REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments: Second biennial report
Date: 2016-06-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission
Subjects: aid to agriculture, developing countries, development aid, development policy, food aid, food safety, hunger, least-developed country, malnutrition, undernourishment

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 6.6.2016  COM(2016) 244 final   REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments:  Second biennial report {SWD(2016) 155 final}  
 
 
1. INTRODUCTION 

This  is  the  second  report1  on  progress  towards  achieving  the  aims  of  the  ‘EU  policy 
framework to assist developing countries in addressing food security challenges’, which was 
adopted  in  20102.  Since  then,  further  EU  development  policy  commitments  have  been 
undertaken to reinforce priorities established in 2010; an Implementation Plan3 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,  in  line  with  Article  210(2)  TFEU4,  this  second  report  is  coordinated  by  the 
Commission  with  inputs  from  the  following  Member  States:  Austria,  Belgium,  Finland, 
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. This report  
sets out how the EU and its Member States are delivering on the policy priorities for food and 
nutrition security, agreed in 2013. The report is accompanied by a Commission Staff Working 
Document, which provides information on methodology and detailed case studies.  

2. GLOBAL AND EUROPEAN POLICY DEVELOPMENTS 

Substantial  progress  is  being  made  in  improving  global  food  security.  The  Global  Hunger 
Index  shows  that  the  level  of  hunger  in  developing  countries  has  fallen  by  27 %  since 
2000. However,  the  total  number  of  people  chronically  undernourished  is  nevertheless  at 
795 million. Climate  change,  overuse  of  natural  resources,  disease  risks,  food  price 
volatility/inflation, changing diets and armed conflict continue to be significant risks to food 
and nutrition security, with a confluence of events creating and/or risking crisis scenarios at 
national, regional or global levels. Furthermore, there has been a substantial increase in socio-
economic inequality within countries, and this impacts on food and nutrition security. 

Against this background, 2014/2015 saw a number of significant international agreements and 
commitments that have maintained global momentum and political will for food and nutrition 
security, and in which the EU and its Member States played a major role. Importantly, ending 
hunger has become the second goal within the 2030 Agenda ‘Transforming our World’5. The 
EU has actively supported the Committee on World Food Security, including the endorsement 
of the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment6. 

Further,  G7  leaders  committed  in  2015  to  help  lift  500  million  people  out  of  hunger  and 
malnutrition by 2030. The G20 adopted a long term Food Security and Nutrition Framework 
in  2014,  followed  by  an  Action  Plan  in  20157. These  actions  are  underpinned  by  the  Addis 
Ababa  Action  Agenda8,  where  a  political  commitment  to  help  finance  sustainable 
development through innovative sources was affirmed. 

1 COM(2014) 712 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Implementing EU 
food and nutrition security policy commitments: first biennial report. 
2  COM(2010)  127  final  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  -  An  EU 
policy framework to assist developing countries in addressing food security challenges. 
3SWD (2013) 104 final Boosting food and nutrition security through EU action: implementing our commitments.  
4  Article  210  (2)  TFEU  reads:  "The  Commission  may  take  any  useful  initiative  to  promote  the  coordination 
referred to in paragraph 1." 
5 Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, United Nations.   
6 Supported by FAO-OECD Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains launched in March 2016 
7 G20 Development Working Group Food Security and Nutrition: Implementation Plan of the G20 Food Security 
and Nutrition Framework  
8  Addis  Ababa  Action  Agenda  of  the  Third  International  Conference  on  Financing  for  Development  (Addis 
Ababa Action Agenda).  

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In December 2015, parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change signed the 
Paris  Agreement  charting  a  new  ambitious  course  for  the  global  effort  to  tackle  climate 
change.  This  has  significant  implications  for  food  and  nutrition  security.  Several  events 
focused on global food security were held during the 2015 Expo Milano hosted by Italy. 

Donors have recognised the importance of responsible private sector investment in agriculture 
including sustainable fisheries and aquaculture and that the agricultural  sector, in  particular,  
is a major engine for inclusive growth and job creation in rural areas. 

