Near East and North Africa regional overview of food insecurity. 2016: sustainable agriculture water management is key to ending hunger and to climate change adaptation.
Abstract
This second edition of the Regional Overview of Food Insecurity in the Near East and North Africa coincides with the adoption of the sustainable development agenda and the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the agreement on climate change reached at CCOP21 in Paris. The report, therefore, gives particular attention to food insecurity from the sustainability perspective, in particular the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2), which aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. The report focuses on three themes: (i) food insecurity, prevalence and trends; (ii) the four pillars of food security and nutrition; and (iii) policy commitments and experiences to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDG2), with a focus on water and climate change. The Regional Overview underlines the urgency to develop and implement strategies for sustainable management of water resources and to adapt to the climate change impact on water and agriculture. The report documents several positive experiences in sustainable management of water resources and climate change adaptation in the region. It highlights the importance of accelerating investments aimed at improving water efficiency and water productivity as well as the need for a shift in cropping patterns towards less water-consuming crops.