REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments: Fourth biennial report
Date: 2020-08-26
Institutions: Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission
Subjects: development aid, epidemic, food aid, gender equality, infectious disease, malnutrition, nutrition, rural region, sustainable agriculture, sustainable development

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 26.8.2020 COM(2020) 285 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments:    Fourth biennial report {SWD(2020) 85 final}  
 
 
1. INTRODUCTION 

This is the fourth report highlighting progress made by the EU and its Member States towards 
implementing  their  common  policy  commitments  on  food  and  nutrition  security.1  It  is 
accompanied by a Commission staff working document (SWD) with further information on 
the analysis and case studies.  

The  report  focuses  on  the  main  policy  developments,  analyses  the  financial  trends  in 
disbursements2  and  the  evaluation  of  policy  priorities.  It  also  highlights  the  results  and 
progress  achieved  by  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  on  the  two  thematic  focus  areas 
identified by the Council in 2018: (i) women’s empowerment for food security and nutrition, 
and  (ii)  rural  employment  creation.  It  concludes  by  highlighting  the  importance  of  eight 
policy orientations. 

Examples  are  included  throughout  the  report  on  how  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  have 
stepped up their action on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture.  

2. GLOBAL AND EUROPEAN POLICY DEVELOPMENTS 

After decades of decline, hunger and malnutrition have been on the rise again since 2015. In 
2018,  it  was  estimated  that  821  million  people  were  undernourished.3  Moreover,  when  the 
prevalence of moderate and severe food insecurity is aggregated, it is estimated that 26.4% of 
the world population (about 2 billion people) suffer from food insecurity and more than 135 
million  people  across  55  countries  have  experienced  acute  hunger  requiring  urgent  food, 
nutrition and livelihood assistance.4 This increase is largely due to conflicts, natural disasters 
and climate change. If current trends continue, this would jeopardise the achievement of not 
only Sustinable Development Goal (SDG) 2 (Zero Hunger), but all SDGs by 2030. 

In 2018, the Council of the EU expressed concerns about global food and nutrition security, 
in  response  to  the  already  alarming  figures  and  following  the  most  recent  reports  on 
implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments and on the Commission’s 
action plan on nutrition.5 The Council invited the Commission to maintain and intensify its 
efforts to achieve SDG 2 and thus reverse current trends. 

In  the  reporting  period,  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  made  a  significant  contribution  to 
improving global food security through the scale of its funding, advocacy and championing 
of key governance issues. 

In 2018, the EU and its Member States focused on implementing the European Consensus on 
Development  of  June  20176.  The  Consensus  sets  out  a  common  approach  to  international 
cooperation  and  development  policy  and  how  EU  external  action  can  contribute  to  the 
successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustinable Development. Recognising that 

1  An  EU  policy  framework  to  assist  developing  countries  in  addressing  food  security  challenges, 
COM(2010)127. 
2  The  financial  part  of  this  report  and  accompanying  SWD  cover  up  to  and  including  2018  (for 
methodological/comparability reasons); experiences captured also include 2019. 
3 State of Food and Agriculture in the World (2019). 
4 Sources: Global Report on Food Crises (2020) released on 21/04/2020. 
5 Council conclusions (14283/18) of 26 November 2018. 
6 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/24004/european-consensus-on-development-2-june-2017-
clean_final.pdf  

1 

 
 
 
                                                      
food  and  nutrition  security  are  major  global  challenges,  it  identifies  sustainable  agriculture 
and fisheries as key drivers in the fight against poverty and growing inequality. It also calls 
on  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  to  pursue  efforts  to  end  hunger  and  all  forms  of 
malnutrition.  

At the global level, EU and its Member States’ efforts continued to: (i) strengthen food and 
nutrition security governance, including through the Committee on World Food Security and 
the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement; and (ii) advocate for a new  global coordination 
mechanism  to  end  food  crises.  Through  its  support  for  the  ‘Global  Network  against  Food 
Crises’,  the  EU  continued  to  play  a  leading  role  and  fulfil  its  commitment  to  work 
multilaterally  to  strengthen  the  humanitarian-development-peace  nexus  (priority  6).  This 
integrated  approach  to  crises  brings  together  all  key  actors  and  actively  promotes 
coordination  and  collaboration  on  the  ground.  The  annual  Global  Report  on  Food  Crises 
brings  together  16  leading  global  and  regional  institutions  under  the  Food  Security 
Information  Network  and  is  now  widely  recognised  as  the  reference  for  consensus-based 
analysis  of  food  crises.  In  2018,  the  Global  Network  prepared  the  ‘Food  and  agriculture  in 
times of crisis’ conference, which took place early 2019 in Brussels. 

