February 2021

((E(
PC 130/5 Rev.1(English only)

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
Hundred and Thirtieth Session

22-26 March 2021

Vision and Strategy for FAO’s Work in Nutrition

Queries on the substantive content of this document may be addressed to:

Máximo Torero Cullen

Chief Economist
Tel: +39 06570 50869
Email: Maximo.ToreroCullen@fao.org

Documents can be consulted at www.fao.org

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 The 126 Session of the Programme Committee, in March 2019, when discussing the
th

Evaluation of the Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work in Nutrition, recommended an update
of the vision and strategy. The 127th Session of the Programme Committee, in November
2019, reviewed an Annotated Outline of the updated Vision and Strategy for FAO’s Work in
Nutrition (the Nutrition Strategy). The first draft was submitted to FAO’s Technical
Committees in anticipation of consultation throughout 2020. The draft was discussed at the
27th Session of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), the 25th Session of the Committee on
Forestry (COFO), the 34th Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI), and the 73rd
(Extraordinary) Session of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP).

 It is proposed that FAO’s vision for nutrition is a world where all people are eating healthy
diets from sustainable, inclusive and resilient agri-food systems. The mission is to tackle
malnutrition in all its forms by accelerating impactful policies and actions across agri-food
systems to enable healthy diets for all. Through this mission, and in the realization of the
aspiration of Better Nutrition, FAO will contribute to the achievement of targets across the
SDGs including SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG10, SDG 12, SDG 14, and SDG 17. .
 FAO will support all stakeholders to accelerate impactful policies and actions through five
inter-dependent action areas and actions:
 Action area 1 – generate, collate and share data on healthy diets and agri-food systems;
 Action area 2 – generate, collate and share evidence on the options for policies and
actions across agri-food systems that enable healthy diets and on trade-offs and synergies
with other agri-food systems outcomes;
 Action area 3 – convene and participate in dialogues to catalyze policy coherence and
collective action across agri-food systems for healthy diets;
 Action area 4 – build the technical and policy capacity needed to design, implement, and
scale-up impactful policies and actions for healthy diets; and
 Action area 5 – advocate for and secure commitment to healthy diets as a priority goal for
governance of nutrition and agri-food systems.
 In order to complete this mission and contribute to the vision, the Nutrition Strategy
describes fifteen actions FAO will undertake and five outcomes as results of FAO actions.
 Outcome 1 – data. Decision-makers are using more and better data to guide the selection,
design and implementation of impactful policies and actions across agri-food systems for
healthy diets;
 Outcome 2 – evidence. Decision-makers are using a larger body of evidence to guide the
selection, design and implementation of impactful and coherent policies and actions
across agri-food systems for healthy diets;
 Outcome 3 – policy coherence and collective action. Greater coherence exists between
policies designed to achieve nutrition, social, economic and environmental outcomes of
agri-food systems and there is greater collective action on healthy diets;
 Outcome 4 – capacity. FAO Members and stakeholders at all levels are implementing
policies and laws, practices, investments and innovative actions at scale across agri-food
systems to enable healthy diets; and
 Outcome 5 – advocacy and commitment. Global, regional and national bodies have a
stronger commitment to healthy diets.
 The Nutrition Strategy includes both an Accountability Framework and Implementation Plan.
The Accountability Framework provides a mechanism for FAO to hold itself accountable for
actions towards reaching the outcomes of the Strategy. It includes a series of outputs and
corresponding indicators that reflect the degree of accomplishment of the actions outlined in
the Strategy related to each outcome. The Implementation Plan outlines the enabling factors,
with a list of corresponding key performance indicators that FAO will foster or develop to
successfully execute the Nutrition Strategy.
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GUIDANCE SOUGHT FROM THE PROGRAMME COMMITTEE

The Programme Committee is invited to:

 review the Vision and Strategy for FAO’s Work in Nutrition in light of FAO’s
mandate and its ability to support countries’ efforts to reach their SDG targets; and
 recommend the Nutrition Strategy for endorsement by the Council.

Draft Advice
The Committee:
 welcomed the updated Vision and Strategy for FAO’s Work in Nutrition and
commended the extensive and inclusive consultative efforts taken in its
development;
 appreciated that key recommendations from the Evaluation of the previous
Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work in Nutrition were reflected in the
Nutrition Strategy, as well as the integration of comments provided by the
Programme Committee at its 127th Session;
 welcomed the Accountability Framework and Implementation Plan developed
and the inclusion of a description of terms used in the Nutrition Strategy, in
accordance with the recommendation of the Programme Committee at its
127th Session;
 appreciated the integration of recommendations from all of the FAO
Technical Committees for the finalization of the Nutrition Strategy;
 emphasized the important role of FAO in raising levels of nutrition, taking
note of the Organization’s commitment to this goal in its Constitution;
 noted that the Nutrition Strategy is a living document which may be further
improved and adjusted during the course of implementation; and
 recommended the Nutrition Strategy’s endorsement by the 166th Session of
the Council.
4 PC 130/5

I. Background
A. Nutrition and diets
1. Better nutrition offers one of the greatest developmental opportunities in the world today.
Reducing wasting, stunting, underweight, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, obesity and
diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has the potential to contribute to reaching targets
across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Better nutrition will directly contribute to
SDG Target 2.2 (ending all forms of malnutrition), Target 2.1 (ending hunger), Target 3.4
(reducing premature death from NCDs), and Targets 3.1 and 3.2 (reducing child and maternal
mortality), while also supporting the achievement of an array of social, economic, and
environmental targets.1,2
2. Despite some progress, the world is off track from meeting global nutrition targets.3 The
COVID-19 pandemic further threatens the ability to attain nutrition goals, with increased levels of
food insecurity and predictions that undernutrition will rise.4,5 People affected by obesity and
underlying NCDs are more vulnerable to COVID-19. Action to counter malnutrition in all its
forms, thus, emerges as an integral part of building resilience to infectious diseases especially
among the most vulnerable segments of the population. This includes emerging diseases with
pandemic potential like COVID-19.
3. A major challenge for achieving better nutrition is the inadequacy of current diets.
Billions of individuals are unable to afford and access healthy diets.6 Across geographies and
populations, people are consuming diets with deficiencies, excesses and imbalances of energy and
nutrients, and that are unsafe, thus impairing their health, growth and development, leading to all
forms of malnutrition and premature death.7 The problem affects all groups but is experienced
disproportionately among those vulnerable to not meeting their dietary needs, including poor
rural communities and smallholders whose livelihoods depend on the agri-food system;
marginalized urban populations; women and young children; indigenous peoples; persons with
disabilities and people experiencing humanitarian crises, conflict and fragility. While better
nutrition will also require improvements in health, hygiene and sanitation, education, income,
livelihoods and women’s empowerment, healthy diets are the cornerstone of good nutrition, for
present and future generations.
4. Healthy diets consist of the foods needed for individuals to have a healthy life: adequate,
safe, diverse and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality. Although it does not alone
guarantee a healthy diet, food security is a vital contributor.8 There are many ways to compose a
‘healthy diet’, depending on geography, age, population needs, gender, physiological status,
presence of underlying health conditions and cultural preferences. Regardless of specific dietary
needs, a healthy diet limits the levels of pathogens, toxins and other agents that cause food-borne
diseases. Safe and clean drinking water also makes an important contribution to healthy diets.
Evidence-based guidelines and guiding principles are available to inform the formulation healthy
diets based on these diverse characteristics.