EU  donors  universally  recognise  the  critical  role  women  play  in  agriculture  and  food  and 
nutrition  security.  The EU  Gender  Action  Plan  for  2016-20209  commits  the  EU  and  its 
Member  States  to  ensuring  that  girls’  and  women’s  economic  and  social  rights  are  fulfilled 
and that they can participate fairly and actively in the economy. 

Agricultural  livelihoods  and  food  and  nutrition  security  are  significant  factors  affecting 
political stability, security and migration. The EUR 1.9 billion ‘Emergency EU Trust Fund for 
stability  and  addressing  root  causes  of  irregular  migration  in  Africa’10  will  help  to  create 
employment  opportunities,  mainly  for  young  people  and  women  in  rural  areas.  It  will  also 
build resilience for food and nutrition security, thereby helping to address the root causes of 
migration. 

The Commission is committed to a knowledge economy and recognises the essential role of 
research and innovation in food and nutrition security. In 2014, within the framework of the 
EU Africa Partnership, EU and African Heads of States endorsed a jointly-funded EU-Africa 
Research  and  Innovation  Partnership11,  which  identified  food  and  nutrition  security  and 
sustainable agriculture as the top priority. 

Consequently, the EU policy framework remains highly relevant. As this report illustrates, the 
EU and its Member States have maintained a strong commitment to and some of them, have 
significantly increased their support12. 

3. REPORTING AND PROGRESS 

This  section  provides  an  account  of  the  food  and  nutrition  security  disbursements  and 
progress towards the policy priority performance criteria since the first report in 2014. 

Disbursements 

Compared to the first report, the EU and its Member States’ spending on  food and nutrition 
security increased by 9 %, from EUR 3,365 million to EUR 3,659 million13, which represents 
8 % of total official development assistance (ODA) 14. 

These disbursements from the EU and its Member States reflect a diverse portfolio of support 
for key global, regional and national level priorities for achieving food and nutrition security. 

9

  SWD(2015)182  Gender  Equality  and  Women's  Empowerment:  Transforming  the  Lives  of  Girls  and  Women 
through  EU  External  Relations  2016-2020  and  Council  Conclusions  on  Gender  Action  Plan  2016-2020,  26 
October 2015. 
10 C(2015) 7293 final  Commission Decision on the establishment of a European Union Emergency Trust Fund 
for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa. 
11 http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/index.cfm?pg=africa 
12 For example: Germany with its special initiative ‘One World — No Hunger’. 
13 Spain started reporting this year and represents 20 % of the increase. 
14 OECD DAC data  published  in December 2014  was  used  for this second report.  DAC  codes used are  wider 
than  the  agriculture  and  food  security  codes.  Emergency  and  humanitarian  aid  related  to  food  security  is  not 
included in the assessment. 

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Country level interventions represent two thirds of total investment. In 2014, 25 % of aid was 
disbursed at global level, 9 % at regional level and 66% at national level. 

Table 1 shows that Africa remains the largest  beneficiary of the EU  and its Member States' 
food  and  nutrition  security  ODA  at  45 %,  or  EUR  1,663  million.  Overall,  the  geographic 
spread of investment remains broadly similar to 2012. 

Table 1. Geographical distribution of aid disbursement in 2012 and 2014 per continent 

 Continent 

Africa — sub-Saharan 

Global 

Asia 

Latin America and Caribbean 

Neighbourhood countries  
Other15 
Total 

2012  
(EUR 
million) 
1,439 

958 

593 

231 

88 

56 

2012 
(%) 

43 % 

28 % 

18 % 

7 % 

3 % 

2 % 

2014  
(EUR 
million) 

2014 
( %) 

1,663  45 % 

899  25 % 

539  15 % 

225 

231 

102 

6 % 

6 % 

3 % 

3,366 

100 % 

3,659 

100 % 

This  is  despite  several  Member  States  experiencing  general  downward  pressure  on  ODA 
disbursements.  This  continued  substantial  investment,  along  with  new  policies  and 
programmes, reflects the commitment of the EU and its Member States to delivering on the 
EU’s food and nutrition security policy. 