As  part  of  the  global  effort  to  tackle  malnutrition,  the  EU  has  been  actively  working  on 
undernutrition, especially on preventing stunted growth in children. The Commission pledged 
to  mobilise  EUR 3.5  billion  by  2020  to  reduce  the  number  of  stunted  children  in  partner 
countries by at least 7 million by 2025. In its conclusion of 26 November 2018, the Council 
recognised the Commission’s efforts to honour EU commitments and to mobilise all relevant 
sectors to support the nutrition agenda at global and partner-country levels. The 4th progress 
report on the EU action plan on nutrition released in 20197 confirmed that the Commission’s 
nutrition-related  investments  were  on  course  to  meet  the  EU’s  political  commitment.  In  42 
partner countries, the prevalence of stunted growth decreased from 39.2% in 2012 to 34.9% 
in  2019.  Based  on  current  trends,  an  estimated  4.7  million  children  in  these  countries  will 
avoid having their growth stunted. The commitment to allocate EUR 3.5 billion by 2020 was 
met ahead of schedule in 2019. 
In  line  with  the  2nd  EU  gender  action  plan  (GAPII),  efforts  have  continued  to  have  a 
transformative approach to improving gender equality. Women’s critical role across agri-food 
value chains in managing natural resources and ensuring food and nutrition security is fully 
acknowledged. The number of gender-sensitive contracts increased from 37% in 2014 to 57% 
in 2018.8  

At  the  One  Planet  Summit  in  2017,  the  EU  pledged  EUR 270  million  to  support  climate 
resilience  and  agricultural  innovation  for  sustainable  rural  transformation.  With  financial 
support from France, the Commission initiated the DeSIRA9 initiative to strengthen the link 
between  research  and  innovation  in  climate-resilient  food  systems  and  build  evidence  to 
underpin  policies  in  low  and  middle-incomes  countries.  DeSIRA  supports  research  and 
innovation  projects  in  Africa,  Asia,  Latin  America  and  strengthens  research  capacities  and 
governance for key national, regional and global actors. It has three main pillars: 1) Research 
and  innovation  in  agricultural  and  food  systems;  2) Research  infrastructure  conducive  to 
innovation and 3) Knowledge and evidence to feed policy design. Since 2018, more than 40 

7 11850/19. 
8 Study on EU Achievements in Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture 2014-2018, p.27. 
9 Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture. 

2 

 
 
                                                      
projects  have  been  adopted  in  over  31  countries,  and  six  Member  States10  committed 
additional  funds  to  DeSIRA  to  strengthen  synergies  with  their  bilateral  and  multilateral 
research and innovation portfolios in agriculture and rural development.  

The  EU-Africa  Research  and  Innovation  Partnership  on  Food  and  Nutrition  Security  and 
Sustainable Agriculture is implementing a jointly agreed EU-African Union roadmap (2016-
2020). By the end of 2020 funding in the order of EUR 190 million will have been mobilised 
from Horizon 2020, through the African Union Research Grant Scheme and through a joint 
funding scheme (LEAP-AGRI ERANet) from 10 EU and 9 African Union Member States. In 
total close to 100 projects are funded11. 

Two  events  strengthened  cooperation  between  the  African  Union  and  the  EU.  The  2019 
African  Union  -  EU  Ministerial  Conference  agreed  on  10  action  points,  including  the 
establishment of the Pan-African Network for the Economic Analysis of Policies (PANAP), 
which  is  intended  to  share  knowledge  on  policy  impact  analysis  in  sub-Saharan  countries. 
The 2019 African Union - EU High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) on Science Technology 
and Innovation aims to make better use of research results and translate these into products 
and  processes  that  increase  the  production  of  high  quality  food  with  appropriate  inputs, 
enhance income growth and promote rural development in both regions. 

The EU and its Member States made progress in strengthening the link between small-scale 
farmers and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and in targeting their investments 
to the creation of job opportunities in rural areas, especially for youth and women. In 2018, a 
Communication  on  the  Africa-Europe  Alliance  for  Sustainable  Investment  and  Jobs12  was 
adopted,  aiming  to  create  jobs  and  promote  sustainable  and  inclusive  development.  A 
taskforce on rural Africa was also set up to boost job creation in agriculture and the agri-food 
sector. The main EU tools to encourage investment in Africa (including by mobilising other 
sources  of  funding  to  develop  agriculture)  are  the  External  Investment  Plan  and  the  Trust 
Fund for Africa.  
On  multilateral  coordination,  the  Commission  and  five  Member  States13  continue  as  Board 
members  of  the  Global  Donor  Platform  for  Rural  Development  (GDPRD).  In  the  GDPRD, 
the EU has strongly engaged in the Global Donor Working Group on Land. The EU and 28 
partners  have  committed  to  increase  coordination  and  knowledge  exchange  on  land 
governance programmes, and they jointly support solutions to land issues in policy processes. 
In 2018, the EU adopted a programme on land governance14 that aims to boost investment in 
land to increase agricultural productivity and sustainable development.  

3. FINANCE AND PROGRESS 

This section provides a snapshot of the food and nutrition security (FNS) disbursements by 
the EU and its Member States and the latest progress towards the policy priorities. 

10 France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands have provided some cash co-funding to DeSIRA through their 
foreign affairs departments or development agencies; Spain and Belgium have provided in-kind but quantified 
co-funding via their development agencies 
11 https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/leap4fnssa-projects?q=*  
12 COM(2018) 643 final of 12.09.2018.  
13 Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands. 
14 Annex 1 of 2018 annual action programme, Commission Decision C(2018) 8063 final. 

3 

 
 
 
                                                      
Disbursements15 

Since 2012, total official development assistance (ODA) of the EU and its Member States for 
FNS  has  increased  steadily,  rising  to  EUR 5,027  million  in  2018  –  a  19.7%  increase  from 
2016. This represented 8.1% of the total ODA flows in 2018, the highest level since 2012. 

