EU policy framework to assist developing countries in addressing food security challenges

The Commission presents a second report on progress towards achieving the aims of the EU policy framework to assist developing countries in addressing food security challenges’, which was adopted in 2010.

Since then, further EU development policy commitments have been undertaken to reinforce priorities established in 2010. An implementation plan was produced and discussed in Council in April 2013, which requested that the European Commission establishes, jointly with Member States, consolidated EU-wide biennial progress reports from 2014 onwards.

Therefore, the Commission coordinates this second report with inputs from the following Member States: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. It sets out how the EU and its Member States are delivering on the policy priorities for food and nutrition security, agreed in 2013.

Main findings: the report illustrates that EU development cooperation is making a substantial contribution to global food and nutrition security through its EUR 3.7 billion in investments. The EU and its Member States have been instrumental in influencing key global agreements and commitments, and through their food and nutrition security programming are now well placed to support their implementation. 

The report indicates significant alignment with the EU policy framework. The EU and its Member States have renewed policy commitments to food and nutrition security and in a number of cases have substantially improved their focus and funding.

Among the main recommendations made in the report regarding the way forward are the following;

• keep food and nutrition security at the forefront of the global and national policy agenda to support implementation of the sustainable development goals. Continued emphasis is needed on transforming the role of women and on building the resilience of vulnerable communities;
• strengthen a joint multi-sectoral approach to tackling under nutrition: the EU and its Member States must give more attention to coordination when engaging with partner governments in policy dialogue to improve the implementation of nutrition initiatives;
• join forces to support partner countries to address the impact of climate change, while implementing the best options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming and rural areas: due attention will be given to programmes that provide small-scale family farmers with multiple benefits in terms of food and nutrition security and climate change adaptation and mitigation;
• recognise rural transformation as a critical process to create jobs, raise income and achieve food and nutrition security in the long-term: more work is needed to create the conditions for economic investment and development in rural areas;
• enhance mechanisms to boost responsible private sector engagement and to learn from inclusive business models: create effective public private partnerships that ensure governance mechanisms in which producer organisations and civil society organisations have a voice, and strengthen ‘inclusive business’ approaches;
• ensure continued investment in research and innovation and scale up the impact of investment: there is a need to mobilise European expertise and research resources and strengthen partnerships between European and southern research institutions, including through the jointly funded EU Africa Research Partnership. Further work is also needed to better understand future food and nutrition security trends and risks and possible responses to them;
• strengthen results reporting, through substantially improved data gathering, monitoring and impact assessment mechanisms at all levels;
• strengthen joint programming, with improved joint programing initiatives in at least three countries.