1
Development Initiatives. Global Nutrition Report 2017: Nourishing the SDGs. Bristol, DI: 2017
2 Scaling Up Nutrition. Implementation of the SDGs At The National Level: How To Advocate For Nutrition-Related
Targets And Indicators. SUN: 2017
3 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2020. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020.

Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets. Rome, FAO.

4 United Nations. Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security and Nutrition. June 2020.

https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sg_policy_brief_on_covid_impact_on_food_security.pdf
5 Headey D, Heidkamp R, Osendarp S, Ruel M, Scott N, Black R, Shekar M, Bouis H, Flory A, Haddad L, Walker N.

Impacts of COVID-19 on childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related mortality. The Lancet. 2020 Aug
22;396(10250):519-21.
6 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2020. Op cit
7 Murray CJ, Aravkin AY, Zheng P, Abbafati C, Abbas KM, Abbasi-Kangevari M, Abd-Allah F, Abdelalim A,

Abdollahi M, Abdollahpour I, Abegaz KH. Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–
2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet. 2020 Oct 17;396(10258):1223-
49.
8 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2020. Op cit
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B. Diets and agri-food systems

5. An agri-food system gathers all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes,
policies, infrastructures, institutions, among others) and activities that relate to the production,
processing, distribution, trading, marketing, selling, preparation, serving, consumption and
disposal of food, and the output of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental
outcomes.9 Agri-food systems incorporate agriculture and food supply chains, food environments
and consumer behaviour. Because healthy diets consist of a diversity of foods from different food
groups and diversity within food groups, agri-food systems for healthy diets should incorporate
agriculture relevant to crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture products. Local,
regional, and international trade is important for agri-food systems to enable the availability,
accessibility and affordability of diverse foods for healthy diets, as well as the stability of markets
and the limitation of extreme food price volatility.
6. Agri-food systems play an important role in social (e.g., indigenous knowledge and
culture, gender equity), economic (e.g. viability for smallholder farmers, economic development,
decent work) and environmental (e.g. climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity, soil
and water degradation) sustainability. As set out by the The High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE)
report Food Systems and Nutrition,10 agri-food systems also have a vital role to play in enabling
healthy diets for all peoples (Figure 1).
7. FAO Members have called for more action in agri-food systems for healthy diets. In
2014, Members adopted the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and its Framework for Action as an
outcome of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) co-organized by FAO and
the World Health Organization (WHO). The Declaration acknowledged that current agri-food
systems are increasingly challenged to provide adequate, safe, diversified and nutrient rich food
for all that contribute to healthy diets.11 In April 2016, the United Nations (UN) General
Assembly adopted the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) through
Resolution 70/259.12 Co-led by FAO and WHO, the first activity in its Work Programme is to
improve diets through agri-food systems.13,14 In 2019, with technical support from FAO and other
UN agencies, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) initiated the development of the
Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems for Nutrition. The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit has
placed healthy diets at the forefront of its work and the 2021 Nutrition for Growth Summit has
identified food systems as one of its three core areas for commitments. All are examples of the
reinforced and invigorated commitment to healthy diets through strengthened agri-food systems.
8. However, agri-food systems are not working optimally to enable healthy diets. Policies
across agri-food systems are often not coherent with healthy diets nor between the nutrition,
social, economic and environmental outcomes of agri-food systems, requiring concerted
management and efforts to identify synergies. 15 The aspiration is to optimize agri-food systems’
policies and actions for benefits across all the pillars of sustainability.
9. Agri-food systems also face significant and interconnected stresses, including
demographic changes, poverty, inequalities, climate change, a degrading environmental resource

9
HLPE. 2014. Food losses and waste in the context of sustainable food systems. A report by the High Level Panel of
Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security. Rome. http://www.fao.org/3/a-
i3901e.pdf
10 HLPE. 2017. Nutrition and food systems. A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and

Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome.

11 FAO/WHO. 2014. Rome Declaration on Nutrition. Second International Conference on Nutrition, Rome, 19-21

November 2014. Conference Outcome Document, para. 10. Rome, FAO.

12 Resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 1 April 2016. 70/259. United Nations Decade of

Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) https://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/259

13 United Nations Decade of Action on nutrition: Work Programme.

https://www.un.org/nutrition/sites/www.un.org.nutrition/files/general/pdf/work_programme_nutrition_decade.pdf
14 FAO’s contribution to the Nutrition Decade. https://www.unscn.org/uploads/web/news/FAO-s-contribution-to-the-

Decade.pdf
15 Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition. 2020. Future Food Systems: For people, our planet, and

prosperity. London, UK. https://www.glopan.org/foresight2/

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base, conflict, fragility and fragmented governance.16 These stresses threaten the sustainability,
inclusiveness and resilience of agri-food systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed agri-food
systems under even greater strain. While food systems have shown greater resilience than initially
predicted, the pandemic has exposed the interconnection among agri-food systems, disease and
environmental sustainability, implying the need to strengthen the One Health approach and be
more pro-active in ensuring agri-food systems deliver better outcomes.17 COVID-19 has also
underlined the importance of universal, open, fair and non-discriminatory trade rules in agri-food
systems, especially for the benefit of developing countries.
10. An ‘agri-food systems approach’ to enabling healthy diets considers agri-food systems in
their totality. The approach takes into account all of the different elements of agri-food systems,
their interconnected relationships and related effects, and the importance of agri-food system
sustainability, inclusiveness and resilience to deliver better health, social, economic, and
environmental outcomes (Figure 1).18 An agri-food system approach thereby provides a
framework for identifying policies and actions throughout agri-food systems to enable healthy
diets for good nutrition, while also considering other agri-food systems’ goals.

