Agriculture Development, Food Security and Nutrition

A/RES/78/168View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 23aAgriculture development, food security and nutrition, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

13 versions · 2014–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/157

2025A/RES/80/157Agriculture development, food security and nutritionLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/RES/79/227Agriculture development, food security and nutritionCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/168Agriculture development, food security and nutritionCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/77/186Agriculture development, food security and nutritionCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/222Agriculture development, food security and nutritionCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

9 topics

Agricultural Development Covid-19 Food Security Food Supply Malnutrition Nutrition Recovery Sustainable Agriculture Sustainable Development

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2024.

2024A/79/193Advancing coherence to achieve food security and nutrition, ecosystem integrity, climate action and social justice report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

57 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;

Urges Member States and all relevant stakeholders to advance collective actions to address the multiple and widespread impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, climate change and biodiversity loss on agriculture development, food security and nutrition, to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Welcomes the political declaration adopted by the high-level political forum on sustainable development convened under the auspices of the General Assembly (Sustainable Development Goals Summit), held in New York on 18 and 19 September 2023, and urges timely action to ensure its full implementation;

Calls for the implementation of the respective voluntary commitments of the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit, takes note of the operationalization of the United Nations Food Systems Coordination Hub, hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on behalf of the United Nations system, and looks forward to the 2025 Stocktaking Moment of the United Nations Food Systems Summit;

Emphasizes the importance of international cooperation, multilateralism and solidarity in the global response to support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, including towards achieving universal health coverage, social protection, technological transfer on mutually agreed terms, capacity-building and financial support for sustainable agricultural development in developing countries as an important tool for achieving food security and nutrition for all;

Recalls its resolution 76/264 of 23 May 2022 on the state of global food insecurity, and reiterates its call to the international community to urgently support countries affected by the food security crisis through coordinated actions, including the provision of emergency food supplies, food programmes, financial support, and increased and diversified agricultural production, and to promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable, multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization;

Calls upon the international financial institutions to find urgent, affordable and timely solutions to support developing countries, in particular those highly indebted, in responding to the food security crisis, through, but not limited to, facilitating, as appropriate, access to debt relief, concessional finance and grants, and takes note with appreciation of the temporary Food Shock Window of the International Monetary Fund;

Emphasizes that sustainable agricultural production, food security, nutrition and food safety are key elements for the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, and calls for greater efforts to sustainably enhance the agricultural production capacities, productivity and food security of developing countries;

Expresses concern that the world is not on track to eradicate hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030 and that scarce and unsustainably managed natural resources, combined with insecure and uneven tenure rights for smallholders, are severely affecting those in vulnerable situations in rural areas, that the adverse effects of climate change, including persistent and recurring drought, floods, extreme weather events, land degradation, coastal erosion, ocean acidification, the retreat of mountain glaciers, sea level rise, desertification and biodiversity loss, as well as conflict and post-conflict situations, are challenges with regard to food security and nutrition and diet-related non-communicable diseases in many places, preventing progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and that countries in protracted crises are at risk of being left behind;

Stresses that urgent and concerted action is needed at all levels to recover momentum and accelerate efforts to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition, comprehensively tackling both its causes and effects, and to promote improved nutrition, healthy diets and more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems;

Reiterates the importance of developing countries determining their own food security strategies, that improving food security and nutrition is a global challenge and a national policy responsibility and that any plans for addressing this challenge in the context of eradicating poverty must be nationally articulated, designed, owned, led and built in consultation, as an inclusive process, with all key stakeholders at the national level as appropriate, and urges Member States, especially those affected, to make food security, nutrition and food safety a high priority and to reflect this in their national programmes and budgets;

Underscores the need to safeguard food security and nutrition for all, including women, children, youth, older persons, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, persons with disabilities and those living in vulnerable situations, inter alia, by promoting economic and social policies to counteract the adverse impact of economic slowdowns and downturns on efforts to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition;

Calls upon the international community to continue its support for the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme and its results framework, which is an integral component of the Programme that provides guidance on planning and implementing investment programmes, and in this regard welcomes the establishment of the 1.5 billion United States dollar African Emergency Food Production Facility by the African Development Bank to boost food security, nutrition and resilience on the continent;