From  a  policy  design  perspective,  country-level  disbursements  continued  to  make  up  the 
highest  proportion  of  ODA  since  2012,  accounting  for  66%  in  2018.  The  proportion  of 
regional-level  disbursement  has been stable in  2018 compared to  2016,  but  the volume has 
nearly tripled since 2012. Peaking at more than EUR 1 billion, spending on global initiatives 
and on the delivery of global public goods have risen in 2018, following a small dip in 2014 
and 2016.  

In 2018, Africa-South of the Sahara region remained the biggest beneficiary of FNS support, 
receiving about half of all disbursements. The joint share of FNS funding allocated to North 
and Central America and South America has been fairly stable since 2012, fluctuating around 
6%. Although FNS support in Neighbourhood countries has risen since 2012, it still accounts 
for a small proportion of total FNS disbursements (an average of 6.7% per year).  

Many  activities  were  supported  in  2018,  mainly  on  sustainable  agricultural  development, 
food assistance, rural development, basic nutrition and agricultural research, which accounted 
for about half of the total funding16. 

Table 1: Geographical distribution of aid disbursements from the EU and its Member 
States to FNS in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. In EUR million and percentage share17 

Geographical 
area 

2012 

2012, in 
% 

2014 

2014, 
in % 

2016 

2016, in 
% 

2018 

2018, 
in % 

Total 

Total, 
in % 

Africa–South of 
Sahara 

Asia Pacific and 
Oceania 

Middle East 

Neighbourhood 

North, Central 
and South 

1,440 

42.8 

1,650 

45.1 

2,242 

53.4 

2,463 

49.0 

7,795 

48.0 

622 

18.5 

559 

15.3 

521 

12.4 

659 

13.1 

2,361 

14.5 

12 

98 

0.3 

2.9 

54 

1.5 

40 

273 

7.4 

312 

0.9 

7.4 

64 

1.3 

169 

405 

8.0 

1,088 

232 

6.9 

225 

6.2 

285 

6.8 

289 

5.8 

1,031 

1.0 

6.7 

6.3 

15 Different reporting methodologies exist across the EU and its Member States. The figures reported here solely 
reflect  the  specific  methodology  for  this  exercise  and  exclude  humanitarian  aid  flows.  Data  include  EU 
institutions and only ten Member States, which represent 91.2% of the total ODA flows of the EU institutions 
and 28 Member States in 2018. The detailed methodology is provided in the SWD annexed to this report.  As 
with previous reports, this 4th report (issued in 2020) presents the latest official figures available, in this case for 
2018. This report also includes smaller projects (below EUR 100,000), leading to an increase in the number of 
projects captured. But even without this methodological change, 2018 shows a marked increase in the number of 
projects  and  the  amounts  disbursed  compared  to  2016,  from  3,462  to  3,928.  However,  these  smaller  projects 
accounted only 2.4% of the total FNS disbursements in 2018. 
16 Sectors defined in terms of OECD DAC sector classification. 
17 Regions refer to the OECD DAC regional classification. Neighbourhood refers to European Neighbourhood 
Policy  (ENP)  partner  countries  and  a  few  other  candidate  and  potential  candidate  countries.  The  numbers  of 
tables 1 and 2 are rounded. 

4 

 
 
 
                                                      
America 

Regional and 
unspecified 

962 

28.6 

898 

24.5 

800 

19.1 

1,148 

22.8 

380 

23.4 

All regions 

3,366 

100 

3,659 

100 

4,200 

100 

5,027 

100.0 

16,251 

100 

Table 2 provides an overall picture of FNS assistance for EU policy priorities. Disbursements 
for  ‘smallholders’  resilience  and  livelihoods’  (priority  1)  made  up  the  bulk  of  total  FNS 
flows. Support for ‘social protection mechanisms for food and nutrition security’ (priority 4) 
fell  slightly  compared  to  2016.  By  contrast,  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  considerably 
increased their support for building resilience at individual and country level (priorities 1 and 
6), allocating 62% of the net increase from 2016. Overall, the significant net increase in total 
FNS  disbursements  in  2018  was  because  more  programmes  were  implemented  and  the 
average support was higher. 

Empowering  women  and  girls  and  promoting  gender  equality  has  been  increasingly 
incorporated  into  FNS  programmes.  Table  2  shows  that  this  objective  accounted  for  a 
significant proportion (64%) of total FNS support in 2018 (up from 53% in 2016). A similar 
trend  was  observed  for  environmental  objectives,  51%  of  FNS-related  disbursements 
addressed climate adaptation and/or climate mitigation. Research investments in FNS-related 
sectors  remained  relatively  stable:  10%  in  2018  vs  12%  in  2016.  Furthermore,  FNS 
development initiatives in 2018 benefited more partners (130 beneficiary countries). 

