Participate in the FAO Committee on Food Security: Forestry and Food security

An event from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Dear all,

We hope this email finds you well.

We are reaching out to all of you with a VERY important email with a unique opportunity for indigenous peoples to participate in The World Committee on Food Security (CFS), the most important forum to discuss food security with member states, civil society, private sector, academia, foundations as well as UN agencies. The CFS meets in FAO Rome once a year in plenary session for one week and all the attendants can participate in the policy discussions.

This year, the CFS will discuss the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) Report on Sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition, which creates an opportunity for indigenous peoples to participate in the policy convergence process on sustainable forestry, express their views on forests’ contribution to food security, and raise concerns over forest resources’ accessibility.

Please note that the full report is available in English, however, the Summary and Recommendations are available in all UN languages

The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) who is the organization focal point to facilitate indigenous peoples participation in the CFS, has agreed to support this year an enhanced participation of indigenous organizations. This is even more important this year when the countries will be discussing about forestry.

In order to participate in the process indigenous organizations with traditional knowledge and technical expertise on forestry and food security are strongly encouraged to register through the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) by sending an email with expression of interest to the CSM Secretariat: [email protected] . The registered organizations will be automatically included in the CSM Working Group on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition – where comments to the report and discussions will be coordinated both online and through Skype calls (in English, Spanish and French).

The inputs and key messages resulting from the working group will be used by CSM in policy convergence negotiations.

The CSM is the space that facilitates the participation of Smallholder and Family Farmers, Pastoralists, Fisherfolks, Indigenous Peoples, Consumers, Urban Food Insecure, Agricultural and Food Workers, Women, Youth, Landless, NGOs to the CFS processes. The CSM was established for this purpose as an essential and autonomous space to the reformed CFS. More information can be found on the website: www.csm4cfs.org or contacting the CSM Secretariat [email protected].

All details related to the working group, including the timeline are available under the following link: http://www.csm4cfs.org/working-groups/forestry/

NOTE: It is important to join the working group as soon as possible for your active participation in the discussion and contribution to the comments on HLPE recommendations. The deadline for comments is 15 September.

Please note that it is also possible, and recommended, to submit comments and recommendations through the ministries responsible for agriculture, food security and forestry in your country and ask them to support your position at the CFS next October. We offer ourselves to channel comments to the Representatives of your countries in Rome should you wish to do so.

Those of you who plan to attend the CSM Forum in Rome (7-8 October) held prior the CFS Plenary Session, please follow the online registration steps described here (registration is open until 18 September).

For attendance at the CFS Plenary Session only, please follow the online registration here. Please note that it is very unlikely that you will be allowed participation in the CFS plenary as part of the CSM delegation unless you haven’t participated in the discussions of the working group of the forestry paper, as processes are connected.

Please disseminate this email to other indigenous organizations that could make contributions to this crucial discussion on forestry and food security.

We are available to expand on any information and make any clarifications you may require.

Thank you and best regards,

Yon Fernandez de Larrinoa
Indigenous Peoples team
Advocacy Unit
Partnerships, Advocacy and Capacity Development Division, OPC
Office B 247
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06 570 54295
[email protected]
http://www.fao.org/indigenous-peoples/en/