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SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY IN ROME: NEWSLETTER

Multilateral

The South African Embassy in Rome is accredited to the following Rome-based Agencies (RBAs):

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO); the World Food Programme (WFP);

and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The stated purpose of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is to help eliminate hunger, food in-

security and malnutrition, to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, re-

duce rural poverty, enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems and increase the resilience

of livelihoods to threats and crises. South Africa is currently serving on the FAO Council, for a term which

ends on 30 June 2020.

Over the years, South Africa has succeeded in achieving much in the fields of agriculture, forestry and fish-

eries, including with the assistance of FAO-led projects. In order to achieve food security in South Africa and

the Region, enhanced collaboration with FAO is imperative. South Africa is, therefore, determined to contin-

ue to make use of FAO’s comparative advantage in these three fields in order to achieve food security for its

citizens.

The Embassy in Rome is also collaborating with FAO, as well as the other RBAs, on the issue of land re-

form. As a result of much discussion in South Africa on the need to provide for the expropriation of land

without compensation, the Embassy has been consulting FAO with a view to commencing a dialogue and

the sharing of information on best practices and advice on how land expropriation was handled in other

countries and, more specifically, how this was done in a manner to ensure food security for its peoples. The

Embassy is currently finalising arrangements for the hosting of a webinar at FAO Headquarters during No-

vember, on the use and application of the UN approved “Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Govern-

ance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security” and how the use

and application of these Guidelines in South Africa could support potential smallholder farmers to effectively

produce and market their products.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has a long experience in humanitarian and development contexts and

has positioned itself well to support resilience-building in order to improve food security and nutrition. WFP

helps the most vulnerable people strengthen their capacities to absorb, adapt, and transform in the face of

shocks and long-term stressors.

South Africa is currently in discussions with WFP regarding the establishment of a United Nations Humani

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