Figure 1. Agri-food Systems for Healthy Diets

C. The role of FAO

11. While significant efforts are already underway to ensure agri-food systems enable healthy
diets, they are not yet at the scale needed, nor achieving sufficient impact to reach global nutrition
targets and the SDGs. There is a major opportunity to implement policies and actions, including
global, regional, national and local policies, laws, investments, innovations and practices

16 FAO. 2017. The future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges. Rome.
17
UNEP & ILRI (2020). Preventing the Next Pandemic: Zoonotic Diseases and How to Break the Chain of
Transmission. United Nations Environment Programme and International Livestock Research Institute.
18 Adapted from High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food

Security, (FAO, Rome, 2017)

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(hereafter referred to as ‘policies and actions’), to ensure agri-food systems enable healthy diets
while also delivering on the social, economic and environmental targets of the SDGs.
12. Article I of the FAO Constitution establishes that a function of the Organization is “to
generally to take all necessary and appropriate action to implement the purposes of the
Organization as set forth in the Preamble and, in that context, it is observed that the Preamble
refers to “furthering separate and collective action” for the purpose of “raising levels of
nutrition”.19
13. In discharging its functions, FAO has the unique collaborative advantage to work in
partnership to accelerate policies and actions across agri-food systems to enable healthy diets at
the scale needed to achieve the SDGs, while also striving to improve social, economic and
environmental outcomes. As the UN specialized agency for food and agriculture working across
all elements of agri-food systems, FAO has a leadership role in accelerating policies and actions
with impact across agri-food systems to enable healthy diets for all. The FAO likewise has a key
role to play in tackling trade-offs, harnessing synergies and creating policy coherence between
actions designed to ensure healthy diets across agri-food systems and those designed to improve
social, economic and environmental outcomes.
14. This leadership role for FAO in nutrition is aligned with the recommendation in the 2019
Evaluation of FAO’s Work in Nutrition that FAO’s global contribution to nutrition should be to
define and advocate for improvements in all forms of malnutrition through integrated and food-
based approaches, agri-food systems and healthy diets.20 It also builds on significant work already
conducted by FAO on agri-food systems and nutrition, such as on nutrition-sensitive agri-food
systems and value chains for nutrition.
15. Fully tackling malnutrition in all its forms into the future will require a concerted effort
on the part of all stakeholders working in partnership with shared responsibilities. In pursuing its
goals, FAO will work in partnership with its sister UN agencies and with an array of other
partners including intergovernmental agencies, international and regional financial institutions,
investment partners, regional economic integration bodies, FAO Members, parliamentarians,
local governments, civil society, private sector actors, indigenous peoples, small-scale producers
and fisherfolk, and other vulnerable and marginalized peoples, including women and youth,
involved in the production, processing, distribution, trade, marketing, sale, consumption and
disposal of crops, livestock, and forestry, fisheries and aquaculture products in support of healthy
diets. FAO will continue strategic engagement with multilateral partner entities such as the World
Trade Organization (WTO). It will also leverage the attributes of FAO Statutory Bodies such as
the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), the Commission on Genetic Resources for
Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), and the Codex Alimentarius Commission21. FAO will also work
through relevant food security and nutrition coordination platforms at the global, regional and
national levels, including UN Nutrition, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and the CFS.
Each agency and platform has a unique role to play in achieving the SDGs and aligned global
nutrition targets by 2030, and taking action to advance the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.

II. Scope of the Strategy

16. The Strategy establishes FAO’s vision and mission for nutrition and provides the
framework to guide the specific activities at global and decentralized levels throughout 2021–
2025, to leverage its collaborative advantage to achieve this vision.
17. The Strategy sets out the main action areas aligned with FAO core functions and the
intended outcomes of its work in nutrition (Figure 2). It is accompanied by an Accountability
Framework which sets out the specific outputs and indicators until 2025 and an Implementation
Plan of how FAO will deliver these outputs. Specific activities will be set out as part of annual
work planning of FAO offices.

19
FAO. 2017. Basic Texts of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Volumes I and II. Rome
20 FAO. 2019. Evaluation of the Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work in Nutrition, pp. 119. Rome. Licence: CC BY-
NC-SA 3.0 IGO
21 The Codex Alimentarius Commission is the central pillar of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
8 PC 130/5

18. The Strategy builds on significant previous and ongoing efforts and applies to all of
FAO’s work relevant to diets and nutrition, including on food production (crops, livestock,
forestry, fisheries, aquaculture), food value chains, food environments and consumer behaviour as
well as its work on policy, investment support, data, emergency preparedness and resilience
building, climate, natural resource management, biodiversity, food safety, social protection, trade,
statistics, partnership, science and innovation, gender, investments, amongst others.

III. Guiding Principles

19. FAO acknowledges that for policies and actions (i.e., policies, laws, investments,
innovations and practices) across agri-food systems to have impact at scale to enable healthy
diets:
a) people must be placed at the centre. Understanding people’s lives and needs must be
the starting point for identifying how policies and actions in agri-food systems can have
most impact on healthy diets. Healthy diets must be available, affordable, accessible,
culturally acceptable and appealing to people in the environments and territories in which
they live. Data and evidence must be gathered and analyzed in the context of people’s
lives;
b) adaptation to local, country and regional contexts is vital. Contexts have profound
implications for the policies and actions needed; local adaptation ensures peoples’ needs
are met in the context of their lives and practices. There is a diversity of agri-food
systems and diets and a diversity of solutions; FAO’s work must be directed at, but also
be responsive to, regional, country and local needs and enable ownership through in-
depth work to analyze and identify constraints, solutions and effective options for
investments;
c) no one can be left behind. Equitable access to healthy diets by all is needed at all levels
and marginalized populations must be prioritized. The livelihoods of the people who
work in the agri-food system including smallholder producers, and their diets and
nutrition, must be protected and supported; efforts should be made also to include other
marginalized groups, such as youth, indigenous peoples, migrant workers and people
with disabilities;
d) gender equality is critical. Gender equality must be achieved throughout agri-food
systems. Women are not only caregivers but also workers across the agri-food system
including being fishers, farmers and traders, amongst other roles. Women should be
supported as leaders of change. Adverse gender impacts must be avoided;
e) efforts should build upon the progressive realization of the right to adequate food.
The right to food is realized when every person, “alone or in community with others, has
the physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its
procurement.” It entails the “availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to
satisfy the dietary needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable
within a given culture [and] ... the accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable
and that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights”;22
f) innovation is urgently needed. Achieving the further change that is needed, at scale and
within the timeframe of the SDGs, will require accelerating the pace and widening the
scope of policy, institutional, organizational, technological, social and financial
innovation including digitalization and technology transfer and uptake even in the most
remote and marginalized contexts;
g) agri-food systems must also be sustainable, inclusive and resilient. Agri-food systems
must be sustainable, inclusive and resilient if they are to produce the foods needed for a
healthy diet in support of the SDGs. Sustainable agri-food systems have economic, social
and environmental bases needed to generate healthy diets now and for future generations.

22UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). 1999. General Comment No. 12: The Right to
Adequate Food (Art. 11 of the Covenant). Geneva, Switzerland.
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Resilience allows communities and institutions to withstand, cope, recover, adapt and
transform in the face of agri-food system shocks. Inclusiveness allows marginalized and
vulnerable people to benefit from the opportunities that agri-food systems can bring.
Agri-food systems should thus minimize their negative and maximize their positive
impacts on ecosystems and adapt to, and mitigate, climate change; support the livelihoods
and wages and provide decent work for producers, workers and marginalized and
vulnerable groups; reduce food loss and waste; and align diets with the environmental
resource base, sociocultural norms and nutrition requirements; and
h) working in partnership is essential. Given the many actors involved in changing agri-
food systems, there is a need to harness existing experience and knowledge about agri-
food systems to implement this Strategy and have impact at scale. While vital, enabling
healthy diets is just one aspect of tackling malnutrition in all its forms; engagement is
needed with stakeholders beyond agri-food systems, extending to those from both the
public and private sectors that influence social protection, water, sanitation and hygiene,
and health systems, among others.

IV. Vision and Mission

20. FAO’s vision for nutrition is a world where all people are eating healthy diets from
sustainable, inclusive and resilient agri-food systems.
21. To deliver this vision, FAO’s mission in nutrition is to tackle malnutrition in all its forms
by accelerating impactful policies and actions across agri-food systems to enable healthy diets for
all.
22. Through this mission, and in the realization of the aspiration of Better Nutrition, FAO
will contribute to the achievement of targets across the SDGs including SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3,
SDG10, SDG 12, SDG 14, and SDG 17.
23. As indicated in Figure 2, success of this Strategy would be that all stakeholders
(paragraph 15) are implementing policies and actions at a scale across the agri-food system
commensurate to the achievement of the SDGs with the following impacts:
a) agriculture and food supply chains23 are producing, processing, distributing, preparing,
trading, marketing, selling, serving and reducing loss and waste of foods that contribute
to healthy diets, including by improving food safety while also making agri-food systems
more sustainable, inclusive and resilient;
b) food environments are making healthy diets available, affordable, accessible, safe,
culturally acceptable and appealing, aligned with evidence-informed national food-based
dietary guidelines, food safety and quality standards and good environmental practices, as
appropriate; and
c) consumers have the access, means, motivation and competences needed to practice and
demand healthy diets.

V. Action Areas and Outcomes

24. FAO will support all stakeholders (paragraph 15) to accelerate impactful policies and
actions through five inter-dependent action areas (Figure 2) and actions:
a) as the global lead in providing a public repository for dietary data and data on food,
agriculture and agri-food systems as they relate to diets, FAO’s first action area for
nutrition will be to generate, collate and share data on healthy diets and agri-food
systems;
b) in line with its function to collect, analyze, interpret and disseminate information relating
to nutrition, food and agriculture, FAO’s second action area will be to generate, collate
and share evidence on the options for policies and actions across agri-food systems (food

23
i.e., for crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture products.
10 PC 130/5

supply chains, food environments and consumer behaviour) that enable healthy diets and
on trade-offs and synergies with other agri-food systems outcomes;
c) to leverage its role as convener of diverse stakeholders, FAO’s third action area for
nutrition will be to convene and participate in dialogues to catalyze policy coherence and
collective action across agri-food systems for healthy diets;
d) building on prior experiences of developing toolkits and e-learning modules, and in
capacity strengthening, FAO’s fourth action area for nutrition will be to build the
technical and policy capacity needed to design, implement and scale-up impactful
policies and actions; and
e) as the lead global agency with responsibility for food and agriculture, FAO’s fifth action
area for nutrition will be to advocate for and secure commitment to healthy diets as a
priority goal for governance of nutrition and agri-food systems.

Figure 2. Pathway to impact of the Vision and Strategy of FAO’s Work in Nutrition

25. Outcome One - data. Decision-makers are using more and better data to guide the
selection, design and implementation of impactful policies & actions across agri-food systems for
healthy diets due to FAO’s efforts in making data accessible, understandable and relevant24. To
achieve this outcome, FAO will generate, collate and share data on people’s diets and on agri-
food systems. Specifically, FAO will:
1.1 generate, collate, visualize, share and communicate data and metrics on people’s diets and
agri-food systems (e.g., food composition, food consumption, food safety and quality,
nutrient requirements and scientific advice to inform food standards, food security, dietary
socio-cultural beliefs and practices; food production, trade and associated agriculture
commodity policy, loss/waste and prices of foods important for healthy diets), and
disseminate through FAO platforms, including the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform, and
others. In so doing, FAO will focus on disaggregating wherever possible, data relevant to
people in rural communities whose livelihoods depend on the agri-food system; marginalized
urban populations; women (sex-disaggregated data) and young children; youth; indigenous
peoples; migrants; persons with disabilities and people experiencing humanitarian crises,
conflict and fragility;

24
Data will be handled in accordance with FAO’s data protection policies.
PC 130/5 11

1.2 provide guidance and technical assistance to global, regional, national and local
stakeholders on data collection, analysis and reporting including support to digitalization and
technology transfer, and how to understand, use and communicate the implications of data to
inform policies and actions to enable healthy diets. This will include targeted guidance for the
UN Common Country Analysis (CCA) exercise and subsequent UN Sustainable
Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and FAO Country Programming
Framework development (CPF), and for collecting and analyzing data on relevant SDG
indicators at the country level; and
1.3 monitor SDG indicators relevant to diets of which it is custodian to inform decision-
making and track progress towards SDG targets.
26. Outcome Two – evidence. Decision-makers are using a larger body of evidence to guide
the selection, design and implementation of impactful and coherent policies and actions across
agri-food systems for healthy diets, as collated, communicated and facilitated by FAO. To
achieve this outcome, FAO will generate, collate and share evidence on the options for policies
and actions across agri-food systems to enable healthy diets and on their trade-offs and synergies
with other agri-food systems outcomes. Specifically, FAO will:
2.1 generate, collate, share and communicate options for policies and actions that show
promise of impact across agri-food systems for healthy diets, including polices, laws, Codex
Alimentarius Commission standards and related texts, indigenous knowledge and practices,
investments, innovations and actions relevant to making agri-food systems more sustainable,
inclusive and resilient such as reducing inefficiencies in the system; reducing food loss and
waste; increasing diversity of foods such as products of agriculture, fisheries, and forests; and
increasing consumer awareness and demand for healthy diets;
2.2 generate and communicate evidence on trade-offs and synergies between options for
policies and actions for healthy diets and with social (e.g. indigenous knowledge and cultures,
gender equity), economic (e.g. viability for smallholder farmers, economic development,
decent work) and environmental (e.g. climate change, biodiversity, soil and water
degradation) outcomes of agri-food systems and on the value of policy coherence across these
outcomes; and
2.3 through partnerships and strategic guidance, facilitate the generation of evidence to
monitor and evaluate the impacts of policies and actions on people’s diets and other
outcomes, what influences impact, and economic costs and benefits, to inform future design
and implementation of the various options.
27. Outcome Three –policy coherence and collective action. Greater coherence exists
between policies designed to achieve nutrition, social, economic and environmental outcomes of
agri-food systems and there is greater collective action on healthy diets as a result of FAO’s
convening and participation in dialogue. To achieve this outcome, FAO will convene and
participate in dialogues (meetings, conferences, congresses and summits or analogous virtual
events) to catalyze policy coherence and collective action across agri-food systems for healthy
diets. Specifically, FAO will:
3.1 convene and participate in global, regional and national multi-stakeholder dialogues on
how to enhance policy coherence between policies and actions designed to enable healthy
diets and other social, economic and environmental outcomes towards the SDGs (synergies),
and discuss how to tackle controversial trade-offs. In doing so, FAO will serve as a credible
actor to facilitate dialogue and, recognizing power imbalances, strengthen common
understanding and overcome blockages to change;
3.2 engage with private-sector actors and financial and investment institutions in innovative
ways to achieve healthy diets from sustainable, inclusive and resilient agri-food systems,
through new business models, entrepreneurship, financing opportunities for small- and
medium-sized enterprises, and partnerships, while always avoiding conflicts of interest in
accordance with FAO’s rules for engagement with these actors25; and