Progress towards policy priorities and performance criteria 

Table 2. Progress against performance criteria 

Policy priorities 

Year 
1. Improve smallholder resilience and 
livelihoods 

 of which research programmes 

2. Support effective governance 

3. Support regional agriculture and food 
and nutrition security 
4. Strengthen social protection 
mechanisms for food and nutrition 
security 

Number of 
programmes 
2012 

2014 

1,560 

1,822 

149 

410 

98 

94 

154 

588 

188 

102 

5. Enhance nutrition 

278 

341 

Support 
received  
(EUR million)  
2014 
2,137 
58 % 

2012 
2,022 
60 % 

379 
395 
12 % 
151 
4 % 

209 
6 % 

467 
14 % 

122 
4 % 

300 
535 
15 % 
191 
5 % 

133 
4 % 

504 
14 % 

159 
4 % 

Number of 
countries 

2012 

2014 

108 

103 

84 

92 

40 

63 

18 

40 

64 

37 

6. Enhance coordination of humanitarian 
and development actors to increase 
resilience 
Total 

63 

148 

2,503 

3,343 

3,366 

3,659 

15 ‘Other’ covers programmes in the Middle East, Pacific or more than one region or continent. 

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Table  2  shows  disbursements  and  the  number  of  programmes  which  received  funding  per 
policy  priority.  The  funding  allocated  to  policy  priority  1,  which  received  60 %  of  funding, 
has  remained  the  same,  but  there  has  been  a  major  increase  in  the  number  of  programmes. 
The  number  of  programmes  and  disbursements  under  policy  priority  6  has  increased 
significantly. In general, the results suggest steady and continued progress across all criteria. 

Policy priority 1 is the major focus of the EU and its Member States. It includes measures to 
support smallholders in sustainable intensification, improve the provision of services, promote 
pro-poor research and innovation, provide opportunities for off-farm employment and to link 
smallholders to market by developing the value chain. Europe has remained a key supporter 
of research and innovation, including to the Consultative Group of International Agricultural 
Research (CGIAR) Fund (EUR 169 million), and was an important bilateral donor (EUR 69 
million)  to  CGIAR  institutions.  The  European  Initiative  for  Agricultural  Research  and 
Development remains an effective platform for donor coordination and provides Europe with 
a strong voice in the CGIAR reform. 

Textbox 1: Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) 

The Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme led by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa 
and  supported  by  the  EU  and  several  Member  States  proved  that  IAR4D  is  a  good  and  effective 
approach to agricultural research in responding to farmers’ needs. Individuals participating in IAR4D 
innovation platforms attained an average income of EUR 99 per year, 231 % above the baseline figure 
of EUR 44 per year.  

Under  policy  priority  2,  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  have  been  active  in  supporting 
regional  and  national  level  policies.  At  pan-African  level,  they  continued  to  substantially 
support the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme process. Further, the 
EU and various Member States delivered support to decentralisation processes, which are key 
to rural transformation, and supported the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the 
Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests. 

The EU and its Member States continued to ensure Policy Coherence for Development in the 
area  of  food  and  nutrition  security.  The  2015  EU  report  on  Policy  Coherence  for 
Development16  scrutinises  the  EU  and  its  Member  States’  agricultural  and  fisheries  policy 
initiatives  to  identify  their  impact  on  developing  countries  and  summarises  the  steady 
progress made since 2013. 

Policy priority 3 saw continued support for regional programmes addressing trade, sanitary 
and  phyto-sanitary  measures  and  regional  cooperation  for  food  security  and  fisheries 
governance,  with  a  slight  increase  in  funding  and  a  near  doubling  in  the  number  of 
programmes. 

Policy  priority  4  saw  a  drop  in  disbursements  from  EUR  209  million  to  EUR 133  million. 
However,  102  social  protection  programmes,  8  more  than  in  the  last  report,  are  still  being 
implemented across 40 countries. 

Under policy priority 5 the EU and its Member States have substantial portfolios, with 341 
programmes in 64 countries. Progress under this priority area is covered in Section 5. 

Policy  priority  6  has  seen  a  far  greater  focus  on  programmes  to  promote  resilience  being 
implemented  in  the  Sahel  and  Horn  of  Africa  with  a  view  to  facilitating  countries’  and 
regional organisations’ resilience agendas. In West Africa, the EU and its Member States are 
strongly involved in addressing the underlying causes of food crises through their work with 

16 SWD (2015) 159 Policy Coherence for Development - 2015 EU Report. 

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the Global Alliance for Resilience Initiative (AGIR) and the Club du Sahel. Moreover, at its 
42nd session, the Committee on World Food Security endorsed a ‘Framework for Action for 
Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises17’. 

