34th Session of the Regional Conference for the Near East ©FAO/ Desouki REGIONAL CONFERENCE

FAO convened the Thirty-fourth Session of the Regional Conference for the Near East (NERC- 34) in Rome, , from 7 to 11 May 2018.

The regional conference brought together more than 140 delegates from 30 member coun- tries across the Near East and North Africa (NENA), including 19 government ministers, rep- resentatives of civil society, the private sector, other regional UN agencies and international organisations, to elaborate on regional challenges and priorities for food security and nu- trition, and to promote regional coherence on global policies. ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti

MINISTERIAL DECLARATION

On 11 May 2018, NENA member countries agreed to ramp up efforts to fight and end in the region. This accord came at the

closing session of the NERC-34 with the sign- ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti ing of a Ministerial Declaration by the Min- isters of Agriculture and Environment of the region for achieving Zero Hunger by 2030.

The ministerial declaration acknowledged the vital role exerted by FAO in supporting countries of the region to develop strategies and policies that contribute to eradicating food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition, and to building resilience to shocks, crisis ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti and conflicts as a means to achieve regional stability and peace.

It also recognised and welcomed the progress made by FAO’s three regional initiatives, namely i) Building resilience for enhanced food security and nutrition; ii) Small-scale family farming; iii) Water scarcity.

2 REGIONAL TALKS ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto

Countries of the NENA region face numerous common challenges to achieving improved food security, nutrition and inclusive agri- cultural development.

Recent conflicts and civil instability in some ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto countries of the region, as well as rapid population growth, increasing urbanisa- tion, low growth in food production, water scarcity, fragile natural resources and the threat of climate change, have compounded the situation.

The region enjoyed a steady improvement in food security and nutrition until the begin- ning of the decade. However, since 2012 the

situation has sharply deteriorated, mainly ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto because of the spread and intensity of con- flicts and protracted crises.

The level of undernourishment in NENA na- tions facing conflict is about 28 percent of their population – six times larger than in non-conflict countries in the region. Of around 40.2 million undernourished people in the NENA, 28.1 million are in con- flict states and 12.1 million in non-conflict countries.

In light of these challenges, NERC-34 analysed and discussed trends in various in- dicators of regional food security and nutrition and drew out lessons learned and best practices that can be used in response.

The conference also discussed various topics that can contribute to agricultural de- velopment in the region and assist member states in achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

These topics included agricultural transformation, the challenge of youth em- ployment and migration, adapting to climate change in semi-arid areas through agro-ecology, and regional cooperation to address trans-boundary plant, animal and fish pests and diseases.

3 CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Leaving no one behind

A high-level side event was dedicated to discussing “Challenges to Attaining Zero Hunger in Conflict/Crisis Areas in NENA

Region with Highlights on Somalia and ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti Yemen”. Discussions focused on the im- pact of conflict and protracted crises on regional food security and nutrition.

Talks also focused on solutions on to avert famine, and protect and rebuild liveli- hoods. The pivotal importance of building

resilience and sustaining peace in the re- gion to enable achieving Zero Hunger by “In Yemen, the agricultural sector and food security situation

2030 was emphasised. have been heavily affected by conflicts in the last five years. There is an urgency for regional collaboration and coordinated “ “ humanitarian efforts to alleviate the current situation on the “We need peace and stability in the region if we are to end Yemeni people and support their livelihoods.” hunger. We need regional dialogue and solidarity.” -HE Othman Hussein Faid Mujli, Minister for Agriculture and Irri- -Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General gation, the Republic of Yemen ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti

“There are too many people left behind, practically in the Near East and North Africa region. The region is currently home to the largest number of conflicts in the world, leading

“ to widespread food insecurity and massive displacement.” “Since 2012, Somalia’s food security has -Laurent Thomas, Deputy Director-General Operations been recovering. Thanks to FAO support

and other countries in the region. We are committed to implementing 2030 “One-third of the countries in the Near East and North agenda, sustainable development goals“ Africa are home to or witness to conflicts. We cannot especially SDG 2, Zero Hunger.”

eliminate hunger and in the presence of all these con- -H.E. Hamud Ali Hassan, Deputy Min- flicts in the region, it is time for a peaceful solution to ister for Agriculture and Irrigation, the “ Federal Republic of Somalia

the crises.” -H.E. Ghazi Zeaiter, Chairperson of NERC-34 and Minis-

ter for Agriculture, the Lebanese Republic

“Investing in long term plans that supports resilience, “ “The Zero Hunger message embraces the whole 2030 self-reliance and sustainable development as well as col- Agenda. There is no Zero Hunger without peace, there “ laboration with all stakeholders that include governments, is no Zero Hunger with no sustainable management of partners, UN agencies and definitely the Rome-based agen- natural resources, and there is no Zero Hunger with cies is the key to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.” poverty.” -Darine El Khatib, FAO -Amir Abdulla, WFP Deputy Executive Director. for Zero Hunger in the Near East and North Africa.