25
Such engagements will be conducted in accordance with the FAO Strategy for Engagement with the Private Sector.
12 PC 130/5

3.3 engage with representatives of civil society and indigenous peoples and other
stakeholders in global, regional and national collective action catalyzed by developing
consensus on the role of food-based approaches and healthy diets alongside other ways to
tackle malnutrition in all its forms.
28. Outcome Four – capacity. FAO Members and global, regional, national and local
stakeholders are implementing policies and laws, practices, investments and innovative actions at
scale across agri-food systems to enable healthy diets as a result of capacity-strengthening
activities by FAO. To achieve this outcome, FAO will build technical and policy capacity to
design, implement and scale-up impactful policies and actions. Specifically, FAO will:
4.1 provide policy and technical assistance, including through South-South and Triangular
Cooperation, to strengthen the capacity of policy- and decision-makers, including
parliamentarians and implementing actors, to design, implement, and scale-up policies and
actions across agri-food systems to enable healthy diets while also supporting other agri-food
system outcomes;
4.2 provide training materials, evidence-based guidance, toolkits, advice on digitalization,
innovative learning modalities and standards to strengthen capacity for governmental
decision-makers and partners to diagnose the problems and identify priority solutions across
agri-food systems to enable healthy diets and develop and implement food-based dietary
guidelines; and
4.3 strengthen the capacities of civil society, research institutions, academia, rural advisory
and agricultural extension services, farmers’ associations, indigenous peoples’ groups, youth
groups, and schools to develop, implement and evaluate effective and context-specific
awareness raising and education interventions relevant to the role of agriculture, supply and
value chains, food environments, gender, natural resource management, climate change and
consumer behaviour to enable healthy diets.
29. Outcome Five – advocacy and commitment. Global, regional and national bodies have
a stronger commitment to healthy diets due to FAO’s support to nutrition and agri-food systems
governance and advocacy. To do so, FAO will advocate for and secure commitment to healthy
diets as a priority goal for governance of nutrition and agri-food systems. Specifically, FAO will:
5.1 promote incorporation of healthy diets as a goal for policies and actions across agri-food
systems into relevant global, regional and national agreements, laws, Codex Alimentarius
Commission standards and related texts, investments and funding mechanisms, awareness-
raising activities, multi-stakeholder processes and country-level guidance, including by
actively supporting multi-lateral guidance such as those of the CFS, including the CFS
Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition (VGFSyN), and by considering how
different dimensions of trade can improve nutrition;
5.2 continue to support, promote and contribute to effective nutrition governance at the global
and national levels through commitments to UN Nutrition, CFS, the Scaling Up Nutrition
(SUN) Movement and other coordination mechanisms, platforms and partnerships; and
5.3 make healthy diets an organizational priority by supporting alignment among the Vision
and Strategy for FAO’s Work in Nutrition and new corporate initiatives including the Hand-
in-Hand Initiative, new FAO policies, the new FAO Strategic Framework and Medium-Term
Plan, and the work plans of existing FAO policies and strategies26.
30. Inter-dependence between the outcomes. These five outcomes are inter-dependent and
inter-connected. Understanding what data needs to be generated and communicated should be
guided by information about the promising options and the potential trade-offs, synergies,
impacts and costs of those options. Gathering and collating data can, in turn, inform the selection
of options for policies and actions which the evidence indicates are impactful and what the trade-

26 Including FAO’s Strategy on Climate Change (2017), Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity across the
Agricultural Sectors (2019), Policy on Gender Equality (2013), work on Agroecology (2018), and its existing
commitments made under The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Codex
Strategic Plan 2020-2025 and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW).
PC 130/5 13

offs might be. Evidence on the value of policy coherence and the trade-offs involved is vital to
inform dialogue to enhance policy coherence and tackle trade-offs, which would in turn identify
where more evidence and data is needed to inform the dialogue. Building technical and policy
capacity must be informed by data, evidence and dialogue but the process of building capacity is
also needed to enable stakeholders to collect data and evidence. Awareness and commitment will
be strengthened by greater data, evidence, coherence and capacity and, in turn, is required in
order to ensure that nutrition governance is fit for purpose to select, design and implement
impactful policies and actions.

VI. Accountability Framework

31. Improved agri-food systems for healthy diets and better nutrition are critical for reaching
targets from across the SDGs, including SDG 1, SDG 2, SDG 3, SDG10, SDG 12, SDG 14, and
SDG 17..
32. The Accountability Framework (Table 1) provides a mechanism for FAO to hold itself
accountable for actions towards reaching the outcomes of the Strategy. The output indicators
reflect a degree of accomplishment of the actions outlined in the Strategy related to each
outcome. They will monitor FAO’s progress in implementing activities towards the Strategy’s
stated mission in nutrition. Output indicators are designed to optimally indicate the degree of
progress in reaching the output while aligning with FAO’s corporate monitoring mechanisms.
33. FAO continues to evaluate the feasibility of measurement and quality of data for each of
the indicators. Flexibility over time is required to make the best use of new data that will underpin
FAO’s Medium Term Plan (MTP) 2022–25 and the new UNSDCF and CPF. Indicators will be
adjusted if they do not appear to result in the collection of robust, useful information.
34. In view of the wide scope of FAO’s work in nutrition, this Strategy does not attempt to
detail work activities across the Organization. Aligned with standard FAO rules and procedures,
and in line with the results framework adopted for the Medium Term Plan 2022-25, detailed
country-specific work plans will be developed and implemented by FAO’s decentralized offices
under the CPF process and based on the UN Common Country Analysis and UNSDCF; FAO
headquarters technical units will develop biennial work plans that will describe the specific
activities by each unit that contribute to the Strategy’s outcomes and align with its actions.
Table 1. Accountability framework for the Vision and Strategy for FAO’s Work in Nutrition.
OUTCOME 1: Decision-makers are using more and better data to guide the selection, design and
implementation of impactful policies & actions across agri-food systems for healthy diets.
ACTION AREA 1. GENERATE, COLLATE AND SHARE DATA ON HEALTHY DIETS AND AGRI-
FOOD SYSTEMS.
OUTPUTS INDICATORS
OUTPUT 1.1: Data and metrics on food 1.1a. Number of countries with high-quality, dietary data
composition, diets, dietary socio-cultural collated, visualized, disaggregated by sex and shared on FAO
beliefs and practices, food safety and platforms.
quality, food security and agri-food
systems are generated, collated,
1.1b. Number of countries with data shared through the
visualized shared, and communicated.
Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform to inform decision-making
on healthy diets and agri-food systems.

