Agriculture development, food security and nutrition A/RES/71/245 term by national Governments, civil society, the private sector and the international community, reiterating that the root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition are poverty, inequity and lack of access to resources and income -earning opportunities, and remaining concerned that excessively volatile food prices can pose a serious challenge to the fight against poverty and hunger and to the efforts of developing countries to attain food security and improved nutrition and to achieve internationally agreed development goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to ending hunger and malnutrition, Reaffirming the importance of supporting the African Union’s Agenda 2063, as well as its 10-year plan of action, as a strategic framework for ensuring a positive socioeconomic transformation in Africa within the next 50 years and its continental programme embedded in the resolutions of the General Assembly on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and regional initiatives, such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, Welcoming the outcome of the forty-third session of the Committee on World Food Security, held in Rome from 17 to 21 October 2016, taking note of the endorsement by the Committee in 2014 of the voluntary Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems, 18 recalling its Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, 19 and taking note of the adoption of the policy recommendations on connecting smallholders to markets and on sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition, including the role of livestock, Taking note of the launch of the Sustainable Food Systems Programme under the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production patterns, an inclusive initiative to accelerate the shift towards more sustainable food systems, Noting with appreciation the work undertaken by relevant international bodies and organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), on agricultural development and on enhancing food security and improving nutrition outcomes, Recalling the declaration of 2016–2025 as the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, based on the Rome Declaration on Nutrition and the Framework for Action, and the call upon the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization to identify and develop a work programme for 2016–2025, taking into account contributions from relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, using coordinati ng mechanisms such as the Standing Committee on Nutrition and multi-stakeholder platforms such as the Committee on World Food Security, Reaffirming that agriculture remains a fundamental and key sector for developing countries, noting the importance of wo rking towards eliminating all forms of protectionism, and recognizing that, as stated in the Nairobi Ministerial _______________ 18 19 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, document C 2015/20, appendix D. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, document CL 144/9 (C 2013/20), appendix D. 3/9