Coordination, Complementarity and Coherence (3Cs) 

Coordination continues to play an important role in ensuring the EU and its Member States' 
aid is effective at country level, because in 45 countries support is provided by five or more 
donors.  The  number  of  projects  reported  has  increased  significantly  from  2,503  in  2012  to 
3,343 in 2014. Overall, 109 countries are supported. Thirty-five countries receive almost 80 % 
of  funding. 

The EU and its Member States are committed to a country-led approach to development and 
align their strategies and investment plans with those of partner countries. Member States and 
the EU are actively involved in sector coordination and dialogues. There are many examples 
of  how  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  co-fund  programmes  and  carry  out  joint  work  on 
analysis,  monitoring  and  evaluation.  At  pan-African  level,  the  EU  and  its  Member  States 
participate 
the  Comprehensive  Africa  Agricultural  Development  Programme's 
Development Partner Task Team, with Germany taking over the chairmanship in 2016 from 
the Commission. 

in 

Joint programming has expanded since 2014, with 14 countries having a new Joint Strategy. 
Ethiopia is a leading example of joint context analysis and joint programming where the EU 
and its Member States are achieving significant results together. 

Textbox 2: EU Joint programming in the nutrition sector in Ethiopia 

Early in 2013, the EU and the 20 EU Member States represented in Ethiopia plus Norway (EU+) 
endorsed the EU+ Joint Cooperation Strategy for Ethiopia. The aim of this strategy was to ensure a 
coherent and cohesive response to Ethiopia’s development challenges, to better align support for the 
Ethiopian  government’s  nutrition  policies,  improve  harmonisation,  the  results-based  approach, 
predictability and transparency, while avoiding overlapping or fragmented interventions. 

The EU established a core group of seven Member States to address the issue of undernutrition. The 
group established a roadmap, finalised a mapping exercise of nutrition interventions, commissioned 
and completed a ‘Situation Analysis of the Nutrition Sector in Ethiopia 2000-2015’ (SITAN) and 
developed  the  EU+  nutrition  strategy.  SITAN’s  findings  have  been  used  by  all  development 
partners. 

This is an excellent example of how the EU+ Joint Cooperation Strategy has been harmonised to 
support Ethiopia’s nutrition policy and planning. Through the strategy, Member States speak with 
one voice when demonstrating action on aid effectiveness commitments. 

4. RESULTS REPORTING 

A  significant  observation  by  the  Council  in  relation  to  the  first  biennial  report18  was  the 
‘importance of developing and harmonising measures to track progress on food and nutrition 
security commitments.  
The  United  Kingdom,  the  Netherlands,  France  and  the  Commission19  have  been  able  to 
provide  aggregated  data  from  across  their  programmes  (Table  4).  However,  different 
methodologies are used, which makes it difficult to compare and aggregate the findings.  

17 http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/cfs/Docs1415/FFA/CFS_FFA_Final_Draft_Ver2_EN.pdf 
18 COM(2014) 712 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Implementing EU 
food and nutrition security policy commitments: first biennial report and Council Conclusion of 26 May.  

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There  are  also  many  examples  of  results  being  reported  for  specific  programmes  and 
interventions. Table 5 presents three of these. 

These tables also illustrate the type of measurements  that can be used to improve how results 
are reported.  

Table 4: Corporate results reporting 

United Kingdom 
3,500,000 people 
achieved food 
security, including 
1,800,000 women; 
Nutrition 
programmes 
reached 28,500,000 
children under 5, 
breastfeeding and 
pregnant women; 
Land rights 
improved for 
5,800,000 people. 

The Netherlands 
8,000,000 malnourished 
people reached 
worldwide; 
4,500,000 smallholder 
farmers improved 
production and access to 
markets; 
Rights secured for 
1, 400, 000 hectares of 
land worldwide with half 
of title certificates being 
issued to women. 

Commission 
4,544,000 women and 
children benefited from 
nutrition-related 
programmes; 
51,000 people have secure 
tenure of land; 
528,000 people received 
advisory services: 
2,883,000 hectares of 
agricultural and pastoral 
ecosystems with improved 
land management practices; 
988,000 food-insecure 
people received assistance 
through social transfers. 

