards 2030
Past HLPE publications : many complex issues related to FSN
Building a global narrative around FSN towards 2030 (2020 report)
Download all its publications: http://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/en/
HLPE publications highlight 4 findings

11. FSN: Building a global narrative towards 2030
HLPE publications highlight 4 findings (HLPF):
1. The tight and complex interactions between sectors
2. Beyond hunger, need for a new vision of FSN related challenges
3. The need for a radical transformation of agriculture and food
systems as a whole to improve FSN and achieve the Agenda 2030
4. Diverse situations, diverse solutions, global challenges

12. Food systems (not only production) are actually at the heart of a
nexus linking:
• Human health and needs
• Ecosystems health
• Climate change
• Social justice
• Political stability
SDG2 : agriculture and food
SDG2 and 2030 Agenda
1. The tight and complex interactions

13. • Malnutrition and not only hunger: in three people
• All countries
• Overweight and obesity is growing rapidly, while
undernutrition is on the rise again (821 million people
hungry)
• Drivers for change: urbanization, income growth and
changes in lifestyles
2. Beyond hunger, we need a new vision
of FSN related challenges

14. 3. Radical transformations needed
• An incredible transformation
• Fantastic! But at what costs ? Not sustainable!
• Radical transformations
– To contribute to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food
– As a lever to the whole 2030 Agenda

16. Caron et al. 2018. ASD

17. • Context specificity and adapted pathways
• No magic bullet nor “one size fits all” solution
• No scaling-up
• Local initiatives and innovations essential to build upon and
strengthen social capital and inclusive territory renaissance
• Embeddedness and interactions among micro, meso and macro
drivers and processes
4. Diverse situations, diverse solutions,
global challenges

18. Thank you for your attention!