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Former President, John Agyekum Kufuor has stressed the need for stronger commitment to food and nutrition security so as to able to see progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the new development agenda after the millennium development goals (MDGs).

"The world needs agriculture to be climate-smart and also nutrition-smart”, he stated.

He was speaking as a panel member and Co-Chair at a side event organised by the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition at the ongoing climate change conference in Paris, France.

So far, Only 24 out of the 156 Parties that have submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) ahead of COP21 refer to nutrition, and even fewer note the links between nutrition policies and climate action, the Global Panel noted.

"The Parties at COP 21 need to show stronger commitment to nutrition security to see progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition believes that solutions are needed to address climate change, agriculture, and food goals simultaneously", he stressed.

Recommendations

The Global Panel outlined six policy recommendations needed to spur the agriculture and nutrition onto a positive path and they are Including diet quality goals in adaptation targets proposed for climate action, Diversify agricultural investments and factoring in the local realities of ecological sustainability as well as support greater food system efficiency so that outputs per unit of water, energy, land, and other inputs are optimised and the footprint of agriculture and non-farm activities are better managed to meet both food demand and higher-quality diets.

Others are Integrating measures to improve climate change resilience and the nutritional value of crop and livestock products along the value chain, from production to marketing, protecting the diet quality of the poor in the face of supply shocks and growing food demand as well as promoting the generation and use of rigorous evidence on appropriate investments along food value-chains, which are resilient to climate change and also deliver positive dietary outcomes and support improved nutrition.

Madam Rachel Kyte, a Global Panel member and World Bank Climate Change Envoy said “Climate change is creating the conditions in which we have to find a way to provide nutrition to an expanding global population. This means that we need to come together as an agriculture, nutrition and public health community to find solutions to what is becoming a growing problem”.

"Climate change is creating the conditions in which we have to find a way to provide nutrition to an expanding global population. This means that we need to come together as an agriculture, nutrition and public health community to find solutions to what is becoming a growing problem” said added.

Climate change is expected to push down global farm output by 2 per cent between now and 2050. Demand for food is expected to rise substantially during that same period.

All of us depend on the nutritious food produced by millions of farmers for our health and wellbeing. Realising nutrition outcomes from effective climate smart agriculture will be essential, she added.

Global Panel is an independent group of influential experts with commitment to tackling global challenges in food and nutrition security.