Encourages Member States, in designing their national policies, to fully take into account the Rome Declaration on Nutrition as well as the Framework for Action, which provides a set of voluntary policy options and strategies for the use of Governments, as appropriate;

Urges increased political commitment by Member States to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition, reiterates the importance of the Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) and its call for, inter alia, the scaling up of implementation of national commitments and increasing investments for nutrition, notes in this regard the Scaling Up Nutrition movement, and encourages Member States to engage in the movement at the global and country levels to reduce the increasing level of global hunger and all forms of malnutrition, in particular among children, especially children under 2 years of age, women, especially those who are pregnant and lactating, and youth;

Encourages Member States to strengthen their efforts to integrate nutrition objectives across all sectors and to track investments on nutrition, including through the use of available tools and markers, takes note of the ongoing World Health Organization process to review the universal health coverage index, and reiterates the importance of considering the inclusion of a nutrition tracer indicator;

Underscores the need to address child stunting, which remains unacceptably high, with nearly 148.1 million children under 5 years of age, or 22 per cent, affected by stunting in 2022, as well as child wasting, with at least 45 million children under 5 years of age suffering from wasting in 2022;

Encourages Member States to increase investment in the development, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of laws, policies and programmes aimed at the protection and promotion of, including education on and support for, breastfeeding, including through multisectoral approaches and awareness-raising, and the facilitation of breastfeeding for working mothers;

Takes note of the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit, convened by the Government of Japan on 7 and 8 December 2021, and the Tokyo Compact on Global Nutrition for Growth, which includes 396 new commitments made by 181 stakeholders to tackle malnutrition in all its forms, and looks forward to the Nutrition for Growth Summit, to be convened by the Government of France in 2024;

Emphasizes the six global nutrition targets set by the World Health Assembly to address global malnutrition by 2025 and the related monitoring framework;

Stresses the need to increase sustainable agricultural production and productivity globally, noting the diversity of agricultural conditions and systems, including by improving and aiming to ensure the functioning of markets and trading systems and strengthening international cooperation, particularly for developing countries, and by increasing responsible public and private investments and partnerships in sustainable agriculture, including through innovative approaches, land and natural resource management and rural development, as well as collaboration in science, technology and innovation, and notes that the benefit of such public and private investment and engagement should also reach, where appropriate, local smallholders in appropriate knowledge management systems and communications systems with regard to promoting food security, improving nutrition and reducing inequality;

Recognizes the need to increase the resilience, productivity and sustainability of food and agricultural production with regard to climate change in the context of the rising demand for crops and food, bearing in mind the importance of safeguarding food security and nutrition, ending hunger and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the adverse impacts of climate change, including drought and water scarcity, floods, biodiversity loss, and sand and dust storms, and calls for increased efforts at all levels, including the provision of adequate development finance to support climate-sensitive agricultural practices, including, but not limited to, sustainable soil management, agroforestry, agroecology, conservation agriculture, water management schemes, drought and flood-resistant seeds, sustainable intensification and sustainable livestock management, and to establish and strengthen interfaces between scientists, decision makers, entrepreneurs and funders of science, technology and innovation, as well as measures to strengthen the resilience of those in vulnerable situations and of agrifood systems, which can also have a wider positive impact, emphasizing adaptation to climate change as a major concern and objective for all farmers and food producers, especially small-scale producers;

Stresses the urgent need to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change, and further urges Member States to continue to engage in adaptation planning processes and the implementation of mitigation actions;

Calls for the strengthening of agrifood systems and the promotion of sustainable practices in agriculture and soil management that are evidence-based to improve adaptation strategies and resilience to climate change, including through ecosystem services, biodiversity preservation and sustainable use, and also calls for poverty, hunger, food security and nutrition objectives to be incorporated into national climate change adaptation and mitigation plans;

Recognizes the critical role of the private sector in support of more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems and the positive contribution and improved quality of multi-stakeholder partnerships as a means to engage all key actors, and stresses the need for further efforts to strengthen strategic partnerships with the private sector;

