FAO s endeavour to meeting the future needs for horticulture produce In 1997, FAO launched TeleFood programme raising awareness about the problem of hunger..and to promote grassroot interventions Since its start, the campaign with assistance of the media has generated more than US$10 million in donations. Money raised through TeleFood pays for small, sustainable projects that help smallscale farmers produce more food for their families and communities. Children learn how to recognize a mature vegetable before harvesting it. Some of the refugees who are planting an orchard with fruit trees provided by a TeleFood project Rural women draw fresh water from new cement-lined reservoirs built with TeleFood funds Farmers harvest watermelons
Two priority target programmes Urban and peri-urban horticulture School gardens
Urban and Peri-urban Horticulture By the year 2020, 50% of the world population will live in cities. WRI: 52% of the poor lived in urban areas in the year 2000.
Urban and Peri-urban Horticulture: 3-S strategy S 1: SECURE THE ESSENTIAL PRODUCTION RESOURCES: Land and water Promote land lease systems and the establishments of green zones reserved for horticulture production within and around the cities. Promote access to sufficient irrigation water of reliable quality
S 2: SECURE PRODUCT QUALITY Follow international quality and food safety standards Apply Integrated Production and Protection Crop management (IPP) Promote product labelling for traceability
S 3: SECURE THE INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT AND IMPACT FOR THE BENEFICIARIES Establish a steering committee at Municipal level Activate micro-credit systems accessible to the target beneficiaries Promote access to fruits and vegetable (marketing and distribution) Increase F& V consumption through nutrition education
School garden initiative Familiarise school children with simple production technologies and create awareness about the nutritional benefits of fruits & vegetables
Joint FAO-WFP programme Improving child nutrition and education through the promotion of garden projects in schools and health centres.
CONSTRAINTS to horticulture production development and increased consumption Lack of awareness on behalf of policy and decision makers on the assets of horticulture Only a few countries have horticulture development action plans Lack of awareness of what FAO and other international organizations are doing about horticulture The technical guidelines and training materials are largely unknown and not used
Proposed future interventions to overcome these constraints Strengthen the national capacity to deal with horticulture Formulate national Horticulture actions plans Create more visibility and awareness about the assets of horticulture for improved well-being in terms of health and income Create an interactive web-site Good Morning Horticulture
FAO s endeavour to meeting the future needs for horticulture produce Good morning horticulture Good morning horticulture is an information and training program on horticulture, its benefits for food, income and health. It will be made accessible as daily sessions of short duration (approx. 2-5 minutes) through an Internet website. The idea is to bring to the homes an animated presentation which farmers and families can view and listen each day at their convenient time (logon website).
FAO s endeavour to meeting the future needs for horticulture produce Background and Justification It was realized that there is considerable knowledge available within FAO and other Organizations related to the production and consumption of fruits and vegetables which is largely unknown and therefore underutilized It is assumed that books on shelves or even as electronic version are too cumbersome to consult. Therefore, it is proposed to interact with the target audience on a daily basis with short animated training sessions.
FAO s endeavour to meeting the future needs for horticulture produce Objective: Grow and Eat More Vegetables and Fruits through Online dissemination of information on horticulture for food, income and health An attractive proposal as a component of an inter-agency initiative?
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NORMATIVE: FIELD OPERATIONS: FAO s endeavour to meeting the future needs for horticulture produce FAO s ENDAVOUR Expert meetings Codex Alimentarius Handbooks National horticulture develeopment plans Guidelines Database (Hortivar) Networks Food balance sheet Projects Improving Nutrition and Household Food Security: Belgium funded projects in Mozambique, Zambia, Ethiopia
FAO s endeavour to meeting the future needs for horticulture produce Growing awareness of the importance of an improved and diversified diet People are becoming more and more aware of the benefits of a diversified diet to meet their daily requirements in terms of vitamins, minerals, micronutrients and proteins. Horticulture products provide an answer to the growing demand for a healthier lifestyle, e.g. thanks to their specific and unique functional characteristics such as antioxidant properties. Growing awareness about the functional properties of fruits and vegetables to combat vitamine and micro-nutrient deficiencies and prevent certain cardiovascular disorders and reduce the risk for certain cancers.
FAO s endeavour to meeting the future needs for horticulture produce Implementation arrangements of HFF Resource base regional and global networks The existing regional and global networks operating under the auspices of the FAO are valuable resource base for exchanging information and for implementing capacity building. RELAFRUT CITRUSNET RADHORT Date Palm MushroomNet Veginet Greenhouse crop production for NENA countries Arabian Peninsula South-Eastern European countries CACTUSNET
HORTICULTURAL CROPS Comparative advantages Socio-economic Nutrition and health High return per unit of land, water and labour High content in vitamins and essential micro-nutrients, proteins and fibres Beneficiaries Women; men; youth; young graduates; disabled; refugees; retirees