From 22 to 26 October 2024 a delegation from a diversity of constituencies such as smallholder farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolks, Indigenous Peoples, agricultural and food workers, landless, women, youth, consumers, urban food insecure and NGOs, and different corners of the world, gathered in Rome to participate in the 52nd Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS 52).
During an intense week, the delegation took part in discussions around the right to adequate food and nutrition, the adoption of policy recommendations aimed to reduce inequalities in food systems, the kick-off of the process to develop policy recommendations for urban and peri-urban contexts, participated in reflections on agricultural workers’ rights, gender equality, and on how to improve the implementation of the CFS policy agreements. We voiced once again the importance and meaning of inclusive and meaningful participation for civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, which in the end is what makes this multilateral platform unique.
In this website we bring together all the statements the CSIPM addressed during the week of the CFS 52 Plenary.
The Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is the annual global and multilateral stage for convergence that provides actionable recommendations and guidance to actors—from governments to civil society— towards the progressive realization of the right to adequate food and nutrition.
It is the central decision-making body that brings together diverse voices to debate, coordinate, and align strategies aimed at achieving food security and nutrition.
This session is not just a meeting—it’s a critical platform for driving global change in food security and nutrition. The outcomes of these discussions don’t stay in the room, they are reported to key spaces where its agreements and debates could inform decision-making on food systems, including the FAO Council, and the UN General Assembly, through ECOSOC, ensuring accountability and impact at the highest levels.
CONTENT
- Coordinated policy responses to the food crisis - the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
- Global Thematic Event on the uptake of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food
- Strengthening the impact of CFS policy products
- Addressing multiple dimensions of inequalities
- Promoting food security and nutrition across the rural-urban continuum
- Promoting decent work in agriculture and food systems
- Forum on the uptake of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment
- CSIPM statement on inclusive participation at the CFS
- CSIPM Closing Statement
- Side Events
Coordinated policy responses to the food crisis – the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024
CFS 52 began with a discussion on strengthening coordinated policy responses to the food crisis, considering the latest edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report, the HLPE-FSN Issues Paper on “Conflict-induced acute food crises: potential policy responses in light of current emergencies”, and the CFS summary report on Collaborative Governance.
The CSIPM has consistently argued that food is a right and not a weapon of war. Lisa Shahin, CSIPM Coordination Committee member facilitating the participation for the West Asia sub-region, and member of the Arab Group For The Protection of Nature and Arab Network for Food Sovereignty delivered a statement to demand the end to genocide, and the weaponisation of food.
- Read the press release
- Watch the recording of Lisa Shanin’s statement
- SOFI Report 2024
- HLPE-FSN Issues Paper on Conflict-induced acute food crises: potential policy responses in light of current emergencies
- Watch the recording of the CFS 52 Side Event on Right to Food and Conflicts: Implementing human rights based monitoring and global coordination
Global Thematic Event on the uptake of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food
2024 marked the 20th Anniversary of the Voluntary Guidelines on Right to Food (2004). In this context, the CSIPM launched the Peoples’ Manifesto on the Right to Food, which has gathered support from almost 150 civil society and Indigenous Peoples organizations around the globe.
The CFS 52 Plenary Session dedicated a Global Thematic Event on this topic, as a stocktaking session dedicated to monitoring the progress on the use and application of these CFS Voluntary Guidelines. CSIPM Coordination Committee members Taily Terena (Brasil/Indigenous Youth and IITC), and Hala Barakat (Egypt/ Habitat International Coalition) participated in the event which was divided in thematic conversations on a wide range of topics.
Strengthening the impact of CFS policy products
The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) develops and endorses policy recommendations and voluntary guidelines on various food security and nutrition topics. To enhance their impact and promote effective implementation, the CFS Multi-Year Programme of Work (MYPOW) 2024-2027 includes a workstream focused on increasing awareness, ownership, use, and usefulness of CFS policy outcomes at all levels.
During the intersessional period, this workstream developed an Action Plan which identifies key areas for action and defines the roles and responsibilities of CFS actors in advancing the uptake of CFS policy products at global, regional, national, and local levels, contributing to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food.
