The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) discussed the strategic priority and framework of the Food and Agriculture Organization at the corporate and regional levels with the DSWD.

At the country level, FAO is following what they call the country programming framework (CPF), which defines or localizes strategic priorities or corporate priorities to suit the local context of the Philippines.

UNFAO is promoting nutrition-sensitive approaches, nutrition-sensitive agriculture and mobilizing partnerships with different stakeholders, including parliamentarians and also private sector, the civil society, in addition to usual government partners to prioritize and push or advocate for Food Security and Nutrition, policies and programs.

The second priority area of FAO in the Philippines has to do with improving productivity of the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector in a sustainable manner.

UNFAO recognizes that these two have to go hand in hand to increase the productivity, it should manage, conserve the natural resources, and these are where the initiatives in relation to forest landscape restoration, biodiversity conservation in the context of agriculture, agricultural production fall in.

UNFAO is also into improving the value chains, particularly how the smallholder producers can improve their participation and maximize their incomes from their participation in the value chain.

Likewise, as a technical agency, this is also where they introduce the good practices to improve agricultural production, fisheries management, and technical assistance. UNFAO sees that it has links and has contributions to all of these three priority areas and directly as well to the food security and oppression agenda since they also have as one of their activities, the support to the enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty.

Meanwhile, DSWD Sec. Erwin Tulfo thanked UNFAO country representatives who were all present in the said courtesy call.