France 
800,000 family 
farms benefited 
from projects in sub-
Saharan Africa. 

Table 5: Results reporting — specific examples of interventions 

Austria 
In Armenia, 1,400 
smallholder farmers were 
linked with cooperative 
activities, leading to the 
establishment of small-
scale processing businesses 
and a 33 % increase in 
women cooperative board 
members. 

Ireland 
In Malawi, over 13,000,000 vines of 
orange fleshed sweet potato were 
sold to 44,200 households with 
individual multipliers earning an 
average of EUR 118 from vine sales. 
Household real income more than 
doubled from EUR 199 in 2010 to 
EUR 384 in 2014. Interventions also 
contributed to reducing malnutrition 
from an average of 47 % in 2010 to 
42 % in 2014. 

Spain 
In a nutrition programme in 
Mali, 56,000 children received 
vitamin A supplements and 
deworming, 520 women were 
supported with nutrition 
sensitive agriculture and 12 
villages were provided with 
functioning water. 

The EU and its Member States are well aware of the need to improve how results are reported 
and are working to strengthen the capabilities and systems for generating the data that show 
results from within their programmes and with partner institutions. However, all donors have 
noted  the  challenges  of  aggregating  and  synthesising  results  data  across  a  diverse  and 
complex  portfolio  of  interventions.  Further  collaboration  is  needed  between  the  EU  and  its 
Member States to refine a robust and realistic reporting framework. 

5. THEMATIC FOCUS 

As requested by the Council, this report examines two themes in greater depth — enhanced 
nutrition and inclusive agrifood chains and systems. 

19 The Commission's result aggregation is based on the EU International Cooperation and Development Results 
Framework SWD(2015)80 final 

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Enhanced nutrition 

Ensuring  greater food production and availability alone is  not  enough:  this must go hand in 
hand  with  ensuring  access  to  and  consumption  of  affordable,  safe  and  nutritious  food. 
Undernutrition  is  the  principal  cause  of  death  of  more  than  3.1  million  children  each  year. 
Over 159 million children were reported as being stunted in 2015. 

The 2013 Nutrition for Growth initiative during the UK Presidency of the G8 led to increased 
attention on nutrition and resulted in commitments for greater investment. The importance of 
nutrition  was  reinforced  by  the  Rome  Declaration  on  Nutrition  agreed  at  the  2014  Second 
International  Conference  on  Nutrition,  and  by  the  2014  G20  Framework  for  Food  Security 
and Nutrition. Subsequently, ending hunger has  become the second of the UN’s sustainable 
development goals with targets to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. 

Member States and the EU have been at the forefront of promoting and financing the global 
agenda  for  improved  nutrition.  The  EU  committed  to  helping  partner  countries  reduce 
stunting in 7 million children by 2025 and allocated EUR 3.5 billion over 2014-2020 to reach 
this ambitious goal. The UK Government has committed to improve by 2020 the nutrition of 
50  million  people  who  would  otherwise  go  hungry  and  to  take  measures,  together  with  all 
Nutrition for Growth signatories, to prevent 20 million children becoming stunted by 2020.  

In  2014,  the  German  Government  declared  food  security  and  nutrition  top  priorities  and 
launched  the  special  initiative  ‘One  World  —  No  Hunger’.  The  Netherlands  has  made 
eradicating existing hunger and malnutrition  the first  of its three food and nutrition  security 
policy  priorities20  and  has  intensified  its  work  on  nutrition.  Ireland  identified  addressing 
maternal and child nutrition as a priority in its 2008 Hunger Task Force Report and continues 
to meet commitments made in 2013 to double Irish Aid’s investment in nutrition by 2020. 

The  EU  and  its  Member  States  are  pursuing  a  multi-sector  approach  to  tackling 
undernutrition, which includes working to ensure that agriculture increasingly contributes to 
improving nutrition. 

