You are cordially invited to the following seminar/ webinar
“The pursuit of sustainable development objectives through public food procurement: literature and practice’’
Thursday, November 29th, 2018 | 15:00 – 16:30 (Rome time)
FAO, Austria Room (C 250)
To participate in the webinar online, please follow the link: http://fao.adobeconnect.com/rgl2lahp23t1/
Presented by
Prof. Geo Quinot, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Luana Swensson, FAO (FAO/ESN)
With intervention of Luisa Cruz (FAO/LEGN)
Jointly organized by the Nutrition and Food Systems Division (ESN) and the Development Law Branch of the Legal Office (LEGN) of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
Inclusive public food procurement initiatives – such as home-grown school feeding programmes – are relevant policy instruments to pursue sustainable development objectives, including the support of smallholder farmers and their integration into formal markets.
They are based on the premise that public institutions, when using their procurement power to award contracts, can go beyond the immediate scope of simply responding to the state’s procurement needs by addressing additional social, environment or economic policy goals. Their implementation, however, requires a conducive and aligned public procurement policy and legal frameworks.
In this seminar we will discuss the promotion of sustainable development objectives through public procurement under two perspectives: the literature and the practice. We will present how the topic has been addressed by the prominent legal literature as well as its practical implementation through FAO’s work in supporting governments in developing a conducive policy and legal environment for the implementation of government-led School Food and Nutrition initiatives. The seminar will be also an opportunity to present the upcoming publication on “Aligning policy and legal frameworks for supporting smallholder farming through public food procurement: the case of home-grown school feeding programmes”, jointly published by FAO and UNDP (IPC-IG) as well as the forthcoming FAO Legal Guide on School Food and Nutrition.
Biography of the presenters
Geo Quinot, LLD is the director of the African Procurement Law Unit and a professor in the Department of Public Law at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His work focuses on administrative law and public procurement regulation. He has published widely in these fields, including the book, edited with Sue Arrowsmith, Public Procurement Regulation in Africa (2013) published by Cambridge University Press. Quinot often advises suppliers and organs of state on administrative law and procurement law questions.
Luana Swensson, PhD serves as an international consultant in the Nutrition and Food Systems Division (ESN) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Her work focuses on multidisciplinary policy-oriented research and technical support for the design and implementation of FAO projects on the areas of public procurement and school food and nutrition. She holds a Master degree in International Business Law; a Ph.D in Economics and Business Law (Comparative Law) from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and a multidisciplinary post-doctoral degree from European University Institute.
Luisa Cruz, M.A. is a lawyer with an expertise in international and development law. She serves as a legal consultant in the Development Law Branch (LEGN) of the Legal Office in FAO. Her work involves providing legal advice to Member countries on food security and nutrition, social protection, and agriculture. She is the main author of the forthcoming FAO’s Legal Guide on School Food and Nutrition which aims to provide national law-and policy- makers with guidance and examples of state practice for developing or strengthening national legal frameworks on school food and nutrition (SFN).