TNAG-2110-FCO40-3009-Hong-Kong-participation-in-international-organisations-1990 — Page 217

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planning in future will need to be conducted with close collaboration between nutritionists and agriculturalists where by agricultural targets, both in terms of total quantities as well as types of foods grown, determined taking into consideration the countries nutritional needs.

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46. Deliberate food and agriculture policies and plans are required for abolishing nutrient deficiencies. FAO can assist food and agriculture planners not only in including nutrition improvement as an explicit objective of agriculture development, but also for using nutritional well-being as a proxy indicator of development. In this effort, FAO can assist in the formulation of national and sub-national food and nutrition policy and planning, thereby ensuring that development planning, with all its sectoral components, is consonant with nutritional improvement. In addition to policy assistance, FAO has developed a methodology to integrate nutrition objectives into agricultural and rural

rural development projects, including forestry and fisheries projects, and workshops have been held to develop this approach

approach amongst project managers and programme sector planners from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. In so doing attention is being given to the importance of different sources of food and livelihood systems, including those of fisheries and of forests, in contributing to food security of certain population groups.

47. As regards the technologies for increasing food production,

maintaining quality of food to ensure its wholesomeness, and the rational selection of food commodities for fortification with essential nutrients such as those of vitamin A, iron and iodine, FAO has a wealth of experience to share with its member countries. The FAO programme on food standards (FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission), quality control and consumer protection continues to provide essential support for these activities in the countries of the Region. Governments and food industries must introduce and maintain strict regulatory and quality control systems to ensure proper food quality and safety in general, and control of fortified foods in particular.

5.4.2 Home Food Production

48. Action programmes which focus on the development and support of appropriate home food production may improve household level access to food of even those who have access to only small plots of land. The FAO programme to promote the production and consumption of under-exploited traditional plant foods has, therefore, been expanded to the Asian Region as it is these foods which are grown by the rural poor and which are accepted components of their daily diets. To discuss this programme an inter-country workshop was held in Nepal, attended by Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, and national follow-up activities are planned. Moreover, FAO's horticultural programme in the Region is giving the necessary attention to produce seeds and seedlings of nutritionally valuable fruits and vegetables So as to ensure that large-scale national programmes are planned and executed to cover the nutrient requirements of the local people. Both FAO programmes enhance the availability of carotene (pro-vitamin A) through dark green leafy vegetables and yellow non-citrus fruits and vegetables such as mangoes, pumpkins and sweet potatoes, the latter being also an important source of overall food energy in some national diets.

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