The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the EU approach to resilience and disaster risk reduction in developing countries: "learning from food security crises", in response to the Commission communication on the same topic.

Parliament noted that, according to the UN, since 1992 4.4 billion people have been affected by disasters, USD 2 trillion worth of damage has been caused and 1.3 million people have been killed. In 2011, the cost of disaster loss was over USD 300 billion.

The UN further predicts that the world’s urban population will increase by 72% by 2050 , and that most urban growth will occur in less developed countries, thereby greatly increasing the number of people exposed to disaster risk.

In this context, Parliament welcomed both the Commission's 2012 Resilience Communication and its objectives, as well as the document entitled "Action Plan for Resilience in Crisis-Prone Countries 2013-2020" and its priorities. It called on the Commission together with the European External Action Service (EEAS), to implement its proposals and priorities and to ensure that consistent progress is made on achieving its objectives.

EU approach to resilience : Parliament called on the Commission to actively integrate resilience measures into both the humanitarian and the development sides of programming. It stressed that there needs to be a stronger link between short-term humanitarian responses and longer-term development programming and that this should fit into the overall resilience approach.

For the Parliament, the main focus of the EU’s resilience approach must be the most vulnerable, poorest and most marginalised populations , who have high exposure to risks. In the long term, this approach should address the deterioration of the ecosystem, particularly agriculture, water, biodiversity and fish resources.

Members called on the Commission to target fragile countries in its resilience agenda.

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) as an essential component of resilience : Parliament highlighted that effective disaster response management takes into account the setting in place of a framework allowing for the immediate mobilisation of all necessary resources within the development and aid programmes. It called on the EU, its Member States and its partner countries’ governments to improve and develop DRR strategies in developing countries by implementing risk assessment programmes and enhancing early warning systems , particularly in fragile and crisis-prone countries.

The EU and its Member States, as well as partner countries should consider:

· environmental sustainability and disaster risk management in programmes of land governance reform;

· climate change.

Coherence and complementarity between the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) and DRR should be ensured for the post-2015 framework;

Sustainable development, social protection and community resilience : Parliament encouraged increased attention to small-scale disasters as a key target in the resilience approach and enhanced visibility for the damage that small-scale disasters do. It underlined the need to strengthen and develop education in the context of disasters and emergencies, in relying on local authorities and civil society organisations.

Members also called for the regular collection of data, inter alia, meteorological data and data relating to harvest, livestock, the functioning of the markets, the nutritional condition of children and the poorest members of society, as well as data on existing DRR mechanisms …, in order to facilitate access to early warning measures.

Learning from food security crises and previous disasters : Parliament called on the EU to draw lessons from its cooperation policy in the past decades and to put forward proposals to promote Policy Coherence for Development in practice. It noted that food and nutrition crises are becoming more frequent in the Sahel and Horn of Africa regions, where millions of people are without access to adequate food. It stressed that the underlying causes leading to food crises today are more complex than in the past, with poor people becoming more exposed to prices shocks.

Parliament noted that chronic food and nutrition insecurity is the first and most important factor of vulnerability to food crises , because it reduces people’s capacity to prepare for risks, to withstand crises and to bounce back after them. The question of food security should be treated a resilience priority by eliminating unsustainable practices such as the dumping of agricultural products and unfair trade rules. Members noted that evidence from Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali indicates that low-cost agro-ecological techniques, particularly agro-forestry and soil and water conservation, have improved small-scale farmers’ resilience to food insecurity. They called for non-agricultural components to be incorporated into agricultural interventions and for it to be ensured that improved nutrition is an explicit objective of agricultural programmes.

Policy Coherence for Development and food security : Parliament is of the view that the EU Action Plan for Resilience should aim at implementing Policy Coherence for Development and address issues relating to food security and climate resilience by eliminating unsustainable practices such as the dumping of agricultural products and unfair trade rules . It called on the EU to address sustainable agriculture in a holistic manner at national and international level.

