Séptima Asamblea de la Alianza por el Suelo de Latinoamérica y el Caribe, ASLAC, 27 de mayo de 2020. Sally Bunning, Ines Beernarts

1. Sally Bunning & Ines Beernaerts
FAO Regional &Subregional
offices in LAC

2. FAO Programmatic Approach in LAC 2020-2021
2. Towards a prosperous and inclusive rurality (Hand in hand)
Challenges: - Promote and accelerate Rural Territorial Development -
Link poverty reduction policies to the NRM and environmental
sustainability
3. Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture
Challenges - 1. Transform, at large scale, agriculture towards more
sustainable, resilient, inclusive and low-emission systems
- 2. Increase resilience of agricultural livelihoods to natural
disasters, pests, diseases and conflicts.
1. Transforming food systems for healthy diets for all
Challenges- 1. Eradicate Hunger, extreme poverty and malnutrition
- 2. Reduce food waste and loss
Food and soil quality (pesticide use, soil micronutrient deficiencies,…)

3. 3. SUSTAINABLE and RESILIENT AGRICULTURE
3.A. Terrestrial and marine production systems are SUSTAINABLE
3.B. Producers, communities and Ecosystems are more RESILIANT to
climate change
Sustainable Soil & Water
Management
Integrate & Protect Biodiversity and
Ecosystems
Sustainable Forest Management
Low GHG emission Agriculture and
Livestock
Blue Growth in aquatic systems
(marine and inland)
Investment in disaster risk
reduction
Monitoring risks and activate Early
warning
Adaptation to CC through resilient
practices
Improve disaster response and
promote resilient recuperation
Agro-environmental and climate Financing

4.  Strong rise in agricultural and fisheries exports: LAC is now a main global
provider of food (14% of production and 23% of exports). (Increase in global
food demand to 70% by 2050)
 This has resulted in important environmental costs: water scarcity and
contamination, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, reduction in fish stocks,
reduced forest cover and high GHG emissions - responsible for climate change
Trends in Recent Decades in Latin America and the Caribbean
 Significant effects of climate change in
agriculture: increase in extreme weather events,
sea level rise, pest and disease incidence and
severity, effects on water supply.
 Poverty, malnutrition and obesity (5060%
between 2000 y 2016, 262 million adults
affected, 60% of the population of the region –
Need for healthy and diverse foods for
consumers and reduce rural poverty .

5. En ALC, las amenazas mas graves por
los suelos
• la erosión,
• la perdida de carbono orgánico
• la salinización
Por estés 3 parámetros la situación está
identificada como mala y deteriorando
Estado Mundial del Recurso Suelo (2017)

6. Opportunities to transform agriculture to sustainable, efficient,
inclusive, resilient and low emission systems at scale
• Technological Innovation– introduction and adaptation
• Scaling out of good practices and systems to improve
productivity and restoration of NR and environmental services
• Investment in human capital and research
• Improve policy and regulations
• Supply to Green markets, circular economy
• Governance that stimulates partnership for inter-sectoral and
multi-actor coordination and cooperation, with a greater role of
the public
• Greater inclusion of vulnerable and disadvantaged producers
and gender equality

7. National and International Commitments
• Efforts to attain Agenda 2030 goals
• ODS 2 (zero hunger) & 12 (responsible production and consumption)
• ODS 6 (water and sanitation), 13 (climate action), ODS 15 (life on land)
• Integrated Vision towards UN Conventions– SSM is central to all
• UNFCCC Paris Agreement : Agriculture in the NDCs, COP-25 advances in
joint work programme of Koronovia – Re-carbonization of soils RECSOIL
• UNCCD Land degradation Neutrality soil health, conservation
management and restoration –SOC key indicator
• CBD Aichi targets - soil biodiversity in agricultural systems
• Sendai Framework for reduction of Risks of Disasters - soil and water
conservation to reduce risk of drought and flooding
• Ramsar protection of wetlands - peat soils
• Politico-technical process in the region
• PLACA Platform (Adaptation to CC in agricultural systems in LAC)
• Agroecology Platform and Family Agriculture approach

8. 1. Understand and mitigate its impacts on food and agriculture
FAO collaborates with WHO, WFP, IFAD, OIE (World Organization for Animal Health)
and other partners, supporting the evaluation and response to mitigate possible
effects on food & nutritional security, life, and livelihoods of the population and
especially the most vulnerable (e.g. World food trade, markets, food supply chains,
school feeding and water services, animal health and disease risks).
2. Safeguard food security and livelihoods of the most vulnerable.
Multiagency Humanitarian program and livelihood resilience (provide seeds /other
agricultural inputs to small producers and livestock keepers to sustain production
and generate income for families and communities) and social protection for the
most vulnerable
3. Ensuring a unified, One Health approach
FAO collaborates with WHO and OIE to recognize the connections between humans,
animals, plants and the ecosystem in an integrated manner and build capacity to
control and prevent infection, protecting the most vulnerable; increase access to
safe water, sanitation, hygiene and nutritious food for securing health.
FAO and COVID-19

