CIFAL Jeju- Workshop on Food and Nutrition Security: Developing Local Government's Capacities to Enhance Resilience to Food Crisis and Food Self-Reliance
According to the 1996 World Food Summit definition of food security, people are considered food secure when they have all-time access to “sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preference for an active and healthy life.” However, in 2008 and 2011, food riots occurred globally as cereal prices spiked, leaving many hungry.
Over the past decade, food prices have risen three times as fast as inflation worldwide, and the Food Price Watch expects food prices to remain high and volatile for long time. One of the key factors behind such rapid, huge and long-term food price rises is the growing population’s higher demand as countries become affluent. No less important are the following factors: grains being used as fuel for cars, soil erosion, aquifer depletion, farmland deprivation to nonfarm uses, crop withering or destroyed due to extreme weather conditions, high oil prices, and changing diets. These factors bring food insecurity to both developed and developing countries, but the difference is whether it’s transitory or chronic.
Aiming at promoting awareness about the importance of food security as part of human security at the local level, this workshop will provide:
- an opportunity for local authorities to build capacities to enhance resilience to food crisis and food self-reliance
- a platform to exchange lessons learned and good practices in local and national efforts to fulfil MDG 1 (End Extreme Poverty and Hunger)
- a venue for city-to-city cooperation in implementing local action plans for food security
- Participants will recognise the importance of food security as part of human security in the local government agenda
- Participants will explore local planning and best practices in building resilient and effective food system and improving food self-reliance
- Participants will apply UNITAR self-assessment tools to rate and compare each others’ local food security policies and strategies for their local implementation
- Participants will review techniques and models towards developing their own local food security strategies and action plans
Content:
The workshop contents are composed of the following:
- Introduction of the concept of food security as human security / right to food
- Overview of food security and factors of food crisis
- Improved planning approaches for making local food security resilient
- Good Practices and Key Case Studies in local government planning to build resilience to food crisis and to attain food self-reliance
- A review of challenges and lessons learned in implementing policies
- Successful multi-stakeholder and partnership approaches to increasing food security locally
Structure:
The workshop structure consists of the following four pillars:
- Keynote presentations and participatory discussion
- Case Studies from local governments and group analysis
- UNITAR CityShare methodology
- Site visits
The UNITAR-developed CityShare methodology for knowledge sharing and knowledge management will be used during the workshop.
The CityShare methodology aims at optimizing peer learning between local officials. It consists of various processes of self-assessment, distillation and transmission of experiences and good practices. It is also composed of several tools which provide a common framework for the evaluation of experiences made by the participating cities and countries and offer a common language for the exchange and assimilation of contextualised experiences, as well as a roadmap for action and progress.
High-Level Authorities and Experts from Local Governments, Representatives from NGO and Community-Based Organizations, Academic Institutions, and other Local Actors within the Asia-Pacific Region.
Requirements
Participants are required to attend and actively participate in all workshops, complete assignments and interact with resource persons, and complete pre-workshop readings/assignments and come with prepared questions.
Fluency in English, spoken and written.
Course Certificates
CIFAL Jeju and UNITAR will jointly issue a certificate to participants upon completion of the full program.
How to apply
- Application form can be downloaded from www.cifaljeju.org.
- Please send the application form, CV, case study description, letter of nomination and letter of commitment (form attached to ‘application form’) by February 15 (Fri) 2013 to: cifaljeju.jitc.1 [at] gmail.com (cifaljeju[dot]jitc[dot]1[at]gmail[dot]com).
Note
- Participation is subject to approval of the application by CIFAL Jeju.
- Notification will be sent once the selection process has been finalized.
Assistance with Travel Cost
- Self-sponsored (airfare and accommodation) participants are welcome.
※ Accommodation: approximately $118 per night
- Participants will be reimbursed in accordance with UNITAR CIFAL Jeju’s travel reimbursement policy.
- All local expenses (transportation, accommodation – except for self-sponsored participants, and meals) will be covered by CIFAL Jeju and partner institutions.
CIFAL Jeju is part of the UNITAR network of nine training centres for local governments and local actors across the globe known as The CIFAL Network. Founded in 2002, under the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and Local Agenda 21, the CIFAL Network focuses on demand-driven capacity development and training for local actors in various areas of sustainable municipal development. Each CIFAL is established through local and regional partnerships with key public, private and civil society institutions to build regional expertise in good practices for sustainable local development. Given Jeju Special Self-Governing Province's good practices in decentralisation, localising green growth, and peace and security, CIFAL Jeju specialises in training Asia-Pacific local authorities on topics of localising green growth and ensuring human security in an urban context. The CIFAL hosts over six trainings each year on these topics. For more information see: www.cifaljeju.org.