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Preliminary CSM Comments on the HLPE Zero Draft Report on “Sustainable Agricultural Development for Food Security and Nutrition, including the Role of Livestock” October 2015 This document conveys the preliminary comments of the CSM on the Zero Draft of the HLPE Report. Given the short deadline for comments, the language restriction (text only in English) and the time needed to adequately consult within social movements, including alliances of nomadic peoples, peasants, women in agriculture, indigenous peoples, landless, migrants, agriculture workers and those representing the workers in the meat processing chain, this document features short and concise comments, which will be followed by more detailed feedback later in November. 1. Overarching comments While acknowledging the significant work for the preparation of the Zero Draft, the CSM is deeply concerned by the narrative exposed by the current version and strongly believes that the next draft would require a significant re-orientation if it is to fulfil the mandate of the HLPE: 1. Lack of contextualization in the CFS mandate and human rights framework: Despite the title, the report fails to adequately locate sustainable agriculture, including livestock, within the context of the mandate of the CFS. First, the report appear to  be much more driven by the self-serving conventional development of the sector rather than by the sincere desire to explore how such development can become a critical pillar to address Food Security and Nutrition (FSN). Secondly, when referred to, FSN is addressed as a need to be met by the market rather than as a fundamental right. Indeed, there is no mention, in the entire document, of the Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition, nor other human rights, despite these being one of the central pillars of the Global Strategic Framework (GSF) of the CFS. Thirdly, smallholders, another central pillar of the CFS and its GSF, are portrayed as a marginal and unproductive category. Lastly, both the lack of reference to rights and the non-centrality of smallholders contribute to the profound mischaracterization of Food Sovereignty, which is merely introduced as an intellectual debate in a box; 2. False narrative on the grand challenge of feeding the planet and focus on Yield Gaps: The report reiterates the grand narrative of feeding a growing planet and constructs the myth of the pressing demand for food that urgently requires a “productivity” revolution. This narrative is false and misleading. The reality is that there is no shortage