5 

 
 
 
 
Table 2: Progress against policy priorities18 

Performance criteria 

Number of programmes 

Support received, EUR million 

Number of countries 

1. Improve smallholders’ resilience and 
livelihoods 
2. Support effective governance 

3. Support regional agriculture and 
food and nutrition security 
4. Strengthen social protection 
mechanisms for food and nutrition 
security 
5. Enhance nutrition 
6. Enhance coordination of 
humanitarian and development actors 
to increase resilience 
Total 

Of which… 
Research programmes 
Gender-sensitive programmes 
 Principal objective 
 Significant objective 
Climate change adaptation programmes 
 Principal objective 
 Significant objective 
Climate change mitigation programmes 
 Principal objective 
 Significant objective 

2012 

2014 

2016 

2018 

2012 

2014 

2016 

2018 

2012 

2014 

2016 

2018 

1,560 

1,822 

1,863 

4,471 

2,022 

2,137 

2,120 

2,377 

108 

103 

108 

410 

588 

632 

1,160 

395 

535 

698 

802 

84 

92 

87 

98 

188 

228 

333 

151 

191 

226 

94 

102 

123 

124 

209 

133 

254 

278 

341 

455 

935 

467 

504 

638 

63 

148 

161 

423 

122 

159 

265 

409 

238 

683 

517 

40 

63 

18 

40 

64 

37 

44 

71 

37 

126 

97 

48 

92 

70 

2,503 

3,189 

3,462 

7,446 

3,366 

3,659 

4,200 

5,027 

114 

130 

149 

154 

463 
1,879 
155 
1,724 
1344 
308 
1,036 
598 
82 
516 

1189 
4,251 
575 
3,676 
2,976 
691 
2,285 
1,315 
192 
1123 

(16%) 
(57%) 
(8%) 
(49%) 
(40%) 
(9%) 
(31%) 
(18%) 
(3%) 
(15%) 

379 

300 

493 
2,404 
171 
2,233 
1,826 
342 
1,484 
693 
75 
618 

491 
3,382 
168 
3,214 
2,407 
381 
2,026 
946 
85 
861 

(10%) 
(67%) 
(3%) 
(64%) 
(48%) 
(8%) 
(40%) 
(19%) 
(2%) 
(17%) 

69 
97 
51 
97 
95 
67 
91 
89 
40 
86 

92 
114 
77 
113 
116 
93 
100 
108 
56 
105 

(71%) 
(88%) 
(59%) 
(87%) 
(89%) 
(72%) 
(77%) 
(83%) 
(43%) 
(81%) 

18 Data include the EU and only ten Member States. For the detailed methodology, see the SWD annexed to this report. 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
                                                      
Progress on policy priorities  

This  section  provides  an  overview  of  activities  undertaken  to  support  the  six  FNS  policy 
priorities.  More  detailed 
the 
accompanying SWD. 

information  and  specific  examples  are  provided 

in 

Policy priorities 1 and 6 ‘Improve smallholders’ resilience and livelihoods’ and ‘improving 
the coordination of humanitarian and development actors to increase resilience’ remain the 
most  significant  part  of  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  development  cooperation  portfolio. 
This  support  increasingly  addresses  the  underlying  socio-economic,  environmental,  and 
security dynamics at play in sustainable, resilient and healthy food systems. Developing such 
food systems should strenghen sustainable rural development as well as prevent food crises. 
The  EU  intensified  its  support  for  the  Global  Network  against  Food  Crises,  which  plays  a 
critical role in transforming agri-food systems with a focus on consensus-based information, 
leveraged  strategic 
the 
humanitarian, development and peace nexus. 

investments,  and  coordinated  and 

integrated  action  across 

Policy  priorities  2  and  3:  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  invested  in  land  governance  in 
about 40 countries and greatly increased responsible investments in agri-businesses, notably 
through  blending  initiatives  for  sustainable  agri-food  value  chains.  The  EU  also  developed 
sustainable fisheries and aquaculture with a special attention to small-scale fisheries because 
of their potential to deliver economic and social benefits, particularly for women. Moreover, 
the EU and its  Member  States  have stepped up their support  to  the overall governance and 
architecture  for  agricultural  research  and  innovation  and  significantly  enhanced  country 
research  capacities  for  innovation  within  national  agriculture  knowledge  and  innovation 
systems.  

Policy priority 4: EU support to social protection mechanisms remained at the same level – 
EUR 237  million  in  2018.  The  EU  produced  a  guidance  package  including  guiding 
principles, lessons learned and promising practices to support social protection programmes 
in situations of shocks and protracted crises.19 

Under  policy  priority  5,  the  EU  has  already  met  in  2019  (one  year  ahead  of  schedule)  its 
commitment  to  invest  EUR 3.5  billion  in  nutrition  by  2020  and  has  stepped  up  efforts  to 
analyse  how  its  assistance  helps  avoid  stunted  growth.  The  EU  and  its  Member  States 
continue  to  strengthen  global  governance  and  accountability  mechanisms  and  to  address 
multiple  forms  of  malnutrition  in  their  support  programmes  to  achieve  the  global  stunting 
reduction target by 2025. 

Table 3: Examples of projects with notable results 

Policy 
priority 1 

The  Netherlands  supports  the  ‘Projet  d’Appui  à  la  Production  Agricole  au 
Burundi (PAPAB)’ applying the PIP (Plan Intégré Paysan) approach. Based on a 
farm business  plan, small-scale food producers can better invest in soil fertility 
management,  farming  system  resilience  and  thus  increased  food  security. 
Through  this  approach,  37,400  households  have  demonstrably  increased  their 
productivity and income, while 18,700 hectares of farmland  are managed  more 
sustainably.  Another  Dutch  programme  ‘Geodata  for  Agriculture  and  Water 
(G4AW)’ uses satellite data to improve food security. Involving 23 projects in 14 

19 https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/sp-nexus/documents 

7 

 
 
 
                                                      
Policy 
priority 2 

Policy 
priority 3 

Policy 
priority 4 

countries, the goal is to reach 4.5 million small-scale farmers by 2022.  

