The Sustainable Development Goal to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” (SDG2) recognizes the inter linkages among supporting sustainable agriculture, empowering small farmers, promoting gender equality, ending rural poverty, ensuring healthy lifestyles, tackling climate change, and other issues addressed within the set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Beyond adequate calories intake, proper nutrition has other dimensions that deserve attention, including micronutrient availability and healthy diets. Inadequate micronutrient intake of mothers and infants can have long-term developmental impacts. Unhealthy diets and lifestyles are closely linked to the growing incidence of non-communicable diseases in both developed and developing countries.
Adequate nutrition during the critical 1,000 days from beginning of pregnancy through a child's second birthday merits a particular focus. The Scaling-up Nutrition (SUN) Movenent has made great progress since its creation five years ago in incorporating strategies that link nutrition to agriculture, clean water, sanitation, education, employment, social protection, health care and support for resilience.
FAO is working with partners to promote the adoption of a more holistic approach to food security and nutrition that takes into account the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of food systems. This approach is aimed at addressing the root causes of malnutrition and ensuring that all people have access to the nutritious food they need to live healthy and productive lives.
FAO is also working to promote sustainable agriculture practices that increase productivity and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, while protecting the environment and natural resources for future generations. These practices include agroecology, conservation agriculture, climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable intensification.