The resolution called for an effective approach to resilience, which must be multi-institutional, coordinated, comprehensive and systematic, and include a number of elements such as the provision of predictable and targeted social safety nets for the most vulnerable , which would not only ensure that households have immediate access to food during crises, but also guarantee fast recovery and resilience to future shocks.

Parliament called for the reduction of child undernutrition to be made central to resilience through coordinated national plans prioritising in particular children under two and pregnant women.

Better coordination of efforts and improved funding methods : Parliament recalled that according to a study, EUR 800 million could be saved annually in transaction costs if donors concentrated their aid efforts on fewer countries and activities. In this respect, it underlined the importance of nomadic livestock keepers and pastoral populations for improving nutritional processes.

At the same time, the resolution encouraged increased collaboration between the public sector and the private sector on DRR and resilience. It urged the Commission to draft a proposal that establishes rules on public-private partnership , including social and ecological impact assessments, to prevent, for example, the exacerbation of land-use conflicts or conflicts over access to water , particularly to protect smallholder famers. It also recommended increased collaboration with non-EU countries and international and regional institutions when it comes to disaster preparedness, as well as disaster response and reconstruction.

Finally, Members emphasised that while the EU and international organisations can make progress on DRR and resilience in developing countries through their programmes, it is primarily the responsibility of national governments to ensure the safety of their citizens .

Partner countries therefore need to have a strong political commitment to supporting and implementing activities that enhance resilience and DRR.

The Development Committee adopted the own-initiative report by Gay MITCHELL (PPE, IE) on the EU approach to resilience and disaster risk reduction in developing countries: "learning from food security crises", in response to the Commission communication on the same topic.

The Committee noted that, according to the UN, since 1992 4.4 billion people have been affected by disasters, USD 2 trillion worth of damage has been caused and 1.3 million people have been killed. In 2011, the cost of disaster loss was over USD 300 billion.

The UN further predicts that the world’s urban population will increase by 72% by 2050 , and that most urban growth will occur in less developed countries, thereby greatly increasing the number of people exposed to disaster risk.

In this context, the Committee welcomes both the Commission's 2012 Resilience Communication and its objectives, as well as the document entitled "Action Plan for Resilience in Crisis-Prone Countries 2013-2020" and its priorities. They call on the Commission together with the European External Action Service (EEAS), to implement its proposals and priorities and to ensure that consistent progress is made on achieving its objectives

EU approach to resilience : the Committee calls on the Commission to actively integrate resilience measures into both the humanitarian and the development sides of programming. It stresses that there needs to be a stronger link between short-term humanitarian responses and longer-term development programming and that this should fit into the overall resilience approach.

For the Committee, the main focus of the EU’s resilience approach must be the most vulnerable, poorest and most marginalised populations , who have high exposure to risks. In the long term, this approach should address the deterioration of the ecosystem, particularly agriculture, water, biodiversity and fish resources.

The Committee calls on the Commission to target fragile countries in its resilience agenda.

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) as an essential component of resilience : the Committee highlights that effective disaster response management takes into account the setting in place of a framework allowing for the immediate mobilisation of all necessary resources within the development and aid programmes. It calls on the EU, its Member States and its partner countries’ governments to improve and develop DRR strategies in developing countries by implementing risk assessment programmes and enhancing early warning systems , particularly in fragile and crisis-prone countries.

The EU and its Member States, as well as partner countries should consider:

· environmental sustainability and disaster risk management in programmes of land governance reform;

· climate change.

Coherence and complementarity between the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) and DRR should be ensured for the post-2015 framework;

Sustainable development, social protection and community resilience : the Committee encourages increased attention to small-scale disasters as a key target in the resilience approach and enhanced visibility for the damage that small-scale disasters do. It underlines the need to strengthen and develop education in the context of disasters and emergencies, in relying on local authorities and civil society organisations.

They also call for the regular collection of data, inter alia, meteorological data and data relating to harvest, livestock, the functioning of the markets, the nutritional condition of children and the poorest members of society, as well as data on existing DRR mechanisms …, in order to facilitate access to early warning measures.