In  2018,  Ireland  released  13  new  and  improved  varieties  of  legumes,  cereals, 
roots, and tubers in Malawi, including bio-fortified beans with iron and zinc, and 
a vitamin A rich orange-fleshed sweet potato. 

Finland  carries  out  the  ‘Responsible  and  Innovative  Land  Administration’ 
project  in  Ethiopia  to  develop  the  National  Rural  Land  Information  System, 
transactions 
which  handles  all 
(inheritance,  divorce,  gift  etc.).  By  2019,  14.5  million  parcels  had  been 
registered. 

land  registration  data  and 

land-related 

Germany  funded  the  ‘Agricultural  Technical  Vocational  Education  and 
Training for Women’ regional project championing women’s skills development 
in  the  agricultural  sector.  It  implemented  the  project  together  with  the  African 
Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in six countries: Benin, Burkina 
Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Togo. 
UK20  support  to  social  protection  systems  in  23  developing  countries  helped 
poor  and  vulnerable  people  build  more  productive  and  resilient  livelihoods.  It 
also  helped  governments  build  shock-responsive  systems,  including  through 
programmes providing cash transfers in countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia. In 
the  aftermath  of  extreme  weather  events  such  as  droughts  and  floods,  these 
programmes helped people secure enough food, reducing hunger and the risk of 
famine.  

Policy 
priority 5 

Italy’s  ‘SA.NI  –  Food  Security,  Nutrition  and  Hygiene  for  Equatorial  band’s 
communities in South Sudan’ project provided water access to 1,550 people, as 
well as ‘Safe Water Champion’ training for 450 women and pre-natal services to 
5,000 pregnant and/or breastfeeding women. 

Policy 
priority 6 

The  EU  funded  the  ‘Rapid  City  Profiling  Towards  Early  Recovery  in  Yemen’ 
project  to  better target  and coordinate humanitarian, recovery  and  development 
investments,  and  strengthen  the  resilience  of  stakeholders  and  affected 
populations in selected cities in the face of the conflict. 

Joint programming  

Significant progress was made in joint programming by the EU and its Member States. The 
approach  has  been  adopted  in  23  countries,  and  implementation  started.  To  support  the 
process,  the EU has developed new joint  programming  guidelines  and  guidance documents 
for  conflict-affected  and  fragile  states  and  more  advanced  developing  and  middle-income 
countries21. Two global peer-learning events were also organised in Cambodia and Uganda, 
in  December  2018  and  November  2019  respectively.  Both  events  brought  together  a  broad 
range of representatives from partner countries, the EU and representatives from 16 Member 
States,  who  identified  practical  steps  and  tools  to  formalise  joined-up  approaches  and 
increase the EU’s impact, voice and visibility at country level.  

20 During the period under review of this report, the UK was a member of the European Union. 
21 https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/joint-programming/highlights?page=1 

8 

 
 
 
 
                                                      
Textbox 1: EU joint programming in Bolivia 

Bolivia  was  among  the  first  countries  to  embark  on  joint  programming  with  the  EU,  eight 
Member  States  and  Switzerland.  The  2017-2020  joint  European  strategy  is  aligned  with 
Bolivia’s 2025 Patriotic Agenda and the 2016-2020 economic and social development plan. 
Joint programming has fostered collaboration and coordination in a range of sectors among 
the EU+ group. In FNS, it proved that regular dialogue and joint activities are key incentives 
to bring EU partners together from joint programming to joint implementation. 

Textbox 2: EU joint programming in Madagascar  

In 2018, the EU, Germany, and France embarked on joint programming and developed a joint 
analysis.  Following  the  presidential  elections  of  January  2019,  which  marked  the  first 
political  alternation  of  power  in  the  country,  the  Malagasy  government  prepared  the  2019-
2023  Plan  Emergence  Madagascar,  which  should  set  out  the  strategy  for  the  joint 
programming  planned  in  2020.  The  EU  partners  have  increasingly  implemented  joint 
programmes  and  projects  across  sectors.  This  wide  collaboration  has  improved  the 
synchronization and complementarity of the interventions – including in terms of support to 
civil society. In FNS, the working better together culture has clearly accelerated progress in 
joint  implementation  and  enabled  a  structured  policy  dialogue  with  the  government  in  the 
various coordination platforms.  

4. REPORTING THE RESULTS 

The  multidimensional  nature  of  FNS  issues,  the  diversity  of  projects,  the  different 
implementation  systems  and  channels,  the  specific  aims  of  development  policies  and  the 
individual  statistical  practices  of  Member  States,  all  make  it  challenging  to  report  standard 
aggregated indicators that show impact on the ground. Nevertheless, the EU and its Member 
States are stepping up their harmonisation efforts for Eurostat and SDG reporting22.  

