FAO Contributions and Tools to Support the SPF Initiative Paola Termine Rural Employment Officer Gender, Equity and Rural Employment (ESW) Food and Agriculture Organization Inter Agency Technical Meeting on the CEB Social Protection Floor Initiative Turin, October 2009

FAO Mandate and Social Protection FAO leads international efforts to defeat hunger For the most vulnerable income means access to food Livelihood security has a direct impact on the availability, access, utilization and stability of food supply The long term impacts of disruptions in livelihood security can be seriously detrimental to MDGs achievement

FAO Approach Right-based Maximise multiplier effects through appropriate agricultural policy Two tiers approach for agricultural and rural development: first tier is social protection / safety nets to facilitate process of transition from agricultural to industrial economy (second tier)

Social protection in emergency operations Restoring food production and reducing dependency on aid. Inputs distribution (seed and fertilizer, fishing equip, livestock, farm tools) Assistance in complex emergencies (armed conflicts and natural disasters) through drought resistant seed distribution, training and extension Aim is to: provide materials and inputs and build people’s knowledge and skills, increase self-reliance and lay foundations for agricultural recovery

Social protection and decent work Occupational safety and health (OS&H) through negotiated and voluntary standards and codes of practice chemical (pesticide) use chemical (pesticide) use equipment safety equipment safety GAP GAP logging, safety at sea logging, safety at sea Technology to reduce drudgery Safety nets

Tools and Methodologies Tools on food security and early warning systems for policy Farmer Field School (Best Practices)Best Practices Junior Farmer Field and Life School Building capacity for community-level nutrition, care and support needs of people living with HIV/AIDS Emergency Safety Net for Vulnerable Groups– Homestead Gardening Livelihood Based Social Protection for Orphans and other Children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS (OVC), learning tools How to Create Country/District Specific Database for Response to Emergencies: FAO-ILO Rapid Livelihoods Assessment and Response Planning. Guidelines for Emergency SituationsRapid Livelihoods Assessment and Response Planning. Guidelines for Emergency Situations

Technical Advisory Services Assessing and implementing public work programmes and promoting Productive Safety Nets (Food for Work, Cash for Work, Food for asset schemes). Programme implementation manuals (Ethiopia, Malawi, Burundi) Linking social protection and support to small farmer development, synergies with agricultural policy (Malawi, Ethiopia, Ghana) Policies to support food security and livelihoods of the elderly (Malawi) Programme in Southern Africa: social protection for OVCs (national social protection mechanisms)

Capacity building and awareness FAO Distance Learning on Safety Nets (forthcoming)Distance Learning Global Information and Early Warning Systems (GIEWS) portal FAO’s Right to Food Guidelines: support implementation of human right to adequate food Food Security information for decision making (foodsec.org) Joint FAO-ILO website: Food, Agriculture & Decent Work (social protection as one pillar of decent work)

Institutional Mechanisms (1/2) Initiative on Soaring Food Prices Provide policy indications to governments Monitoring food and nutrition in vulnerable countries Monitoring and comparing countries response policies World Summit on Food Security ( November 2009) FAO is committed to the renewal of the “Committee for Food Security” (CFS) as a system of global governance: Forum to discuss and lay out policy principles Develop strategies and means to monitor progress Report to the FAO Conference and the UN General Assembly

Institutional Mechanisms 2/2 The UN High Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis: includes provision to extend safety nets to the most vulnerable, coherently with its Comprehensive Framework for Action emergency food assistance, nutrition interventions and safety nets smallholder farmer food production, increasing access to costly agricultural inputs and rapid improvement of agricultural infrastructure trade and tax policies macro-economic implications. UN and partners’ alliance for Livelihood-based safety nets (LBSN) (Southern Africa) FAO and EU Food Facility for concrete interventions for farmers hit by high food prices (e.g. provision of inputs)

Challenges and Follow Up Challenges: Defining social protection in rural areas Agreement on targeting criteria Social protection coverage of informal economy and agriculture in remote rural areas Follow up: UN System Wide Action Plan of 2 nd UN decade for the eradication of poverty “full employment and decent work for all”

Online FAO Resources FAO Secretariat Statement for the World Summit on Food Security Nov 2009 FAO, 2008, Linking Social Protection and Support to Small Farmer DevelopmentLinking Social Protection and Support to Small Farmer Development Case Studies: Ethiopia, Malawi, GhanaEthiopiaMalawiGhana Initiative on Soaring Food Prices FAO, 2008, Programme Document. Aiming to Reduce the Food Insecurity Caused by Soaring Food PricesProgramme Document. Aiming to Reduce the Food Insecurity Caused by Soaring Food Prices FAO, 2008, Guide for Immediate Country Level ActionGuide for Immediate Country Level Action FAO, 2009, Country Responses to the Food Security Crisis: Nature and Preliminary Implications of the Policies PursuedCountry Responses to the Food Security Crisis: Nature and Preliminary Implications of the Policies Pursued FAO, 2009, Horn of Africa, Crisis ReportsHorn of Africa, Crisis Reports FAO, 2009, Guiding Principles for Seed Provision in Response to High Food PricesGuiding Principles for Seed Provision in Response to High Food Prices FAO, ILO, 2009, Rapid Livelihoods Assessment and Response Planning. Guidelines for Emergency SituationsRapid Livelihoods Assessment and Response Planning. Guidelines for Emergency Situations FAO, WFP, 2009, Responding to the Food Crisis: Synthesis of Medium-Term MeasuresResponding to the Food Crisis: Synthesis of Medium-Term Measures The Tool-KitEducation for Rural People; Tools;Education for Rural PeopleTools Technical Advisory ServicesEarly Warning System; National Price ToolEarly Warning SystemNational Price Tool Capacity Building SupportTraining; Distance Learning; Right to FoodTrainingDistance LearningRight to Food Productive Safety Nets Case Studies: Ethiopia, Malawi, GhanaEthiopiaMalawiGhana

Thank you