Reaffirms the need to promote, enhance and support sustainable agriculture, including crops, forestry, fisheries, livestock and aquaculture, that improves food security, eradicates hunger, helps to prevent malnutrition and is economically viable, while conserving and sustainably using land, water, plant and animal genetic resources, biodiversity and ecosystems and enhancing resilience to climate change and disasters caused by natural or human-made hazards, and recognizes the need to maintain natural ecological processes that support sustainable and efficient agrifood systems and ensure food security and nutrition, underlines the importance of mainstreaming the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity for food and agriculture, and takes note of the importance of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and the Biodiversity Mainstreaming Platform promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

Calls for increased ambition and urgency of action to protect working animals and to strengthen global efforts to ensure that animal health and welfare can contribute to addressing challenges and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with United Nations Environment Assembly resolution 5/1 of 2 March 2022, entitled “Animal welfare-environment-sustainable development nexus”, and emphasizes the importance of the One Health approach and other holistic approaches that deliver multiple benefits to the health and well-being of people, animals, plants and ecosystems;

Recognizes the importance of the mechanization of agriculture to sustainable agricultural systems, including economic, social and environmental resilience, and therefore the delivery of the 2030 Agenda;

Expresses concern about antimicrobial resistance, including in the agriculture sector, and in this regard encourages the implementation of the action plan on antimicrobial resistance 2021–2025 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which supports the food and agriculture sectors in implementing the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with, and subsequently adopted by, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Organization for Animal Health, in order to minimize the impact of antimicrobial resistance;

Recognizes that more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems have a fundamental role to play in promoting healthy diets and improving nutrition and preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases, and welcomes the formulation and implementation of national policies aimed at eradicating malnutrition in all its forms and transforming agrifood systems so as to make nutritious diets, including traditional healthy diets, available to all, while reaffirming that health, water and sanitation systems must be strengthened simultaneously to end malnutrition;

Calls for closing the gender gap in access to productive resources in agriculture, noting with concern that the gender gap persists with respect to many assets, inputs and services, as well as capacity-building, and stresses the need to invest in and strengthen efforts to support the empowerment of all women and girls, in particular rural women, to address their own food and nutritional needs and those of their families, to promote adequate standards of living for them, as well as decent work and decent pay, and to guarantee their personal health, well-being and security, full access to land and natural resources and access to affordable, low-cost, long-term loans and to local, regional and global markets, taking into account that the prevalence of food insecurity puts the health and lives of women and children at risk;

Recognizes the critical role and contribution of rural women, including smallholders and women farmers, and Indigenous women and women in local communities, and their traditional knowledge in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty, and in this regard acknowledges that increasing women’s empowerment has a positive impact on agricultural production, food security, diets and nutrition, in particular, child nutrition, and stresses the importance of reviewing agricultural policies and strategies to ensure that the critical role of women in food security and nutrition is recognized and addressed as an integral part of both short- and long-term responses to food insecurity, malnutrition, potential excessive price volatility and food crises in developing countries, as well as of the recognition and protection of the land rights of smallholders, in particular women;

Reaffirms the crucial role of healthy marine ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and sustainable aquaculture in enhancing food security and access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food and in providing for the livelihoods of millions of people, particularly those in small island developing States, and in this regard encourages the full implementation of the Global Action Programme on Food Security and Nutrition in Small Island Developing States, which was launched on 4 July 2017;

Encourages and recognizes the efforts at all levels to establish and strengthen social protection measures and programmes, including national safety nets and protection programmes for the needy and those in vulnerable situations, such as food and cash-for-work, cash transfer and voucher programmes, school feeding programmes and mother-and-child nutrition programmes, and in this regard underlines the importance of increasing investment, capacity-building and systems development, by aligning interventions with national and regional response plans, making full use of endogenous mechanisms, including local, national and regional reserves;

Encourages Governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders to consider promoting, where appropriate, home-grown school meals, where food served in schools and other child-care facilities is procured, from smallholder and/or family farmers to support local communities and provide educational opportunities for students by creating a structured demand for local smallholder agriculture production and contributing to sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic growth and employment;