Table  4  sets  out  quantified  results  on  a  few  selected  themes,  namely  assistance  to  food 
insecure  people,  nutrition,  sustainable  management  in  agricultural  and  pastoral  ecosystems 
and  support  to  smallholders  to  increase  sustainable  production,  and  improve  access  to 
markets, land and finance. However, caution should be taken in making any comparisons, as 
calculation  methods  may  differ  between  countries,  and  the  table  does  not  provide  a  full 
picture of efforts in each area, but only what has been captured through available tools. 

Table 4: Outputs and impact on the ground 

Austria 

In  2017-2018,  1,327,983  smallholder  farmers  were  reached  by    measures 
funded  by  the  Austrian  Development  Agency  designed  to  increase 
sustainable agricultural production, and/or improve access to land and other 
natural  resources,  to  financial  services  and/or  markets.  Of  these,  399,217 
were food insecure. 

European 
Commission 

17,787,000  women  of  reproductive  age  and  children  under  five  benefited 
from nutrition-related programmes, of which 1,381,000 were food insecure 

22 Formed by the United Nations Global Compact and Global Reporting Initiative. 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                      
(2013-2018) 

(2018);  

26,197,000 food insecure people received EU assistance; 

sustainable land management practices were introduced on 4,152,000 ha; 

6,985,000 smallholders benefited from EU-supported measures designed to 
increase  their  sustainable  production,  access  to  markets  and/or  security  of 
land, of which 828,000 were food insecure (2018). 

In 2015-2017, bilateral and civil society projects provided support for about 
3,106,000 farmers, of which 41% were women, to increase their sustainable 
production,  access  to  markets  and/or  security  of  land.  Private  sector 
cooperation  has  supported  more  than  2,200,000  farmers.  120,000  families 
have secured tenure of land – 64% of land tenure certificates were obtained 
by married couples and 19% by women only. In addition, 3,245,400 ha of 
forest was brought under sustainable use through bilateral, civil society and 
private sector operations. 

In  2016-2018,  9,086,289  family  farms  were  supported  by  AFD-financed 
projects designed to increase their competitiveness, adapt their agricultural 
practices to climate change, and facilitate their access to land and financial 
services. 

57,621  thousand  ha  have  benefited  from  biodiversity  conservation, 
restoration  or  sustainable  management  programmes  (2016-2018).  In  2017-
2019,  5.4  million  food  insecure  people  benefited  from  the  food  assistance 
programme of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. 

178,600 women of reproductive age and 67,400 children under two targeted 
by  BMZ’s  global  ‘food  and  nutrition  security  and  enhanced  nutrition’ 
programme  (part  of  Germany’s  ‘ONE  WORLD  –  no  hunger’  initiative), 
demonstrably  improved  their  nutrition  in  2018.  At  least  16,000,000  food 
the  German  government’s  FNS 
insecure  people  benefited 
improvement measures23. 

from 

20,100,000  undernourished  people  received  assistance,  of  which  about 
15,300,000 demonstrably benefited from improved food intake;  

19,200,000 smallholder family farms received support, of which 6,600,000 
increased  their  productivity  and/or  income  and  5,600,000  (also)  gained 
better access to markets; 

673,000 ha of farmland were improved, 612,000 ha of which adopted more 
eco-efficient practices and 118,000 ha became more resilient to stresses and 
shocks; 113,000 farmers obtained secure tenure of land. 

60,300,000  children  under  5,  women  (of  childbearing  age)  and  adolescent 
girls  were  reached  through  nutrition-related  measures  (April  2015-March 
2019).  In  2018/19,  DFID  had  49  ongoing  commercial  agriculture 
programmes  that  had  benefited  over  22  million  farmers  and  sustained  or 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

The 
Netherlands 
(2019) 

UK 

23 This number only refers to technical cooperation projects (implemented by GIZ). Due to overlaps of the target 
groups,  impact  data  of  other  projects  (financial  cooperation,  multilateral  projects)  have  not  been  considered 
here. 

10 

 
 
                                                      
created over 140,000 jobs. 

5. THEMATIC FOCUS 

As  requested  by  the  Council  in  2018,  this  report  provides  a  deeper  focus  on  two  specific 
themes: women empowerment and rural employment. 

Women empowerment for food security and nutrition 

Reflecting  the  EU’s  commitment  to  a  transformative  gender  approach,  the  share  of  FNS 
measures that include a gender-equality aspect rose from 37% in 2014 to 57% in 2018. EU 
and  Member  States’  measures  have  increasingly  improved  women’s  access  to  productive 
resources  and  employment  opportunities,  stimulated  behaviour  changes  –  such  as  joint 
decision-making  in  rural  households,  and  provided  women  with  platforms  to  voice  their 
rights.  

In  Kenya,  Mozambique,  Malawi  and  Senegal,  the  LANDac  programme  funded  by  the 
Netherlands  supports  women’s  access  to  agricultural  land  by  involving  them  in  data 
collection  and  in  land  governance  discussions.  In  Malawi,  the  EU  strengthens  land 
governance  systems  for  smallholder  farmers  by  training  local  officials  on  women’s  land 
rights and through a Women’s Land Rights Forum to strengthen women’s leadership skills. 
Italy  increased  women’s  involvement  in  value  chains  in  Mozambique  and  scaled  up 
community-based maternal and child nutrition services in Afghanistan. In Mali, the EU and 
Germany  facilitated  women’s  access  to  irrigated  land,  thereby  improving  their  access  to 
diversified and healthy diets.  