Textbox 3. Integrating agriculture and nutrition education for improved young child nutrition 

Food security interventions and participatory nutrition education greatly improve children’s diet and 
can have an impact on stunting. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, financially supported by 
Belgium, the EU and Germany, carried out projects in Malawi and Cambodia that improved the food 
security, diet and nutritional status of 49,500 vulnerable families and 11,100 young children aged 6-23 
months.  The  approach  combined  diversifying  local  agriculture  and  food  systems  with  providing 
nutrition education on infant and young child feeding practices and resulted in programme lessons. 

Member  States  are  making  good  progress  in  supporting  nutrition  programmes  in  partner 
countries. Spain and Belgium are supporting nutrition programmes in Mali. The Netherlands, 
the  United  Kingdom,  France,  Germany,  Ireland  and  the  EU  are  actively  supporting  the 
Scaling  Up  Nutrition  (SUN)  movement  and  making  their  investments  in  nutrition  publicly 
visible through the SUN movement and the Global Nutrition Report. 
The  Commission  has  developed  a  strong  policy  framework21  and  an  Action  Plan  on 
Nutrition22 around its 2012 commitment to  address  stunting and its  2013 pledge to  improve 
nutrition.  Since  the  launch  of  the  plan,  40  EU  delegations  have  identified  nutrition  as  an 

20 Policy letter: Dutch contribution to global food security, December 18, 2014. 
21 SWD(2013) 72 Enhancing Maternal and Child Nutrition in External Assistance: an EU Policy Framework. 
22 SWD (2014) 234 Action Plan on Nutrition. 

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objective  in  their  support  to  partner  countries  through  a  range  of  focal  sectors,  notably 
agriculture/rural development and health. 

The EU and its Member States acknowledge that the rise of obesity, including in developing 
countries, is increasingly creating a double burden for the countries concerned. 

Inclusive agrifood chains and systems 

The  EU  and  its  Member  States  recognise  that  poor  food  and  nutrition  security  is 
predominantly  caused  by  poverty  and  therefore  improving  access  to  food  through  increased 
incomes  is  a  policy  priority.  As  noted,  for  example  by  the  United  Kingdom,  much  of  the 
solution  to  hunger  will  therefore  depend  on  inclusive  economic  growth,  in  particular  in  the 
agriculture sector. This aligns with the African Union Malabo Declaration where agricultural 
growth  and  transformation  is  recognised  as  critical  to  achieving  food  and  nutrition  security 
and rural prosperity. 

Textbox 4: Sustainable Cocoa Business and Cocoa-Food Link Programme 

In  West  Africa,  where  cocoa  is  a  source  of  income  for  3  million  smallholder  families,  the  EU  and 
Germany  co-founded  the  Sustainable  Smallholder  Agri-Business  Cocoa-Food  Link  Programme 
(SSAB). They have founded a Farmers’ Business School to develop farmers’ business skills and have 
established business service centres to help farmers and smallholders access technical advice, market 
information  and  micro-finance.  17,000  farmers  have  graduated  from  the  Farmers’  Business  School, 
with 90 % increasing their cocoa yields by more than 33 %. 

Germany addresses inclusive agrifood chains  and systems  in  a holistic manner through four 
out of six priorities in its special initiative ‘One World - No Hunger.’ France has made high 
employment  and  sustainable  agricultural  value  chains  priority  areas  for  intervention  in  sub-
Saharan  Africa.  For  the  Netherlands,  promoting  inclusive  and  sustainable  growth  in  the 
agriculture sector is  the  second priority in  its  food and nutrition  security  policy.  Ireland has 
included better functioning, climate resilient food systems and markets as one of its ten high 
level  outcomes  and  several  Member  States  are  supporting  the  development  of  partnerships 
between the agrifood sectors in their home country and in Africa. In 2015, the EU launched 
the  Agriculture  Financing  Initiative,  which  responds  to  the  lack  of  financing  mechanisms 
adapted to farmers and agri-entrepreneurs. 

With 1,822 programmes under policy priority 1, the EU and its Member States donors have 
substantial portfolios of agrifood value chain work. 

Textbox 5: Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH – Initiatief Duurzame Handel) 

IDH  accelerates  the  scaling  up  of  sustainable  trade  by  building  coalitions  of  pioneering  companies, 
civil  society  organisations,  governments  and  other  stakeholders.  By  the  end  of  2013,  IDH  had 
leveraged EUR 56 million of private sector funding. IDH is clearly having an impact. For example, 
Rainforest  Alliance  smallholder  tea  farmers  in  Kenya  trained  through  IDH  interventions  increased 
their yield by an average of 30 %. 