Learning from food security crises and previous disasters : the Committee calls on the EU to draw lessons from its cooperation policy in the past decades and to put forward proposals to promote Policy Coherence for Development in practice. It notes that food and nutrition crises are becoming more frequent in the Sahel and Horn of Africa regions, where millions of people are without access to adequate food. It stresses that the underlying causes leading to food crises today are more complex than in the past, with poor people becoming more exposed to prices shocks.

The Committee notes that chronic food and nutrition insecurity is the first and most important factor of vulnerability to food crises , because it reduces people’s capacity to prepare for risks, to withstand crises and to bounce back after them. The question of food security should be treated a resilience priority by eliminating unsustainable practices such as the dumping of agricultural products and unfair trade rules. The Committee notes that evidence from Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali indicates that low-cost agro-ecological techniques, particularly agro-forestry and soil and water conservation, have improved small-scale farmers’ resilience to food insecurity. It calls for non-agricultural components to be incorporated into agricultural interventions and for it to be ensured that improved nutrition is an explicit objective of agricultural programmes

Better coordination of efforts and improved funding methods : the Committee points out that according to a study, EUR 800 million could be saved annually in transaction costs if donors concentrated their aid efforts on fewer countries and activities. In this respect, it underlines the importance of nomadic livestock keepers and pastoral populations for improving nutritional processes.

At the same time, the Committee encourages increased collaboration between the public sector and the private sector on DRR and resilience. It urges the Commission to draft a proposal that establishes rules on public-private partnership , including social and ecological impact assessments, to prevent, for example, the exacerbation of land-use conflicts or conflicts over access to water , particularly to protect smallholder famers. It also recommends increased collaboration with non-EU countries and international and regional institutions when it comes to disaster preparedness, as well as disaster response and reconstruction.

Finally, the Committee emphasises that while the EU and international organisations can make progress on DRR and resilience in developing countries through their programmes, it is primarily the responsibility of national governments to ensure the safety of their citizens .

Partner countries therefore need to have a strong political commitment to supporting and implementing activities that enhance resilience and DRR

PURPOSE: to propose an approach to resilience regarding food security in developing countries.

BACKGROUND: recent and recurrent food crises in the Sahel region and in the Horn of Africa, where more than 30 million people are suffering from hunger, have underscored the need to work on a long-term and systematic approach to building the resilience of vulnerable countries and populations.

To recall, resilience is the ability of an individual, a household, a community, a country or a region to withstand, to adapt, and to quickly recover from stresses and shocks.

The effects of economic shocks, rising and fluctuating food prices, demographic pressure, climate change, desertification, environmental degradation, pressure on natural resources, inappropriate land tenure systems, insufficient investment in agriculture, have, in many parts of the world, resulted in greater exposure to risk, notably from natural hazards. The impact of these global trends is manifested in the increasing number and intensity of natural disasters and crises.

In the case of food insecurity, despite some progress, one billion people are still suffering from hunger and the issue is particularly acute in drought-prone areas where most of the population depends directly on agriculture and pastoralism.

The EU is one of the world's largest donors providing life-saving assistance to people affected by various crises. Such assistance is vital, but it is aimed mainly at coping with emergency situations and needs to be supplemented by support to populations at risk to withstand, cope with and adapt to repeated adverse events and long-term stress.

In response to the massive food crises in Africa, the Commission has recently taken two initiatives: Supporting Horn of African Resilience (SHARE) and l'" Alliance Globale pour l'Initiative Résilience Sahel " (AGIR).These set out a new approach to building up the resilience of vulnerable populations.

The purpose of this Communication is to use the lessons from these experiences to improve the effectiveness of the EU's support to reducing vulnerability in developing countries and to contribute to the international debate on enhancing food security and resilience in a wider sense in the context of international fora.

CONTENT: the Commission’s communication considers that it is necessary to adopt a multifaceted strategy and a broad systems perspective aimed at both reducing the multiple risks of a crisis and at the same time improving rapid coping and adaptation mechanisms at local, national and regional level. Enhancing resilience calls for a long-term approach, based on alleviating the underlying causes conducive to crises , and enhancing capacities to better manage future uncertainty and change .