The  EU  and  its  Member  States  increasingly  advocate  for  a  gender  transformative  approach 
during policy dialogues with partner countries. The EU and its Member States contributed for 
example  to  a  joint  gender  analysis  as  a  step  to  forge  partnerships  across  sectors  in 
Madagascar,  and  stepped  up  the  coordination  between  EU  partners  in  delivering  gender-
sensitive messages on violence against women in Colombia. 

The  EU’s  thematic  briefs  setting  out  a  gender-responsive  approach  to  land  governance, 
nutrition,  and  value  chain  development  included  Closing  the  gender  gap  through  agri-food 
value chain development, complementing its value chain analysis for development (VCA4D) 
methodology  to  assess  a  value  chain’s  impact  on  social  development,  including  gender 
equality.  In  Cambodia  the  VCA4D  tool  highlighted  women’s  participation  in  aquaculture 
activities  in  the  semi-intensive  and  small-cage  production  systems  and  their  under-
representation in decision-making on fisheries policy.  

Creating rural jobs 

Under  the  2018  Communication  on  the  Africa–Europe  Alliance  for  Sustainable  Investment 
and Jobs24, the EU and its African partners are developing jobs and growth compacts (JGC), 
concentrating  their  joint  efforts  on  value  chains  with  the  highest  potential  for  job  creation. 
Where relevant, the JGC links up with other international initiatives like the G20 Initiative on 
Rural Youth Employment25.  

24 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/soteu2018-africa-europe-jobs-alliance-
communication-643_en.pdf  
25 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/23551/2017-g20-rural-youth-employment-en.pdf 

11 

 
 
 
                                                      
In  July  2019  for  example,  the  EU  shared  its  JGC26  with  the  Ugandan  government  to 
encourage  convergence  with  key  EU  priorities  identified  with  the  Member  States,  partner 
financial institutions and other actors, as well as through dialogues with the government and 
the  private  sector.  The  JGC  aims  to  support  forestry,  farming  and  agriculture  value  chains 
that enable job creation, innovation, the participation of women and youth in the production 
process,  climate  change  mitigation  and  adaptation,  and  complementarity  with  other 
programmes.  

EU-funded  actions  to  boost investment  and jobs  include the AgriFI initiative that promotes 
investments  in  smallholder  agriculture  and  micro-,  small-  and  medium-sized  enterprises 
(MSMEs) through blended finance. To help develop agricultural value chains, the EU takes 
advantage of the opportunities offered by local, regional and global markets, and applies the 
VCA4D methodology to asess the impact of value chains on job creation, such as in Zambia 
(egg and aquaculture), Honduras (coffee), Sierra Leone (palm oil), Tanzania (coffee), Guinea 
Bissau (mango and lime), Burundi (banana), and Benin (pineapple)27. 

Textbox 3: Boosting job creation in value chains in Sierra Leone 

Germany  supports  the  ‘Employment  Promotion  Programme  III’  to  increase  jobs  in  cocoa, 
coffee, rice and vegetables value chains. The programme entails working with MSMEs and 
youth to improve skills, with strong mentorship and coaching elements to increase self- and 
wage  employment.  In  2016-2019,  the  programme  supported  1,200  businesses  and  trained 
36,000 young people, creating more than 9,000 new jobs and self-employment opportunities. 
By 2019, it had benefited more than 250,000 people. 

Textbox  4:  Working  with  partner  countries  to  boost  job  creation  and  achieve  peace, 
security and development in the Sahel 

In the Sahel and Lake Chad region, the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) created 
more  than  27,500  jobs,  helped  129,000  people  develop  income-generating  activities,  and 
enabled  50,000  people  to  receive  professional  training  and  or/skills  development  in  2018-
2019.  The  EU’s  support  is  critical  for  increasing  economic  participation  among  young 
people, and thus contributes to the EUTF’s stabilisation efforts in the region. Approximately 
700,000 youngsters benefited from job creation and work placement initiatives, professional 
training and/or support to develop their skills.  

26 https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/68138/eu-jobs-and-growth-compact-uganda-
supporting-job-creation-and-economic-growth_tk 
27 VCAs studies, 2016-2020: https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/value-chain-analysis-for-development-vca4d- 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                      
Textbox 5: Increasing sustainable agricultural  growth, employment,  and food security 
in Malawi 

The EU and Germany support the KULIMA More Income and Employment in Rural Areas 
of  Malawi  (MIERA)  programme  to  increase  income  and  employment  opportunities  for 
smallholder farmers and MSMEs in a number of value chains (cassava, groundnut, soybean, 
and sunflower). Since 2017, more than 23,000 smallholder farmers have been trained on farm 
economics, agribusiness and marketing and 300 marketing and contract farming agreements 
have  been  signed  between  leading  companies  and  farmers’  organisations.  Farmers  have 
increased their incomes by 20% and 900 jobs were created. 