Encourages Member States to develop health- and nutrition-promoting environments, including through nutrition education in schools and other education institutions, as appropriate, and to scale up community-based actions that support children and families, through the promotion of maternal health and recommended infant feeding practices such as breastfeeding;

Remains deeply concerned about the recurring food insecurity and malnutrition in different regions of the world and their ongoing negative impact on health and nutrition, especially in Africa, in South and West Asia and in parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, and in this regard underlines the urgent need for joint efforts at all levels to respond to the situation in a coherent and effective manner;

Recognizes the important role of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, small-scale farmers, family farmers, livestock farmers, small-scale fishers and fish workers and their traditional knowledge and seed supply systems, as well as the important role of new technologies in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and in aiming to ensure food security and improved nutrition;

Also recognizes that the food systems of Indigenous Peoples can support healthy and nutritious diets and are important for the eradication of hunger and malnutrition and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals;

Stresses the importance of the development and application of science, technology and innovation and related knowledge management and communications systems in ensuring food security by 2030, encouraging cooperation on agricultural science and technology innovation among countries and reducing technology barriers and restrictions on high-tech exchanges, and encourages the adoption of the most advanced and appropriate information technology, such as the Internet, mobile platforms, meteorology, big data and cloud computing, in agriculture systems in order to support the efforts of smallholder and family farmers to increase their resilience, productivity and incomes and include them in the development of research and innovation agendas while reducing negative environmental impacts, and leveraging the potential for innovation among young family farmers in connecting local knowledge with new solutions;

Emphasizes the need to revitalize the agriculture sector, promote rural development and aim for ensuring food security and nutrition, notably in developing countries, in a sustainable manner, which will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and underlines the importance of taking the necessary actions to better address the needs of rural communities by, inter alia, enhancing access for agricultural producers, in particular smallholder producers, women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, persons with disabilities and older persons, and those in vulnerable situations and in conflict and post-conflict situations, to credit and other financial services, markets, secure land tenure, health-care services, social services, education, training, knowledge and appropriate and affordable technologies, including for development of local crops, efficient irrigation, reuse of treated wastewater and water harvesting and storage;

Recognizes that, by 2050, the world urban population is expected to nearly double, making urbanization one of the most transformative trends of the twenty-first century, underscoring the growing need to take action to fight hunger and malnutrition among the urban poor through promoting the integration of the food security and nutrition needs of urban residents, in particular the urban poor, in urban and territorial planning, to end hunger and malnutrition, promoting the coordination of policies on food security and sustainable agriculture across urban, peri-urban and rural areas to facilitate the production, storage, transport and marketing of food to consumers in affordable ways, to reduce food losses and to prevent and reuse food waste, and promoting the coordination of food policies with energy, water, health, transport and waste and other policies in urban areas to maximize efficiencies and minimize waste;

Reaffirms the need to strive for a comprehensive twin-track approach to food security and nutrition that consists of direct action to immediately tackle hunger and address micronutrient deficiencies among the most vulnerable alongside the development of medium- and long-term sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition and rural development programmes to eliminate the root causes of hunger, all forms of malnutrition and poverty, including through revitalizing rural areas for young women and men, by creating decent jobs for all, through agricultural education systems, information and communications technology, training, scaling up research and development and strengthening the role of youth through education, entrepreneurship, access to markets and services, co-financing, capacity-building and rural-based youth organizations, and through the full realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security;

Also reaffirms the need to promote a significant expansion of research and innovation in food, nutrition and agriculture, as well as the expansion of extension services, training and education, and development and application of technologies, and of funding for such activities from all sources, to improve agricultural productivity and enhance the three dimensions of sustainability in order to strengthen agrifood systems, to promote development and to build up resilience to support better recovery from crisis, including by strengthening the work of the reformed Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR) so as to enhance its development impact, supporting national research systems, public universities and research institutions and promoting technology transfer on mutually agreed terms, the voluntary sharing of knowledge and practices and research to adapt to climate change and improve equitable access to research results and technologies on mutually agreed terms at the national, regional and international levels, while giving due consideration to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources;

