New FAO report discusses options for influencing food environments for healthy diets

A man works in his vegetable field on the Barotse Floodplain, Zambia (photo credit: WorldFish/Anna Fawcus).

A new publication by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) focuses on influencing food environments for healthy diets through four areas: production of diversified food, food safety, food labelling and food-based dietary guidelines. FAO defines food environments as the settings with all the different types of food made available and accessible to people as they go about their daily lives.

The chapter on food safety was authored by Delia Grace, veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The chapter begins with an overview on foodborne diseases and the groups that are most vulnerable. It then goes on to discuss the health burden of—and trends in—foodborne diseases, the role of food safety in ensuring a healthy food environment and interventions that countries can take to improve food safety.

The recommendations put forward for improving food safety are:

• A ‘farm-to-fork’ approach is best for identifying control points
• Use risk-based approaches rather than hazard-based ones
• Where the informal sector predominates, professionalize rather than penalize
• Encourage the uptake of appropriate technology
• Improve food safety governance
• Take into account the costs of disease control
• Carry out holistic prioritization

The book was developed by FAO’s Nutrition and Food Systems Division as a follow-up activity to the Second International Conference on Nutrition held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy on 19–21 November 2014.

Download the book

 

ILRI scientists contribute to new FAO book on the International Year of Family Farming

A boy returns home with his family herd at dusk in Lhate Village, Chokwe, Mozambique. Livestock farming offers unique features to support local livelihoods and economies in developing countries (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann).

The year 2014 was declared the International Year of Family Farming. As the year comes to a close, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) last month launched a book, Deep Roots, that shines the spotlight on the important role that family farming plays in sustainable food production and conservation of natural resources.

FAO was the implementing agency of the International Year of Family Farming. Over the course of the year, FAO championed intense policy dialogue on family farming involving governments, networks of family farmers, civil society organizations, research institutions, academia and the private sector.

Deep Roots reflects the momentum generated by these discussions and captures diverse experiences, perspectives and insights on family farming from various authors and institutions from around the world.

Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) contributed a chapter that highlights the role of smallholder livestock farming in supporting local livelihoods and economies in developing countries.

“Smallholder family farms still dominate livestock production in most developing countries, especially with ruminant animals such as cattle, water buffalo, sheep and goats,” the authors note.

“These animals can remain productive by subsisting largely on low-cost roughages, stovers and other crop by-products produced or gathered locally, providing smallholders with a comparative advantage over larger livestock producers.”

The book was launched in Manila, Philippines on 27 November 2014 at the global closing event of the International Year of Family Farming.

Access the electronic version of the book, Deep Roots

Access the chapter, Livestock farming boosts local economies in developing countries, by ILRI’s Steve Staal, Susan MacMillan, Jacqueline Escarcha and Delia Grace

 

ILRI and FAO host meeting of regional food safety experts to strengthen collaboration

Participants at a food safety stakeholder meeting held on 24 February 2014 and hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (photo credit: ILRI/Samuel Mungai).

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya on 24-25 February 2014 to discuss increasing collaboration in the area of food safety. 

The meeting was linked with the recent signing of the memorandum of understanding between CGIAR  and FAO to strengthen ties between the two organizations for translating science to policy.

The first day was attended by over 25 representatives from more than 10 institutions including Kenyan government institutions, academia, international organizations and research institutions.

The representatives shared information regarding the work of their respective institutions in the area of food safety, identified some key areas for support, and provided an open forum to discuss food safety challenges.

During the discussion, ILRI and FAO presented an overview of ongoing or planned activities related to food safety.  Some of the key areas for support outlined by the stakeholders included food safety surveillance, generation of data, capacity building and improving collaboration across the wide range of stakeholders involved in managing food safety at the national level.

The second day was specifically for ILRI and FAO to discuss in detail possible areas for collaboration.  Each organization had outlined a wide range of topics to discuss including:

• multifactorial framework for policy decision-making in food safety;
• food safety risk analysis training opportunities;
• food safety surveillance including early warning and rapid alert systems; and
• practical food safety application in informal markets.

By the end of the meeting, the two organizations agreed on a number of activities that could benefit from joint efforts and for future collaborative work.

FAO representatives also had the opportunity to tour the ILRI campus facilities and discuss food safety issues with other ILRI colleagues outside of the Food Safety and Zoonoses team, including the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub which supports the use of biosciences to address food safety and security challenges in Africa such as aflatoxins.

The two-day meeting was highly successful, with both organizations expressing support for increased collaboration in the area of food safety at global and regional levels.

This meeting is timely given the increasing momentum of food safety globally and in Africa, as evidenced by the proposed development of a food safety coordination mechanism and the generation of the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa under the leadership of the African Union, among numerous other initiatives.

Download the workshop report