34th Session of the Regional Conference for the Near East ©FAO/Khaled Desouki ©FAO/Khaled REGIONAL CONFERENCE FAO convened the Thirty-fourth Session of the Regional Conference for the Near East (NERC- 34) in Rome, Italy, 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 ©FAO/Alessandra MINISTERIAL DECLARATION On 11 May 2018, NENA member countries agreed to ramp up efforts to fight and end hunger in the region. This accord came at the closing session of the NERC-34 with the sign- Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra 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 Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra 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 ©FAO/Giuseppe 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 Carotenuto ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto ©FAO/Giuseppe 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 Carotenuto ©FAO/Giuseppe 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 Benedetti ©FAO/Alessandra 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 ©FAO/Alessandra “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 Goodwill Ambassador -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/Alessandra “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