OUTPUT 1.2: Guidance and technical 1.2a. Number of countries FAO has supported to collect,
assistance provided, including targeted understand, use and communicate data and metrics on food
guidance for the UN Common Country composition, diets, dietary socio-cultural beliefs and practices,
Analysis exercise and for collecting and food safety, food security and agri-food systems.
analysing data on relevant SDG
indicators at the country level, on data
1.2b. Number of UN Country Common Analyses that include the
collection, analysis and reporting, and
collection, analysis and reporting of dietary data to inform the UN
how to understand, use and communicate
Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF)
their implications to inform policies and
with support from FAO.
actions to enable healthy diets.
14 PC 130/5

OUTPUT 1.3: SDG indicators relevant 1.3a. Number of relevant SDG indicators relevant to food, diets or
to diets monitored to inform decision- nutrition reported to FAO Governing Bodies biennially.
making and track progress towards SDG
targets.
OUTCOME 2: Decision-makers are using a larger body of evidence to guide the selection, design and
implementation of impactful and coherent policies and actions across agri-food systems for healthy diets.
ACTION AREA 2. GENERATE, COLLATE AND SHARE EVIDENCE ON THE OPTIONS FOR
POLICIES AND ACTIONS ACROSS AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS TO ENABLE HEALTHY DIETS
WHILE ALSO SUPPORTING OTHER OUTCOMES.
OUTPUTS INDICATORS
OUTPUT 2.1: Options for policies and 2.1a. Number of countries reporting having drawn on knowledge
actions that show promise of impact from products* about promising practices developed by or with support
across agri-food systems collated, from FAO to inform their policies and actions.
communicated and shared.

OUTPUT 2.2: Evidence on the 2.2a. Number of countries reporting making use of knowledge
synergies and trade-offs associated products* developed by or with support from FAO to analyze
with an agri-food system approach to synergies and trade-offs.
enable healthy diets and the impacts
on sustainability, inclusivity and
productivity generated and
communicated.

OUTPUT 2.3: Evidence on the 2.3a. Number of strategic academic/research partnerships

impact of s policies and actions established to increase the knowledge base on the impact of
across the agri-food system on diets policies, investments and actions across the agri-food system for
and the costs and benefits facilitated enabling healthy diets.
through partnership and strategic
alliance.

*Knowledge products include traditional publications, digital media (social media and web content), videos, among
others.

OUTCOME 3: Greater coherence exists between policies designed to achieve nutrition, social, economic and
environmental outcomes of agri-food systems and greater collective action on healthy diets.
ACTION AREA 3: CONVENE AND PARTICIPATE IN DIALOGUES TO CATALYSE POLICY
COHERENCE AND COLLECTIVE ACTION ACROSS AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS FOR HEALTHY
DIETS.
OUTPUTS INDICATORS
OUTPUT 3.1: Global, regional and 3.1a Number of global, regional and national dialogues* convened by
national stakeholders convened in FAO to discuss evidence to enhance policy coherence, achieve
dialogue on opportunities to enhance win-wins and address trade-offs across policies and actions in agri-
policy coherence, achieve synergies, and food systems in support of healthy diets.
address controversial trade-offs in
enabling healthy diets and agri-food
systems sustainability, inclusivity or
productivity.
OUTPUT 3.2: Private-sector actors and 3.2a. Number of high-level engagements between FAO and private
financial and investment institutions sector actors established that include explicit actions or investments
engaged in innovative ways to enable with the objective of enabling healthy diets.
healthy diets and agri-food systems
sustainability, inclusivity and 3.2b. Number of new tools and guidance for private sector
productivity, while always avoiding engagement, including those that support identifying and managing
conflicts of interest in accordance with interests in support of healthy diets and “do no harm” for nutrition,
FAO’s rules for engagement with these developed by FAO.
actors.
PC 130/5 15

OUTPUT 3.3: Global, regional and 3.3a. Number of stakeholders participating in action networks under
national actors collaborate for collective the auspices of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.
action, including through food-based
approaches, to end malnutrition in all its
forms.
*A dialogue refers to a meeting, conference, congress, summit, or equivalent virtual event for knowledge sharing,
debate, negotiation and consensus building.

OUTCOME 4: FAO Members and global, regional, national and local stakeholders are implementing
policies and laws, practices, investments and innovative actions at scale across agri-food systems to enable
healthy diets.
ACTION AREA 4: BUILD TECHNICAL AND POLICY CAPACITY TO DESIGN, IMPLEMENT AND
SCALE-UP IMPACTFUL POLICIES AND ACTIONS.
OUTPUTS INDICATORS
OUTPUT 4.1: Policy and technical 4.1a. Number of countries benefiting from policy, investment and
assistance provided to policy- and technical assistance (including in the form of South–South and
decision-makers, including triangular cooperation, direct assistance in areas of production,
parliamentarians and implementing actors investment in sustainable value chains, climate change, natural resource
to design, implement, and scale up management and gender) to enable healthy diets through FAO support.
policies and actions across agri-food
systems to enable healthy diets while
supporting agri-food systems outcomes.
OUTPUT 4.2: Training materials, 4.2a. Number of new training materials to enable healthy diets,
evidence-based guidance, toolkits and diagnose agri-food systems and prioritize policies, investments and
innovative learning modalities and practices throughout agri-food systems, developed and disseminated by
standards provided to strengthen capacity FAO.
for governmental decision-makers and
partners to diagnose the problems and 4.2b. Number of countries developing food-based dietary guidelines
prioritize solutions across agri-food with support from FAO.
systems to enable healthy diets.
Output 4.3: Capacities of civil society, 4.3a Number of school food and nutrition programmes benefiting from
academia, rural advisory and agricultural FAO support.
extension services and schools have
strengthened to develop, implement and
evaluate effective and context-specific
education interventions relevant to the
role of agriculture, supply chains, food
environments, gender equality, natural
resource management, climate change
and consumer behaviour to enable
healthy diets.
OUTCOME 5: Global, regional and national bodies have a stronger commitment to healthy diets.
ACTION AREA 5: ADVOCATE FOR AND SECURE COMMITMENT TO HEALTHY DIETS AS A
PRIORITY GOAL FOR GOVERNANCE OF NUTRITION AND AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS.
OUTPUTS INDICATORS

