Mandate

The development of a cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition was called for at the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties, as part of decision VII/32 examining the relationship between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals .

In paragraph 7 of decision VII/32, the COP requested the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), and taking into account ongoing work,

To undertake the necessary consultations and bring forward options for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its eighth meeting for a cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition within the existing programme of work on agricultural biodiversity, and

To strengthen existing initiatives on food and nutrition, enhance synergies and fully integrate biodiversity concerns into their work,

with a view to the achievement of target 2 of the Millennium Development Goal 1 [i.e., to halve by 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger] and other relevant Millennium Development Goals. 

SBSTTA-X recommendation

In light of this decision, the Convention’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) issued recommendation X/9, requesting the Executive Secretary, subject to the availability of the necessary resources, to organize a consultation on the scope of the proposed initiative in conjunction with the thirty-second session of the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition, to be held in Brasilia in March 2005. Information relating to this first consultation (held in Brasilia, 12-13 March 2005) is available here.

In the same recommendation, SBSTTA also proposed potential elements of the initiative, now incorporated into the framework of the initiative.