The UN Pre-Summit for Food Systems Summit begins today!

Announced in 2019 by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the UN Food Systems Summit was designed in coordination with the three Rome-based UN agencies - the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

This Summit is based on the observation that we are not heading in the right direction to achieve the goals of sustainable development. The continued increase in hunger (more than 800 million people facing hunger in 2020) and malnutrition is combined with the depletion of natural resources, the erosion of biodiversity and an increasing impact of climate change. These findings call for a sustainable transformation towards healthier, inclusive and resilient food systems. Increased cooperation between the different actors of these systems and strong public policies must be put in place to allow these evolutions.

Inclusiveness was presented as a priority by the Special Envoy in charge of this Summit, Agnès Kalibata. This "People’s Summit" will bring together representatives of youth, farmers, indigenous peoples, actors of civil society and the private sector, the academic and research world and political leaders. This pre-Summit will also be an opportunity for the Special Envoy to present the first solutions to accomplish this transformation that are emerging from the hundreds of regional, national and independent consultations organized in advance of the Summit.

The first coalitions in which the stakeholders mobilized for the Summit will engage will be presented at this pre-Summit, before being formally launched at the Summit.

France is fully committed to this pre-Summit

Involved since the beginning of the preparation process of the pre-Summit and then the Summit, France is mobilizing alongside other actors to initiate a sustainable transformation of food systems.

Represented by Ambassador Céline Jurgensen, France is a member of the Summit Advisory Committee. The Committee includes representatives of the main actors involved in the preparation of the Summit and meets regularly to exchange with the Special Envoy and guide her in the orientation of the Summit.

France has taken advantage of the experience acquired during the Etats généraux de l’alimentation (EGA) conducted in 2017. These consultations, which brought together all French stakeholders involved in the food sector, identified many specific issues and led to concrete solutions, which France is sharing with the Summit.

For France, it is crucial to orient agricultural production systems towards greater sustainability and to support rural development. This requires, in particular, an agriculture that is economically, socially and environmentally efficient, both to ensure food security and the health of individuals and to allow for the balance of ecosystems, the preservation of natural resources, the efficient management of soils, water resources, forests and biodiversity, and the reduction of the impacts of agriculture on the climate.

The promotion of an agro-ecological approach, related practices and sustainable water management systems, as well as health issues and the One Health approach, are priorities for France at the Summit.

Nutrition is also a priority for France, which is actively engaged with Finland to co-lead the emerging school feeding coalition.

Without sufficient resources, there can be no in-depth or sustainable change. This is the meaning of Emmanuel Macron’s commitment to raise official development assistance to 0.55% of gross national income by the end of the five-year term in 2022. France is therefore fully mobilized, notably through the French Development Agency, to increase the mobilization and coordination of public development banks.

Several high-level French interventions will present France’s vision for transforming food systems. Thus, the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mr. Julien Denormandie, and the Director General of the French Development Agency, Mr. Rémy Rioux, will speak several times during the pre-Summit.

Follow the news on our website and our twitter page to follow the mobilization of France during the pre-Summit!