Output 5.1: Healthy diets as a 5.1a: Number of Codex standards or related texts providing guidance on
goal for policies and actions nutritional issues adopted with support of FAO (or jointly with WHO).
across agri-food systems is
promoted for incorporation into
5.1b: Number of global and regional intergovernmental agreements
relevant global, regional and
addressing issues across SDGs (such as: nutrition, climate change,
national agreements, laws, Codex
natural resource degradation, gender) that have incorporated healthy
standards and related texts
diets as a goal or strategic objective.
investments and funding
mechanisms, awareness-raising
activities, multi-stakeholder
processes and country-level
guidance, including by actively
16 PC 130/5

supporting multi-lateral guidance

such as those of the CFS.
Output 5.2: Effective nutrition 5.2a: Number of strategic engagements between global and national
governance at the global and nutrition governance platforms and FAO.
national levels supported,
promoted and contributed through
commitments to UN Nutrition,
CFS, the Scaling up Nutrition
(SUN) Movement and other
coordination mechanisms,
platforms and partnerships.
Output 5.3: Vision and Strategy 5.3a: Percentage of new FAO policies, strategies and frameworks
for FAO’s Work in Nutrition approved by FAO Governing Bodies that include support to enable
aligned and new corporate healthy diets as a strategic priority.
initiatives, such as the
Hand-in-Hand Initiative, new
FAO policies and strategies, the
new FAO Strategic Framework
and Medium-Term Plan, and the
work plans of existing FAO
policies and strategies are
aligned.

VII. Implementation Plan

35. In line with the recommendations made by the Evaluation of the former Strategy27
(adopted in 2012), this Strategy includes an Implementation Plan, which outlines the enabling
factors that FAO will foster or develop to successfully execute the Strategy.
36. FAO’s ambitious mission for nutrition requires organizational change if the Strategy is to
be successful. Effective organizational change needs to address Figure 3: Components of
three aspects of an organization: people, processes and culture organizational change
(Figure 3)28. Critical to the delivery of FAO’s work in nutrition
are human resources, financial resources and monitoring systems
for course correction and improvement over time. The
development and execution of the FAO corporate change
management strategy will provide an excellent opportunity to
address the critical aspects of people, processes, and culture
necessary for successful implementation of the Nutrition
Strategy as integral part of the new FAO Strategic Framework.
The calendar year 2021 will be Year 0 of the Strategy, during
which the action needed to catalyse change will be initiated.
37. People – nutrition expertise. FAO leadership in nutrition requires the right set of nutrition
experts at headquarters and in the decentralized offices. During Year 0, FAO will conduct a
comprehensive needs assessment as part of a “FAO skills mix exercise”, which will identify the
number of nutrition officers needed for different roles across the Organization and will work to
guarantee that expertise.
38. People – nutrition awareness and knowledge. The relationship of the Strategy to each
employee’s purpose supports effective implementation of the Strategy and will be paired with
capacity strengthening for all levels of engagement. The tools for capacity strengthening of
external partners outlined in Outcome 4 of the Strategy will also be used to ensure appropriate
internal capacities are strengthened. To support implementation of the Strategy, FAO has
developed the Capacity Development Roadmap: Promoting healthy diets through sustainable
agri-food systems, an internal, living document that will be the guide for capacity strengthening at
all levels and all needs for the diverse roles of FAO personnel.

27 FAO. 2019. Evaluation of the Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work in Nutrition, pp. 119. Rome. Licence: CC BY-
NC-SA 3.0 IGO
28 D. Cohen. 2005. The heart of change field guide. Harvard Business Review Press.
PC 130/5 17

39. Culture –leading by example. FAO embodies the principles it wishes to convey in
projects and investment programming by demonstrating commitment to the Strategy’s guiding
principles and support to enabling healthy diets for its employees. FAO will work to develop a
Healthy Food Environment Checklist, a tool to support FAO offices globally in creating a food
environment for personnel and visitors that supports the mission of the Strategy.
40. Culture – collective ownership. Successful implementation of the Strategy also requires
all FAO personnel, from management to technical and administrative personnel, to engage with,
and have ownership of, this corporate strategy. Strong communications inside FAO (at all levels)
will be an essential element of raising awareness and understanding of the Strategy and of FAO’s
role and work in nutrition. As personnel will change over time, communication about activities,
purpose and progress will be continuous. The process of developing the Strategy has been
collaborative and the mechanism for collaboration (the Nutrition Strategy Technical Task Team)
will continue to be used to maintain strong relationships across technical units at headquarters and
in the decentralized offices.
41. Processes – financial resources. The successful execution of the Strategy requires
dedicated financial resources from Regular Programme and extrabudgetary funds. Engagement in
innovative financing mechanisms and partnerships will also be needed. During the Organization’s
work planning process for 2022-23 that will take place in the latter half of 2021, more detailed
activities aligned to the Strategy will be planned. There will also be an intensified effort to
develop proposals to mobilize extra budgetary resources for executing actions aligned with the
Strategy.
42. Processes – monitoring. Monitoring systems and capacities for their successful execution
will be enhanced to capture the extent of the integration of nutrition into FAO’s work. FAO will
continue rolling out guidance and strengthening internal capacity for using the Nutrition Marker
developed to identify projects with nutrition as a principal or significant objective. FAO will also
innovate and develop mechanisms to use the Nutrition Marker in corporate systems for tracking
Regular Programme-funded results. Enhanced use of the Nutrition Marker can quantify the
actions FAO takes that integrate nutrition outcomes, and also the use of extra budgetary and
Regular Programme funds for nutrition.
43. The key performance indicators from the Implementation Plan (Table 2), as well as the
output indicators from the Accountability Framework (Table 1) will be reported to the FAO
Governing Bodies on a biennial basis as part of FAO’s Programme Implementation Report.
During Year 0, FAO will socialize the Strategy and conduct awareness-raising activities
throughout the Organization and with partners and will ensure alignment with FAO’s new
Strategic Framework and the MTP 2022–25. Thus, the planning and reporting cycle for the
Accountability Framework and Implementation Plan will coincide with that for corporate
strategic planning and reporting.
Table 2. Implementation Plan for the Vision and Strategy of FAO’s Work in Nutrition.
Component 1. People
Needs for nutrition awareness, knowledge and expertise in headquarters and the decentralized offices are met.
Key performance indicators Targets Targets
(end 2023) (end 2025)
1.A Percentage of country offices reporting sufficient nutrition expertise to TO BE
complete activities aligned with the Nutrition Strategy relevant to the DEVELOPED
country context. DURING YEAR
Percentage of country offices reporting sufficient nutrition expertise to ZERO OF
1.B
effectively reflect relevant policies and actions to enable healthy diets STRATEGY
from across the agri-food system in the UN Sustainable Development
Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).
Component 2. Culture
FAO communicates continuously about nutrition and leads by example.
Key performance indicators Targets Targets
(end 2023) (end 2025)
18 PC 130/5