6. CONCLUSION 

The EU and its Member States have taken a comprehensive approach to supporting partner 
countries’  policies  and  programmes.  Joint  efforts  have  focused  on  strengthening  the 
resilience of the most vulnerable people to food crises, increasing responsible investments in 
sustainable  food  systems,  improving  nutritional  outcomes,  stimulating  innovation,  and 
addressing  gender  equality  and  the  empowerment  of  women.  The  experiences  presented  in 
this report and in the accompanying SWD demonstrate the importance of: 

1.  Taking a comprehensive approach to sustainable and inclusive food systems that 
enable safe and nutritious food and healthy diets for all.  This  means  focusing on 
food  systems  as  a  whole,  from  sustainable  production  to  consumption,  processing, 
trade  and  marketing,  and  balancing  climate,  health,  environmental,  economic  and 
social factors. It takes account of gender equality, in line with the second EU gender 
action plan (GAPII). It also recognises the important role of fisheries and aquaculture 
for FNS, which requires better marine governance that upholds laws on access to fish 
stocks,  land  and  water  resources,  and  a  particular  focus  on  the  resulting  benefits  for 
small-scale fishers and smallholder fish farmers. 

2.  Supporting  the  Global  Network  against  Food  Crises  as  a  critical  contributor  to 
developing  sustainable  food  systems  along  the  humanitarian,  development  and 
peace  nexus.  This  support  by  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  entails  joint  analysis, 
strategic investments, and coordinated responses at national, regional, and global level. 
The EU and its Member States should continue to address both immediate needs and 
underlying socio-economic, environmental, and peace factors to prevent recurrent food 
crises.  

3.  Prioritising  a  multi-stakeholder  approach  to  food  and  nutrition  security  and 
sustainable  agriculture  in  order  to  speed  up  progress  on  Agenda  2030.  This 
approach  notably 
local  governance 
mechanisms.  The  strategy  should  involve  strengthening  partnerships  with  the  UN 
system  (including  with  the  Rome-based  UN  agencies  and  the  Committee  on  World 
Food  Security),  research  organisations,  global  multi-stakeholder  platforms,  private 
sector and civil society organisations to develop and apply global norms.  

regional,  national  and 

includes  global, 

4.  Reinforcing  agricultural  research  and  innovation  systems  at  national,  regional, 
and  global  level  to  promote  climate  resilience.  The  EU  and  its  Member  States 
should continue to  support  institutional governance architecture and the  capacities of 
regional  and  national  agricultural  research  organisations,  and  should  stimulate 
sustainable  innovation  through  multi-stakeholder  partnerships  such  as  the  DeSIRA 
initiative.  

13 

 
 
 
5.  Increasing responsible public and private investments in sustainable agriculture, 
fisheries  and  agri-businesses,  including  through  blending  assistance  to  support 
smallholder  agriculture,  fisheries  and  MSMEs.  The  EU  and  its  Member  States 
should  keep  economic,  environmental,  and  social  development  impact  as  the  core 
priority  in  supporting  private  investments  in  agri-businesses,  including  by  further 
investing in gender-responsive, sustainable and inclusive value chains. 

6.  Supporting 

inter-  and 
local  and  regional  marketing  and  accelerating 
intraregional agricultural trade. The EU and its Member States should continue to 
support agreements, such as on the African Continental Free Trade Area, that promote 
regional  integration  and  that  can  help  to  create  new  markets  and  new  decent  jobs, 
increase competitiveness, and reduce dependency on food imports. 

7.  Promoting  climate-sensitive  agriculture,  including  agro-ecology,  acknowledging 
the  importance  of  sustainable  agriculture  in  adapting  to  and  mitigating  climate 
change as set out in the Koronivia joint work on agriculture28 and highlighted in other 
relevant  commitments.  In  this  context,  the  EU  and  its  Member  States  should  help 
developing countries deliver on their nationally determined contributions. 

8.  Addressing  malnutrition  in  all  its  forms,  while  continuing  to  focus  on  the  most 
vulnerable  population  groups.  The  EU  should  continue  to  assess  and  report  on  its 
impact  on  reducing  stunted  growth,  while  addressing  all  forms  of  malnutrition  that 
affect  vulnerable  people.  Nutrition  programmes  should  also  contribute  to  the 
sustainable transformation of food systems. 

These  observations  are  also  relevant  when  preparing  for  the  Nutrition  for  Growth  Summit 
and the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021.  

COVID-19 and food security 

The COVID-19 pandemic was still unfolding when this report was being finalised. The full 
effects  of  COVID-19,  and  of  the  socio-economic  crisis  it  triggered,  on  food  and  nutrition 
security are still largely unknown in terms of severity of lockdowns and spillover effects on 
rural  livelihoods.  Early  indications  suggest  that  impacts  could  be  substantial  with  many 
millions of people losing their income, while simultaneously facing an increase in local and 
imported food prices due to logistics and in some cases export restrictions (for example rice). 

Moreover, the risk that measures to tackle the health crisis could strongly aggravate current 
food  crises  was  clear,  as  agricultural  production  in  some  regions  could  be  affected  by 
farmers’ difficulties in accessing inputs while also facing other challenges (such as weather 
extremes, pests and diseases, e.g. desert locusts). Countries affected by multiple crises are at 
particul risk of food insecurity.  

The EU and its Member States are adjusting their cooperation portfolios to respond to these 
challenges. More fundamentally, the COVID-19 pandemic underlined the need to strenghen 
the  ‘one  health’  approach  and  to  address  the  underlying  reasons  for  the  rise  in  diseases 
stemming from  animal-human interactions, including the loss of biodiversity, unsustainable 
farming practices and unsafe food marketing and trade. 

28 Decision 4/CP.23 

14