4 CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Towards achieving results ©F AO/Alessandra Benedetti

To address the challenges facing the NENA region, FAO had been channelling its work through three Regional Initiatives (RIs) since 2014 to effectively identify pan-regional issues and solutions. These Regional Initiatives focus on “Water Scarcity”; “Small-scale Family Farming” and “Building Resilience for Food Security and Nutrition”.

These served as the main mechanism to ensure effective delivery in a coordinated way and demon- strate the impact of FAO’s work on the key priorities of the region, guided by FAO’s Strategic Pro- grammes.

In light of this strategic framework, an event on FAO results and priorities was held on the sidelines of NERC-34.

The main objective of this session was to illustrate how FAO works through its Strategic Programmes and Regional Initiatives, and how it has assisted countries to achieve results in the region within the context of agreed priorities. The event was a platform for experience sharing and cross-sector part- nerships and collaborations between various stakeholders. ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti “FAO’s strategic programmes guide FAO’s technical work to address complex, cross-cutting

and multi-disciplinary priorities in the region, including SDGs and

climate change. The strategic pro- grammes help to accomplish the strategic objectives through the “ regional initiatives.” “FAO has initiated three major regional initiatives -Pasquale Steduto, FAO Regional and we strongly believe that these initiatives are Programmes Leader for the Near adequately and timely responding to the main pri- East and North Africa “ orities and constraints of the Near East and North Africa region.” -Kamel Shideed, Assistant Director General - In- ternational Cooperation, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas.

5 CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Fostering agriculture and food investment

The side event on agriculture and food invest- ment highlighted the urgency of introducing public and private investment in food and agriculture within countries of the region to stimulate economic growth, fight rural pover- ty, eliminate hunger and reduce malnutrition, address migration challenges, and ultimately achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ©FAO/Cristiano Minichiello. ©FAO/Cristiano The event showcased the assistance FAO pro-

vides to member countries in relation to in- vestments through four main pillars: support

for the design of large public investments “Digital technology allows you to produce tremendous amounts funded by partner organisations, facilitation of food using your very scarce resources, and I think that MENA of private investments and of public-private can make most of its scarcity and become a global leader in this “ sector dialogue in agriculture, country agri- area by showing the rest of the world how to adopt these technol- culture investment planning and capacity de- ogies and capitalise on their scarcity.” velopment related to investment. -Julian Lampietti, Agriculture Global Practice Manager, MENA and ECA, World Bank

FAO support for investment and regional suc- cess stories were presented, with a particular emphasis on facilitating private sector invest- ment in agriculture and country investment planning exercises. Examples were given from ©FAO/Cristiano Minichiello. ©FAO/Cristiano , Oman, Tunisia, Morocco and Sudan. FAO’s main partners with regards to invest- “Continentally, it costs $35 billion annually to import food, and ment, namely the World Bank, the European this number is expected to increase to $110 billion if nothing is Bank for Reconstruction and Development done by the horizon of 2025.” (EBRD), the African Development Bank (AFDB) -Bouchaib Boulanouar, Partnership Officer, Agriculture and and the International Fund for Agricultural “ Agro-industry Department, AFDB Development (IFAD) presented their priorities and strategies for the NENA region. FAO also showcased its activities to promote the princi- ples for Committee on World Food Security – “With FAO, we work on many projects not only related to Responsible Agriculture Investment (CFS-RAI). financing but also how to blend financing and have other outcomes in the market which increase the competitive- “ness of these economies.” -Iride Ceccacci, Principal Economist, EBRD

“Blended financing that is putting together development Discussions focused on drawing lessons and assistance with development bank loans and guarantees is recommendations. They concluded that FAO very important, because that will bring private investors in backing for activities that support investment “ places where they don’t go and that is important for coun- are key and highly appreciated by member tries’ development efforts. It is easy for everyone to invest countries, and that they should strengthened in safe havens, but together we can push investors where and expanded, notably to facilitate private in- they would not normally go.” vestment and public-private sector policy dia- -Roberto Ridolfi, Special Adviser on Strategy and Financing logue in agriculture, with a focus on diversify- Development, FAO ing funding sources, on blended finance and financial innovation. 6 CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS Sand and Dust Storms Dialogue

A side event was held during NERC-34 to dis- cuss the challenges and ways of mitigating sand and dust storms, a highly complex en- vironmental phenomenon that has gained growing attention in past decades because of its trans-boundary impact on the environ- ment, climate, health, livelihoods, agriculture and socio-economic well-being.

Experience from both within and outside “The WMO-supported Sand and Dust the region was presented, and discussion ac- Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment knowledged the urgency of long-term plan- “ System has potential agriculture applica- ning, intervention and investment to address tions and can be developed further into an the problem and be prepared for the chal- effective early warning system.” lenge, which climate change is likely to affect -Robert Stefanski, Agricultural Meteorolo- further. gy Division, WMO At the end of the session, participants called for immediate action. They stressed the ur- gent need to support countries in creating further awareness, bringing the issue high- er on the international agenda, and helping countries address the challenge through both immediate and long-term actions.