9. FAO and COVID-19
1. Identify and support tools and public policies to cope with the effects of
the quarantine and restriction measures in agri-food systems
FAO Online Conferences - COVID-19 and Food Systems Series
http://www.fao.org/americas/publicaciones-audio-video/covid19-y-sistemas-
alimentarios/es/ (o /en)
2. Monitoring and early warning of internal food prices

10. Recent Assessment and progress towards the SDGs
• State of the World’s soil resources (2015 FAO and ITPS)
• Data and Maps of Soil Organic Carbon (2017 FAO, GSP and ITPS)
• IPBES Evaluation of Land Degradation and Restoration 2018,
• IPCC Special Report on Land and Climate Change
• World Atlas of Desertification (EC-JRC)
• Thematic reports World Water Development
• SOFA 2021 Water in agriculture (in preparation)

11. Projects in the Caribbean and Mesoamérica
• SOILCARE Soil Management for Restored Watersheds & Sustainable Food
Systems in Caribbean SIDS.
• Guyana: Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Development and Management;
land administration, strategic business plan, land planning and soil restoration
• Land bank projects Trinidad and Tobago St Lucia, Grenada
• Panama: SLM and restoration of productive landscapes in river basins for the
implementation of national targets of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)
Possible areas and opportunities for exchange of experiences
• Land degradation Neutrality and links with biodiversity and climate change
• National Adaptation Plans and Climate mitigation towards the NDCs
• Climate Smart Agriculture / Livestock and (agro-)forestry management
• Agro-environmental policy support
• Globally important agricultural heritage systems
• Agroforestry and silvopastoral systems, perennial crops, riparian buffer forests
for the restauration of degraded productive landscapes

12. • Improve soil and water governance for sustainable, resilient and
inclusive management in agricultural territories/watersheds/ landscapes
• Strengthen governance: case studies, water accounting, policy -technical
dialogue, experience exchange between countries
• Identification of normative and financial tools for SSM/SLM
• Develop a RECSOIL program to restore SOM, biodiversity and productivity
and to advance towards Land Degradation Neutrality
• Promote, with technical institutions and local actors, scaling out of good
practices and monitoring impacts in farms and agricultural territories.
• Capacity building in adapted technologies & innovations and tools and
participatory approaches for integrated, efficient soil & water management
• Identify barriers, strengths and weaknesses for the adoption and scaling out
of good practices
• Road map to establish indicators and monitoring of the impacts of
agriculture (incl. livestock and forestry) on soil and water
What are your soil and water priority actions for a
Regional TCP - Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture?

13. Conclusions and Opportunities
• Increased access to global environmental and climate funds (multiple focal areas) in
agricultural systems - Achieving LDN by 2030 (Land restoration, investments in SLM, the
role of private sector, governance and policies)
• Investment in Integrated soil and water management in agricultural programs for
productivity, resilience and disaster risk reduction using a landscape approach
• Sustainable agriculture: food loss/waste and food quality, nutrition-sensitive agriculture
and sustainable diets;
• GSP support to ASLAC in prioritizing and implementing its regional plan towards the 5
Pillars, application of VG‐SSM and capacity building in mapping of soil salinity (ongoing)
and soil carbon sequestration potential (2020)
• RECSOIL integration for soil productivity, carbon sequestration, humidity, biodiversity
• Platforms PLACA, Agroecology and Family Farming
• Digital and other technological Innovations
• Public Sector collaboration i) ongoing piloting with Telefonica and ii) Potential for
collaboration on soils e.g. promote application of code of conduct on use of fertilizers

14. Flagship Publications (in preparation)
State of the World’s Land and Water Resources SOLAW 2021
(10 years since the first publication SOLAW in 2011)
• Update the status and trends, challenges and opportunities,
options and actions to improve sustainability and food
security
• Sensitize and inform decision making
• Highlight risks, “hotspots” and opportunities.
• Separate study on wetlands and agriculture
FAO Land and water Division is looking for those who would like to share
and publish data, case studies and experiences.
If YOU would like to collaborate, contact : Sally.Bunning@fao.org or
Ines.Beernaerts@fao.org and Feras.Ziadat@fao.org in FAOHQ

15. Thank you for your attention