Evaluation of the Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work in Nutrition - ANNEX 1

Evaluation of the Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work in Nutrition - ANNEX 1

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Year of publication 2019

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 25 p.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Document

Series title Thematic Evaluation Series

Edition 1

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Synopsis (short abstract) This evaluation appraises progress achieved on the implementation of the Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work on Nutrition since it was adopted in 2012. FAO’s nutrition-sensitive work has grown significantly since the Strategy was promulgated, and has evolved towards more deliberate efforts to address all forms of malnutrition. There also has been a surge in the development of knowledge products. However, the Strategy lacked an accountability framework and paid insufficient attention to operational issues, and therefore the extent to which the above developments can be attributed to the Strategy remains unclear. Nutrition is a domain that has traditionally been dominated by health concerns, but considerable attention is now being paid to so-called “food-based approaches”, i.e. approaches that focus on reforming food production, supply and consumption to prevent malnutrition. FAO has the mandate, a long experience in relevant technical sectors, the right tools and indicators, and the global, regional and national reach required to lead the development of food-based approaches to nutrition. However, in spite of the Strategy, FAO has found it difficult to define clear priorities for engagement in this space, thus inviting puzzlement, frustration and also competition from other stakeholders. The evaluation makes seven broad recommendations, oriented towards giving a new thrust to FAO’s work in nutrition, first through the elaboration of a new strategy taking stock of the main policy and strategic changes that occurred during the evaluation period, and communicating clearly FAO’s role and ‘niche’ in support of nutrition-sensitive food systems.

Language English

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Evaluation of the Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work in Nutrition 2019

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This evaluation appraises progress achieved on the implementation of the Strategy and Vision for FAO’s Work on Nutrition since it was adopted in 2012. FAO’s nutrition-sensitive work has grown significantly since the Strategy was promulgated, and has evolved towards more deliberate efforts to address all forms of malnutrition. There also has been a surge in the development of knowledge products. However, the Strategy lacked an accountability framework and paid insufficient attention to operational issues, and therefore the extent to which the above developments can be attributed to the Strategy remains unclear. Nutrition is a domain that has traditionally been dominated by health concerns, but considerable attention is now being paid to so-called “food-based approaches”, i.e. approaches that focus on reforming food production, supply and consumption to prevent malnutrition. FAO has the mandate, a long experience in relevant technical sectors, the right tools and indicators, and the global, regional and national reach required to lead the development of food-based approaches to nutrition. However, in spite of the Strategy, FAO has found it difficult to define clear priorities for engagement in this space, thus inviting puzzlement, frustration and also competition from other stakeholders. The evaluation makes seven broad recommendations, oriented towards giving a new thrust to FAO’s work in nutrition, first through the elaboration of a new strategy taking stock of the main policy and strategic changes that occurred during the evaluation period, and communicating clearly FAO’s role and ‘niche’ in support of nutrition-sensitive food systems.
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FAO’s Strategic Objective 1 (SO1) is to “contribute to the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition”. The evaluation examined the value added of SO1 to FAO’s efforts to promote food and nutrition security at the global, regional, and national levels from 2014 to 2017. It concluded that SO1 was well designed, stressed the importance of political commitment to reduce hunger and malnutrition, promoted right-based approaches in FAO’s policy support and highlighted the need to work with ministries beyond agriculture, such as ministries of finance, health or education. FAO has also worked with various Parliamentary Fronts Against Hunger, local governments and municipalities. Regional economic cooperation organizations have also been an avenue of choice through the development of regional policies and legal frameworks, “model laws” and strategies on such topics as school feeding programmes, national investment in agriculture, or crop diversification. However, a high heterogeneity was observed in the approaches followed by FAO in different countries and regions under SO1, which reflected differences in context but also betrayed insufficient communication and training efforts within FAO itself. In particular, the most innovative aspects of SO1 need to be communicated to a greater extent, especially to FAO country offices so as to inform FAO’s activities at country level. The evaluation also found a proliferation of actors, policy initiatives, approaches, coordination spaces and knowledge products in food and nutrition security, sometimes leading to confusion and competition rather than building a critical mass for sustained progress. In this context, FAO could play a greater role in policy convergence and the synthesis of multiple data streams into narratives that make sense for decision-making.