“The challenge of sand and dust storms is a particularly inter- esting topic for us in FAO… in the Near East every country is “ ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto affected by it. It is also one of the topics where agriculture is partially a cause… but also hugely suffers.” -Daniel Gustafon, FAO Deputy Director-General for Strategic Programmes

“We must raise awareness of the issue of sand and dust storms in the NENA region because almost all countries in “ the region face this issue. Although the problem is global, it particularly affects the NENA region, which is ecologically ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto fragile and in an instable situation. We need to come up with a practical recommendation and solution.” -Mohamed Hussein Emadi, Permanent Representative of Iran to FAO

7 IN THE NEWS

8 NERC34 - ON TWITTER

9 LOOKING AHEAD THE WAY FORWARD

After five days of discussion on the regional conference thematic papers, member countries of the Near East and North Africa requested that FAO strengthen its work for 2018-2020 on:

•Boosting efforts on eradicating hunger and malnutrition in conflict-hit countries;

•Integrating agro-ecology into existing NENA Regional Initiatives and helping countries build on successes achieved under the South-South and Triangular Cooperation;

•Building capacity in areas relevant to agro-ecology for climate adaptation for food secu- rity and nutrition by rehabilitating degraded land, monitoring and assessing degradation, rangelands management and conserving biodiversity;

•Helping countries adopt and implement evidence-based agricultural transformation strategies that focus on closing the rural-urban gap, aiming to reduce rural and urban poverty and unemployment in particular among youth, while accounting for migration’s drivers, impact and trends;

•Reinforcing knowledge-sharing within and outside the region on limiting rural migra- tion and creating job opportunities, including through South-South Cooperation;

•Providing support to countries to develop collaborative strategies and plans to manage risks of trans-boundary plant, animal and fish pests and diseases in times of crisis, includ- ing through monitoring and strengthening cross-border surveillance and dialogue;

•Assisting countries affected by crises and conflicts to establish/rebuild and strengthen plant and animal quarantine systems.

TOwards 2020:

The Sultanate of Oman is to convene the thirty-fifth session of the Regional Confer- ence in 2020.

10 40 years in the field: young and still growing

Nine countries are commemorating their 40th anniversaries between 2017 and 2019 in the NENA region. Their milestones and success

stories were highlighted in a photo exhibi- ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti tion held on the sidelines of the conference.

Between 1977 and 1979, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, , Mauritania, Sudan, Syria and Yemen signed agreements to establish FAO representation offices in their respective countries.

The exhibition was also an opportunity to “The Near East and North Africa region hosted the first ever FAO highlight major achievements made through regional office in Egypt, sub-regional office in Tunisia and coun- country-level cooperation, to promote new try office in Lebanon; and for 40 years, fighting hunger, poverty forms of representation and partnerships, “ and malnutrition have been at the heart of our work. FAO’s co- and to encourage renewed commitment to operation with member countries and support in the field are future collaboration, thereby increasing sup- crucial in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) port for countries to meet the Sustainable by 2030, in particular, food security and nutrition.” Development Goals. -Abdessalam Ould Ahmed, FAO Assistant Director-General and

NENA Regional Representative during the opening of the exhibition

“So many of the issues FAO works on are very dear to my heart, such ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti as nutrition, food loss and waste, water and resources waste. In ad- dition, through its other programmes FAO is continuously support- “ ing people displaced by conflict, strengthening livelihoods, creating youth employment and helping farmers adapt to climate change.” -Darine El-Khatib, Special Goodwill Ambassador for Zero Hunger for NENA

AWARDS FOR FAO

The Sudan recognises FAO’s role in fighting hunger

In recognition of leading FAO’s efforts to combat hunger, Director-General José Gra- ziano da Silva has been awarded the Order of ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto the Two Niles of the First Class by the Govern- ment of the Sudan.

Graziano da Silva received the award during the closing ceremony of NERC-34.

Sudan’s minister praised FAO’s role in seek- ing to create a world free from hunger and malnutritionvw and improve livelihoods for “The prestigious honour has been bestowed upon Graziano da “ sustainable agricultural development, as well Silva in particular for his efforts to advance Sudan’s cooperation as raising food and nutrition security, espe- with FAO throughout his years as Director-General.” cially in conflict-affected and protracted cri- -Abdullatif Ajimi, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forests ses areas in Sudan.

11 FAO Regional office for the Near East and North Africa Address: 11 Al-Eslah Al-Zerai street, Dokki P.O. Box: 2223 Cairo, Egypt Telephone: (+202) 33316000 Fax: (+202) 37495981 Website: www.fao.org/neareast Twitter: FAOinNENA FAOinNENA_EN @FAO, 2018 CA0713EN/1/07.18