Serbia at the UN Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment

Around 2000 participants from over 160 countries, including over 20 Heads of State and Government, are attending the UN Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome on 24-26 July. The event is convened by the United Nations Secretariat and hosted by Italy, in collaboration with the Rome-based UN Agencies (FAO, IFAD, WFP); it was launched by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni.

The high-level meeting aims to review progress on the commitments to action made at the first Food Systems Summit in 2021, when countries committed to set out a new direction for the food systems, one that respect planetary boundaries, focuses on healthy diets for all and provide equitable and sustainable livelihoods. The event is an opportunity for countries to share updates and practices on addressing some of the challenges they face to transform their agrifood systems towards sustainability. This includes the role and impacts of food systems in the fights against climate change, pollution (of air, soil and water), and loss of biodiversity as well as access to finance and other resources. At global level, food systems are responsible for 1/3rd of carbon emissions, and 50% of loss of biodiversity.

‘’The UNFSS+2 stocktaking meeting is an important occasion to further strengthen political commitment and pathways for implementation at global, national and sub-national levels.  The historic task we are facing is clear: defining a holistic, coordinated and science-based approach to make our agrifood systems more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind,” the FAO Director-General said.

The Summit comes at a time when up to 783 million people are facing hunger in the world, 122 million more since 2019 due to the pandemic and repeated climate shocks and conflicts, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. The capacity of people to access healthy diets has also deteriorated across the globe: more than 3.1 billion people in the world – or 42 percent – were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2021.

In Serbia, agriculture is the fourth largest sector, accounting for 15 percent of total employment and 7 percent of total gross value added. Through its national pathway towards the sustainable transformation of food systems, Serbia has committed to:

• reshape the infrastructure for rural development, particularly for irrigation and storage;
• promote and diversify decent rural livelihood,
• accelerate innovation and digitalisation, both in terms of knowledge development and access,
• boost nature-based, nature- positive production and solutions across the food systems activities,
• promote sustainable consumption, safe food and healthy lifestyle among citizens,
• upscale efforts around the management of food loss and food waste,
• upscale green financing and innovative financing schemes for small farmers. 
• strengthen cooperation between sectors such as agriculture, environment, trade, health, energy. and by bringing together institutions and citizens to promote heathy diets and practices.

The event is attended by members of Serbian delegation, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Serbia, Dušanka Golubović, Senior Advisor to FAO from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Ana Ristić, and Tatjana Garčević, Minister Counsellor at Embassy of Republic of Serbia in Rome and Alternate Permanent Representative of the Republic of Serbia to FAO. 

The UN and the Sustainable Food Systems

The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in New York, and its Pre-Summit, hosted by Italy at FAO headquarters, envisioned a global transformative future for food systems, encompassing shifts in production, storage, consumption, and waste management. Following the UNFSS, the Secretary-General committed the UN system to establish a Coordination Hub, led and hosted by FAO, that collaborates with and draws upon wider UN system capacities to support follow-up to the Food Systems Summit.

FAO - which pledged to take a leadership role in following the implementation of the commitments adopted at the UNFSS - has been leading the global call for the transformation of agrifood systems, including through its Strategic Framework 2022-31.

Recognizing the importance of agri-food systems transformation, Serbia took an active role in the United Nations Food System Summit organized in New York in 2021. A series of national dialogues with different Ministries, NGOs, local governments, private sector, and farmers were held, resulting in the development of a National Pathway for food system transformation.

The UNFSS+2 Stocktaking Moment takes place ahead of several other important global gatherings. These include the SDG Summit, the UN Climate Conference COP28, and the G7 Summit.