Stresses that a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system will promote agriculture and rural development in developing countries and contribute to achieving food security and improving nutrition, and urges national, regional and international strategies to promote the inclusive participation of farmers and fishers and fish workers, especially small-scale farmers, including women, and young farmers in community, national, regional and international markets;

Calls upon Member States to keep their food markets open to maintain international trade in food and fertilizers, and underlines the importance of addressing existing and emerging global challenges, including through the facilitation of agricultural trade and by correcting and preventing trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets that are inconsistent with World Trade Organization rules, such as excessive stockpiling of food, and looks forward to continuing the World Trade Organization negotiations to reform agricultural trade rules, with a view to achieving meaningful progress to address these global challenges long-term at the thirteenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization;

Recognizes that trade, along with domestic production, plays a vital role in improving global food security in all its dimensions and enhancing nutrition, and in this regard urges Member States to ensure trade and trade-related measures are consistent with World Trade Organization rules and exceptions;

Also recognizes the efforts made by Member States and United Nations agencies that have already announced their commitments to the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025), calls upon Member States to accelerate efforts across the six action areas of the work programme of the Decade, and encourages all relevant stakeholders to actively support the implementation of the Decade, including by making commitments and establishing action networks;

Further recognizes the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (2019–2028), and in this regard encourages the full implementation of resolution 72/239 and takes note with appreciation of the global action plan for the Decade, which supports the development, improvement and implementation of public policies on family farming, including national plans, as appropriate, based on inclusive and effective governance and on timely and geographically relevant data, by 2024, and also takes note of the note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development on the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (2019–2028);

Invites Governments to enhance efforts to reach 100 national action plans for family farming by 2024 and to develop and implement policy and regulatory frameworks supporting family farming as envisaged by the global action plan of the Decade, encourages Governments, family farmers’ organizations and other relevant stakeholders to engage in the Decade, and calls upon the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to continue to lead the implementation of the Decade, in collaboration with other relevant organizations of the United Nations system, including by considering the development of a joint resource mobilization strategy to scale up the implementation of the Decade;

Recognizes the importance of strengthening the collective action of smallholders and family farmers, including by helping them to realize economies of scale, in the context of eradicating poverty and hunger, and achieving sustainable development;

Stresses the need to continue to strengthen cooperation and coordination among the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the regional commissions and all other relevant entities of the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations, international financial institutions and international trade and economic institutions, in accordance with their respective mandates and national development priorities, in order to increase their effectiveness, as well as to strengthen cooperation between these organizations and with non-governmental organizations and the public and private sectors in promoting and strengthening efforts towards sustainable agriculture development, food security and nutrition;

Recognizes the contribution made thus far by early warning systems, and underlines that coverage of and accessibility to multi-hazard early warning systems remain inadequate in all countries, and emphasizes the need to urgently extend the reach of multi-hazard early warning systems everywhere, especially in developing countries, and that the reliability and timeliness of such systems should be further strengthened at the national, regional and international levels, with a focus on countries that are particularly vulnerable to price shocks and food emergencies, and in this regard welcomes the progress of the United Nations Secretary-General’s call to protect everyone on Earth through universal coverage of early warning systems, including through the Early Warnings for All initiative;

Also recognizes the benefits gained from cooperation through the sharing of climate and weather information, forecasting and early warning systems related to desertification, land degradation and drought, while also taking account of sand and dust storms;

Reaffirms the important role and inclusive nature of the Committee on World Food Security as a major intergovernmental platform for a broad range of stakeholders to work together towards ensuring food security and nutrition for all, and encourages countries to promote the use and application of the voluntary guidelines on food systems and nutrition, adopted by the Committee in 2021, ensuring sustainable food systems that contribute to the promotion of healthy diets and improved nutrition;

Also reaffirms the commitment at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda to leave no one behind, and commits to taking more tangible steps to support people in vulnerable situations and the most vulnerable countries and to reach the furthest behind first;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session an action-oriented report on the implementation of the present resolution, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-ninth session the item entitled “Agriculture development, food security and nutrition”.

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