Experience gained thanks to the SHARE and AGIR initiatives: the communication examines the SHARE and AGIR initiatives in this regad and notes that they represent an improvement in the way humanitarian and development assistance interact, boosting the levels of assistance in the short-term, facilitating the link between relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD), as well as demonstrating the commitment of the EU to address the root causes of food insecurity in the longer-term.

These initiatives focus on food security in sub-Saharan Africa , but this approach can equally be applied to other regions and other types of vulnerability (for example, regions threatened by floods, cyclones, earthquakes, droughts, storm surges and tsunamis, climate change, or food price increase). There are three key components to this approach, which are further elaborated below:

(a) anticipating crises by assessing risks ;

(b) focusing on prevention and preparedness; and

(c) enhancing crisis response .

10 steps to increase resilience: the communication proposes a general framework in the form of measures to strengthen resilience in food-insecure and disaster-prone countries. These measures may be summarised as follows:

The starting point for the EU approach to resilience therefore is a firm recognition of the leading role of partner countries ; it will align its support with the partner's policies and priorities, in accordance with established Aid Effectiveness principles; Action to strengthen resilience needs to be based on sound methodologies for risk and vulnerability assessments . Such assessments should serve as the basis for elaborating national resilience strategies, as well as for designing specific projects and programmes; In countries facing recurrent crises, increasing resilience will be a central aim of EU external assistance. EU-funded programmes will be based on a common operational assessment prepared by humanitarian and development actors , covering medium to long-term interventions. They will focus on addressing the underlying causes of crises, notably through support for prevention and preparedness activities; The Commission will systematically include resilience as an element in its Humanitarian Implementation Plans ; The Commission will continue to ensure maximum flexibility in implementing its humanitarian programmes. For development funding, in times of unforeseen crises and major disasters, the Commission will seek maximum flexibility in mobilising non-programmed funds ; The EU will pursue an approach that also addresses security aspects and their impact on the vulnerability of populations. This will include an active political dialogue with partner countries and organisations in the region concerned. The EU will seek to replicate existing initiatives such as SHARE and AGIR , as well as successful projects on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). It will share and exchange lessons with its partners in order to multiply and scale up successful approaches; The Commission will bring forward a Green Paper in early 2013 on the role of insurance in disaster management; For countries facing recurrent crises, the EU will work with host governments, other donors, regional and international organisations and other stakeholders to create platforms at country level for ensuring timely exchange of information and coordination of short, medium and long term humanitarian and development actions to strengthen resilience. The EU will promote resilience in international fora including the G8, G20, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), the Rio Conventions, the process for revision of the Millennium Development Goals, the development of Sustainable Development Goals and discussions on the follow-up to the Hyogo Framework for Action of 2005-2015. Resilience will feature as a key theme in its partnerships with organisations and debates with civil society organisations .

In the first quarter of 2013, the Commission will prepare an Action Plan to set out the way forward on implementation of these principles.

PURPOSE: to propose an approach to resilience regarding food security in developing countries.

BACKGROUND: recent and recurrent food crises in the Sahel region and in the Horn of Africa, where more than 30 million people are suffering from hunger, have underscored the need to work on a long-term and systematic approach to building the resilience of vulnerable countries and populations.

To recall, resilience is the ability of an individual, a household, a community, a country or a region to withstand, to adapt, and to quickly recover from stresses and shocks.

The effects of economic shocks, rising and fluctuating food prices, demographic pressure, climate change, desertification, environmental degradation, pressure on natural resources, inappropriate land tenure systems, insufficient investment in agriculture, have, in many parts of the world, resulted in greater exposure to risk, notably from natural hazards. The impact of these global trends is manifested in the increasing number and intensity of natural disasters and crises.

In the case of food insecurity, despite some progress, one billion people are still suffering from hunger and the issue is particularly acute in drought-prone areas where most of the population depends directly on agriculture and pastoralism.

