FIRST-FAO and EU Policy Guidance Notes

We are pleased to inform you that the joint FAO-EU Policy Guidance Notes: “Strengthening sector policies for better food security and nutrition results” developed in the framework of the FIRST partnership programme was launched.

The “Food and Nutrition Security Impact, Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation” (FIRST) is a Partnership Programme among FAO and the European Union with the aims to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2; “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”.

The primary focus of FIRST is to support countries to achieve the SDG 2 through the creation of an enabling policy and institutional environment for food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture. FIRST represents a strategic partnership between FAO and the EU, whereby the EU is making a significant investment of nearly €8 billion in over 60 countries during the 2014–2020 period to improve food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA) and through FIRST, FAO adds value to the investment made by the EU, governments and other partners to have more direct and tangible impact.

FIRST provides policy assistance and capacity development support through a network of policy officers (currently 30 policy officers) based at the ministries or national institutions. FAO and EU collaborate closely in steering planning and implementation of FIRST both at country level through the FAO Representations and EU Delegations and at global level through FAO headquarters and DEVCO, Rural Development, Food Security and Nutrition Unit (C1). FIRST is active in 32 countries , one territory and the subregional organization of ECOWAS for provision of policy assistance support. The scope and modalities of the policy assistance and capacity development support under FIRST is driven by the needs and demands expressed jointly by the governments, the EU Delegations and the FAO Representations.

The Policy Guidance Notes are key documents for the provision of policy assistance support to the member countries, as they guide the decision makers, policy officers, and the national stakeholders in their work on sharpening the focus of a particular sector or policy domain on food security and nutrition. The notes will further support the integration of food security and nutrition objectives into sectoral policies, and will promote a better understanding of how sectoral policies could affect the food security and nutrition situation.

The series includes an overall introductory note on policy coherence, and sector specific notes on Fisheries, Forestry, Livestock, Climate Change, Social Protection, Gender Equality, Land Tenure, and Political Economy Analysis.

FIRST: http://www.fao.org/europeanunion/eu-projects/first/en/

Policy Guidance Note: http://www.fao.org/publications/policy-guidance-series/en/