2.A Number of internal communication products highlighting the Nutrition TO BE DEVELOPED

Strategy. DURING YEAR ZERO OF
STRATEGY
2.B Principle of leading by example is codified by proportion of FAO offices
that provide annual data on the Healthy Food Environment Checklist.
Component 3. Processes
FAO monitoring systems can capture the extent of integration of nutrition into FAO’s Programme of Work and
Budget (PWB).
Key performance indicators Targets Targets
(end 2023) (end 2025)
3.A Percentage of projects with nutrition as a principal or significant TO BE DEVELOPED
component (i.e. classified as having nutrition as a principal or significant DURING YEAR ZERO OF
component using the FAO Nutrition Marker). STRATEGY
3.B Percentage of programming results that are nutrition-sensitive (i.e.
classified as having nutrition as a principal or significant component using
the FAO Nutrition Marker)
3.C Percentage of biennial level of voluntary contributions mobilized for
projects that are nutrition-sensitive (i.e. classified with nutrition as a
principal or significant component using the FAO Nutrition Marker)

Annex. Description of terms as they are used in this document.

Access to food1 The ability to acquire food physically, economically and socially, at individual or
household level.
2
Agri-food systems This term is used as the contraction for food and agriculture systems, including food
and non-food products that serves the production, processing, trade, marketing,
consumption and disposal of goods that originate from agriculture, forestry, or
fisheries. It also includes the inputs needed and outputs generated at each of these
processes.
Agri-food systems A food system approach is a way of thinking and doing that considers the food
approach3 systems in its totality, taking into account all the elements, their relationships and
related effects. Agri-food system approach is used in this strategy to refer to an
analogous approach that encompasses food and agriculture systems, including food
and non-food products.
Child overweight and Overweight is weight-for-height greater than 2 standard deviations above the WHO
obesity (under 5 years)4 Child Growth Standards median; and obesity is weight-for-height greater than 3
standard deviations above the WHO Child Growth Standards median.
Consumer behaviour5 The actions and/or decisions made by consumers at societal, household or individual
levels, on what, where and how they procure, use and dispose of food and feed others
(considering gender, age and social factors); as well as actions to promote changes in
their food environments. Consumer behaviours are influenced by a complex myriad
of factors ranging from personal beliefs to political structures.
Food affordability6 Price of a food, relative to cost of other foods and/or population income.
Food availability1 The amount of food physically available for consumption over a reference period.
Food-based Food-based interventions focus on food – natural, processed, fortified, or in
approaches7 combination – as the primary tool for improving the quality of the diet and for
overcoming and preventing malnutrition. The approach recognizes the essential role
that food has for good nutrition as well as the importance of the food and agriculture
sector for supporting rural livelihoods.
8
Food environments The physical, economic, political and socio-cultural context in which each consumer
engages with the agri-food system to acquire, prepare and consume food. The key
elements of the food environment that influence food choices, food acceptability and
diets are: physical and economic access to food (proximity and affordability); food
promotion, advertising and information; and food quality and safety.
9
Food safety Assurance that food will not cause adverse health effects to the consumer when it is
prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use.
PC 130/5 19

Food loss and waste10 Food loss is the decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions
and actions by food suppliers in the chain, excluding retail, food service providers
and consumers. Food waste is the decrease in the quantity or quality of food resulting
from decisions and actions by retailers, food services and consumers.
Food supply chain8 The food supply chain encompasses all activities that move food from production to
consumption, including production, storage, distribution, processing, packaging,
retailing and marketing.
Healthy diet11 A balanced, diverse and appropriate selection of foods eaten over a period of time. A
healthy diet protects against malnutrition in all its forms, as well as NCDs, and
ensures that the needs for macronutrients (proteins, fats and carbohydrates including
dietary fibres) and essential micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and trace elements)
are met specific to the person’s gender, age, physical activity level and physiological
state.
Malnutrition1 An abnormal physiological condition caused by inadequate, unbalanced or excessive
consumption of macronutrients and/or micronutrients. Malnutrition includes
undernutrition and overnutrition as well as micronutrient deficiencies.
Micronutrient Lack of vitamins, minerals, and/or trace elements required in small amounts which
deficiencies12 are essential for the proper functioning, growth and metabolism of a living organism.
It is also referred as Hidden Hunger as it may be difficult to detect based on a
person’s physical appearance (people can suffer from micronutrient deficiencies
while being of normal weight and height).
Non-Communicable The result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural
Diseases13 factors. The four main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks or
strokes), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease and asthma) and diabetes.
Overweight and Body weight that is above normal for height and they are usually a manifestation of
obesity1 overnourishment. For an adult, overweight is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI:
weight in kilograms / height in metres 2) of more than 25 but less than 30 and obesity
as a BMI of 30 or more.
People-centred14 Those approaches that put people at the centre of human development, both as
beneficiaries and as drivers, as individuals and in groups. This type of approach
empowers people with the tools and knowledge to build their own communities,
states and nations.
Undernutrition1 The outcome of insufficient food intake and/or repeated infectious disease. It includes
being underweight for one’s age, too short for one’s age (stunted), dangerously thin
for one’s height (wasted) and deficient in vitamins and minerals (micronutrient
malnutrition).
20 PC 130/5

1
FAO. 2016. ICN2 Glossary. FAO TERM Portal: Nutrition (http://www.fao.org/faoterm/collection/nutrition/en/)
2
Adapted from FAO. 2012. SAFA- Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems guidelines (Test
Version 1.1). Rome, available at http://www.fao.org/3/ap77 3e/ap773e.pdf
3 http://www.fao.org/3/ca2079en/CA2079EN.pdf
4 WHO. 2020. Obesity and overweight. Fact sheet (available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-

sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight)
5 FAO. 2020. School-based food and nutrition education – A white paper on the current state, principles, challenges and

recommendations for low- and middle-income countries. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb2064en.

6 FAO. 2016. Compendium of indicators for nutrition-sensitive agriculture. Rome.
7 FAO. Improving diets and nutrition: food-based approaches, edited by B. Thompson and L. Amoroso. Rome.
8 HLPE. 2017. Nutrition and food systems. A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition

of the Committee on World Food Security. Rome.

9
Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene CAC/RCP 1-1969
10 FAO. 2019. The State of Food and Agriculture 2019. Moving forward on food loss and waste reduction. Rome.
11 FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2020. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020.

Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca9692en
12
FAO. 2015. Nutrition, food security and livelihoods: basic concepts. E-learning course (available at
https://elearning.fao.org/course/view.php?id=194)
13 WHO. 2018. Noncommunicable diseases. Fact sheet (available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-

sheets/detail/nonisi-diseases).
14 Adapted from UNDP. 2011. People-centred Development. Empowered lives. Resilient nations. UNDP in Action –

Annual Report 2010/2011.