6. OVERALL FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

This 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.  This  report  indicates  significant  alignment  with  the  EU 

9 

 
 
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. 

Recommendations for the way forward 

1.  Keep  food  and  nutrition  security  at  the  forefront  of  the  global  and  national  policy 
agenda  to  support  implementation  of  the  sustainable  development  goals.  Food  and 
nutrition security is a long-term issue requiring sustained policy attention and investment. 
Policy making and programming must be based on a food system approach and consider 
the  linkages  between  nutrition,  health,  job  creation,  growth,  sustainable  production  and 
social protection. Continued emphasis is needed on transforming the role of women and on 
building the resilience of vulnerable communities. The EU and its Member States need to 
work proactively  with  civil society organisations, the private sector and other partners to 
maintain  the  focus  on/promote  economic  and  development  issues  in  order  to  achieve 
sustained investments and lasting results. 

2.  Strengthen  a  joint  multi-sectoral  approach  to  tackling  undernutrition.  In  order  to 
increase  the  effectiveness  of  nutrition  interventions,  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. This should involve the EU 
and its Member States creating a better division of labour across different sectors. 

3.  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.  The EU and its Member States will support partner countries to  design, fund 
and  implement  climate  resilient  food  and  nutrition  security  and  action  plans  in  line  with  
their Nationally Determined Contribution at UNCC-COP 21. 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. 

4.  Recognise rural transformation as a critical process to create jobs, raise income and 
achieve  food  and  nutrition  security  in  the  long-term.  The  EU  and  its  Member  States 
recognise  the  importance  of  economic  growth  and  creating  decent  jobs,  especially  for 
young  people  and  women,  in  rural  areas.  This  has  significant  linkages  with  tackling 
economic  inequality  and  migration,  which  are  underlying  drivers  of  food  insecurity  and 
instability.  More  work  is  needed  to  create  the  conditions  for  economic  investment  and 
development  in  rural  areas,  for  example  through  decentralisation,  territorial  approaches, 
implementing policies and improving infrastructure. 

5.  Enhance  mechanisms  to  boost  responsible  private  sector  engagement  and  to  learn 
from inclusive business models. The EU and its Member States are increasingly working 
in partnership with the private sector to help drive significant change for small-scale family 
farmers.  Innovative,  inclusive  financial  services  are  needed  to  make  sustainable 
investments  feasible  for  local  stakeholders.  Much  work  remains  to  be  done  to  create 
effective public private partnerships that ensure governance mechanisms in which producer 
organisations  and  civil  society  organisations  have  a  voice,  to  apply  the  principles  for 
responsible  agricultural  investment  and  to  implement  the  Voluntary  Guidelines  on  the 
Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests. There is also a need for 
greater learning and sharing about the effectiveness of ‘inclusive business’ approaches to 
ensure  that  small-scale  family  farmers  benefit  from  domestic,  regional  and  global  value 
chains. 

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6.  Ensure continued investment in research and innovation and scale up the impact of 
investment.  The  EU  and  its  Member  States  continue  to  focus  on  the  effectiveness  of 
global,  regional  and  especially  national  research  and  innovation  systems  and  make 
investments that improve them. In doing so, 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. 

7.  Strengthen  results  reporting.  With  new  food  and  nutrition  security  commitments  in 
place, attention must be on effective implementation and having an impact on the ground. 
This  in  turn  requires  substantially  improved  data  gathering,  monitoring  and  impact 
assessment mechanisms at all levels. However, such reporting is undeniably complex and 
difficult.  The  Commission  will  aim  to  coordinate  with  EU  Member  States  to  create 
common  indicators  and  develop  methodologies  which  mean  the  results  reported  can  be 
aggregated more easily at European level. 

8.  Strengthening  joint  programming.  The  continued  distribution  of  support  across  some 
109 countries, combined with the need for a cross-sector food systems approach, mean that 
joint programming is an important priority, both for the EU and its Member States and for 
in-country coherence. Over the next reporting period improved joint programing initiatives 
should be taken forward in at least three countries. 

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