The CSIPM Coordination Committee member Dionicio Canahui (Guatemala/IITC) delivered a statement that highlights the key priorities the CSIPM identifies to truly strengthen the use, usefulness, ownership, and awareness of CFS policy products for a diversity of constituencies in different territories.
Addressing multiple dimensions of inequalities
Following the release of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) report on Reducing inequalities for food security and nutrition in 2023, several rounds of consultations and two rounds of negotiations took place in 2024. The CFS 52 Plenary endorsed the CFS Policy Recommendations on Reducing Inequalities for Food Security and Nutrition.
Along the policy convergence process, the CSIPM Equity working group facilitated the participation of civil society and Indigenous Peoples in to the CFS Worktream. During its endorsement, in a statement delivered by the CSIPM Coordination Committee members Dee Woods, from the UK, Landworkers’ Alliance and La Via Campesina, and Rochelle Diver, from the United States and the International Indian Treaty Council, recognised the strengths of the policy document, and outlined the setback to the recognition of Indigenous Peoples rights during the negotiations phase. As a result, the CSIPM requested the addition of an Explanatory Note to the Annex of the CFS 52 final report that states the CSIPM disassociates from all textual references on Indigenous Peoples in the Policy Recommendations, and as a basis for future CFS processes.
Promoting food security and nutrition across the rural-urban continuum
CFS Plenary 52 kicked off the policy convergence process on Strengthening Urban and Peri-Urban Food Systems, with the presentation of the HLPE-FSN report 19 on the same topic. In the session, the CSIPM shared some of the policy priorities it has identified through an internal reflection during the CSIPM Forum.
The statement was delivered by Robert Arcidiacono, a member of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) and CSIPM Coordination Committee who facilitates the participation of the Australasian sub-region.
Promoting decent work in agriculture and food systems
The CFS 52 Plenary Session also brought an opportunity to exchange on the key role of decent work in agriculture and food systems from a right to food perspective. It provided a space to discuss potential synergies and complementarities between CFS and the International Labour Organization (ILO) policy convergence work.
Svetlana Boicean, from the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Association, and CSIPM participant intervened in the panel discussion.
Forum on the uptake of the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment
The CFS Plenary Session 52 hosted a forum to discuss ways to mobilize different actors for implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWGE), adopted in 2023. The forum also explored how this policy document can serve as a practical tool for policymaking at regional, national, and local levels.
Paula Gioia, a member of the CSIPM Coordination Committee and co-coordinator of the CSIPM Women and Gender Diversities Working Group, participated in the session and reminded participants of the urgency of implementing the Guidelines in the territories, especially in a context of multiple interconnected crises, exacerbated by brutal occupations, wars and conflicts in Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, Yemen or Ukraine, among others, which demands that we urgently put a gender justice perspective at the centre of our political agenda.
CSIPM statement on inclusive participation at the CFS
The CSIPM expressed its discontent at not being able to participate in a key moment of the deliberations on coordinating policy responses to food crisis, which is a topic that has severe implications for people on the ground. Tyler Short (USA/Family Farm Defenders), member of the CSIPM Youth and Global Food Governance Working Groups delivered a collective message. He stressed the CSIPM is not just an observer, but a participant in the CFS, with the right to intervene in the Plenary and provide its collective voice, although the final decisions are up to the Members.
CSIPM closing statement
After an intensive week of discussions, the CSIPM thanked the CFS Chair, the CFS Secretariat, and all those who made the Plenary possible. It also stressed the importance of a meaningful and inclusive dialogue that reinforces the CFS commitment to inclusion and prioritisation of the voices of those who suffer most from hunger and malnutrition in a message delivered by the Coordination Committee member Samuel Ikua (Kenya/Habitat International Coalition).
CFS 52 SIDE EVENTS
In addition to the plenary sessions, CFS 52 has a large number of side events that serve as spaces for exchange of ideas and debates around crucial issues for food security and nutrition in the world.
On this occasion, the CSIPM participated as co-organiser of three, but was a participant in many more. Below is a compilation of the events and their summaries.