The EU is one of the world's largest donors providing life-saving assistance to people affected by various crises. Such assistance is vital, but it is aimed mainly at coping with emergency situations and needs to be supplemented by support to populations at risk to withstand, cope with and adapt to repeated adverse events and long-term stress.

In response to the massive food crises in Africa, the Commission has recently taken two initiatives: Supporting Horn of African Resilience (SHARE) and l'" Alliance Globale pour l'Initiative Résilience Sahel " (AGIR).These set out a new approach to building up the resilience of vulnerable populations.

The purpose of this Communication is to use the lessons from these experiences to improve the effectiveness of the EU's support to reducing vulnerability in developing countries and to contribute to the international debate on enhancing food security and resilience in a wider sense in the context of international fora.

CONTENT: the Commission’s communication considers that it is necessary to adopt a multifaceted strategy and a broad systems perspective aimed at both reducing the multiple risks of a crisis and at the same time improving rapid coping and adaptation mechanisms at local, national and regional level. Enhancing resilience calls for a long-term approach, based on alleviating the underlying causes conducive to crises , and enhancing capacities to better manage future uncertainty and change .

Experience gained thanks to the SHARE and AGIR initiatives: the communication examines the SHARE and AGIR initiatives in this regad and notes that they represent an improvement in the way humanitarian and development assistance interact, boosting the levels of assistance in the short-term, facilitating the link between relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD), as well as demonstrating the commitment of the EU to address the root causes of food insecurity in the longer-term.

These initiatives focus on food security in sub-Saharan Africa , but this approach can equally be applied to other regions and other types of vulnerability (for example, regions threatened by floods, cyclones, earthquakes, droughts, storm surges and tsunamis, climate change, or food price increase). There are three key components to this approach, which are further elaborated below:

(a) anticipating crises by assessing risks ;

(b) focusing on prevention and preparedness; and

(c) enhancing crisis response .

10 steps to increase resilience: the communication proposes a general framework in the form of measures to strengthen resilience in food-insecure and disaster-prone countries. These measures may be summarised as follows:

The starting point for the EU approach to resilience therefore is a firm recognition of the leading role of partner countries ; it will align its support with the partner's policies and priorities, in accordance with established Aid Effectiveness principles; Action to strengthen resilience needs to be based on sound methodologies for risk and vulnerability assessments . Such assessments should serve as the basis for elaborating national resilience strategies, as well as for designing specific projects and programmes; In countries facing recurrent crises, increasing resilience will be a central aim of EU external assistance. EU-funded programmes will be based on a common operational assessment prepared by humanitarian and development actors , covering medium to long-term interventions. They will focus on addressing the underlying causes of crises, notably through support for prevention and preparedness activities; The Commission will systematically include resilience as an element in its Humanitarian Implementation Plans ; The Commission will continue to ensure maximum flexibility in implementing its humanitarian programmes. For development funding, in times of unforeseen crises and major disasters, the Commission will seek maximum flexibility in mobilising non-programmed funds ; The EU will pursue an approach that also addresses security aspects and their impact on the vulnerability of populations. This will include an active political dialogue with partner countries and organisations in the region concerned. The EU will seek to replicate existing initiatives such as SHARE and AGIR , as well as successful projects on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). It will share and exchange lessons with its partners in order to multiply and scale up successful approaches; The Commission will bring forward a Green Paper in early 2013 on the role of insurance in disaster management; For countries facing recurrent crises, the EU will work with host governments, other donors, regional and international organisations and other stakeholders to create platforms at country level for ensuring timely exchange of information and coordination of short, medium and long term humanitarian and development actions to strengthen resilience. The EU will promote resilience in international fora including the G8, G20, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), the Rio Conventions, the process for revision of the Millennium Development Goals, the development of Sustainable Development Goals and discussions on the follow-up to the Hyogo Framework for Action of 2005-2015. Resilience will feature as a key theme in its partnerships with organisations and debates with civil society organisations .

In the first quarter of 2013, the Commission will prepare an Action Plan to set out the way forward on implementation of these principles.