Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations www.fao.org

� The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was established in 1945

� FAO has 191 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union.

� FAO has the mandate to:◦ Raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives ◦ Raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy.

� Moving forward, FAO will focus its activities on five strategic objectives:1. Eradicate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition2. Increase and improve provision of goods and services from agriculture,

forestry and fisheries in a sustainable manner3. Reduce rural poverty4. Enable more inclusive and efficient food and agricultural systems at

local, national and international levels5. Increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises

� In its role as secretariatsecretariatsecretariatsecretariat, FAO supports the development of: ◦ Internationally recognized food safety, quality and nutrition standards through established entities (e.g., FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius)◦ Sub-sector good practices through new forms of ◦ Sub-sector good practices through new forms of multi-stakeholder fora

� FAO provides expertiseexpertiseexpertiseexpertise on standards in food agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors and works with partners to benchmark, analyze and provide guidance on standards.

� A core aim core aim core aim core aim of FAO’s work on voluntary standards is to contribute to mechanisms, which ensure that the interests of the public interests of the public interests of the public interests of the public sector and sector and sector and sector and smaller scale stakeholders smaller scale stakeholders smaller scale stakeholders smaller scale stakeholders are sector and sector and sector and sector and smaller scale stakeholders smaller scale stakeholders smaller scale stakeholders smaller scale stakeholders are addressed in the development and development and development and development and application of application of application of application of voluntary, private & public voluntary, private & public voluntary, private & public voluntary, private & public standardsstandardsstandardsstandards

� Analysis◦ Assessing trends in standards and their impacts

� Information dissemination◦ Sharing information through online portals and communications tools

� Capacity Building◦ Training policy- makers and stakeholder throughout the value chains through field projectschains through field projects

� Setting-up Global Tools◦ Developing guidelines, codes of conduct, benchmarks and good practices

� Policy Guidance◦ Assisting member countries on the identification of priorities related to VS through guidance on national policies, regulatory frameworks and strategies

� Partnerships◦ Convening or participating in multi-stakeholder fora

� Impacts on Smallholders’ market participation (mainly Organic, Fairtrade and GlobalGAP)

� Smallholder engagement in bio-energy marketsenergy markets

� Carbon footprints

� National strategies on Geographic Indicators

� Tropical timber products

� Livestock production

� Projects to assist small-scale farmers to become Fairtrade, GlobalGAP, geographical indication or organic certified – e.g., Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Montenegro, Peru, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam

� Production of training manuals for agricultural export – 5 regions

� Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems

� Harmonization and Equivalence of Organic Agriculture Regulations

� Code of Conduct in fisheries and aquacultureand aquaculture

� Development of indicators for sustainable intensification of crops (e.g., cotton)

� Voluntary guidelines for Responsible Governance of Tenure

� Identification priorities on national strategies on voluntary standards and schemes for specific quality products◦ Food quality and safety◦ Organic production and ◦ Organic production and certification◦ GAP national standards programmes◦ Quality linked to geographical origin and geographical indications

� FAO-UNEP Sustainable Food Systems Programme(Multi-stakeholder Task Force est. 2010) –Conference dedicated to VS, 10-11 June 2013

� World Banana Forum (est. 2009) – FAO serves as the Secretariat

� The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) has invited FAO to join a multi-stakeholder roundtable to discuss indicators for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems (2013).

� Steering Committee of the United Nations Forum on Sustainable Standards (UNFSS)

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations www.fao.org

http:www.fao.org/ag/agshttp:www.fao.org/ag/