Data

During its 46th Plenary Session (14-18 October 2019), the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) adopted its four-year Programme of Work (MYPoW 2020-2023), which included a request to the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (CFS-HLPE) to produce a report on “Data collection and analysis tools for food security and nutrition“, that was presented at the 50th Plenary session of the CFS in October 2022. As described in the MYPoW, the primary  objective of this workstream was to develop actionable policy recommendations that will strengthen the capacity of countries to collect, analyze, and use quality data to improve critical decision-making around food security and nutrition policies.

Since its inception, the CSIPM has expressed its concerns on the framing of the topic, originally proposed to CFS by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Stes. According to CSIPM participating organizations, this workstream offers an opportunity to address the wide variety of issues related to data collection and analysis for food and nutrition security such as: digitalisation of food systems, unregulated uses of big data, ownership of data infrastructures, and methodological assumptions for collection and analysis. In approaching these issues, the CFS Policy Recommendations need to develop a clear definition of data for the public interest that addresses the concerns of Indigenous Peoples, women, peasants and family farmers, workers throughout food systems, fisherfolk, pastoralists and consumers.

• Read the CFS Policy Recommendations on strengthening collection and use of food security and nutrition data and related analysis tools to improve decision-making in support of the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security
• Read the Working Group’s Vision Statement (September 2023)
• Read the Working Group’s evaluation of the Policy Recommendations (October 2023)

Coordinators

Patti Naylor – National Family Farm Coalition (USA)

Perla Alvarez Britez – Conamuri/CLOC (Paraguay)

Facilitators

Veronica Villa – ETC Group (Mexico)

Andrea Ferrante – Schola Campesina (Italy)

Jim Thomas – ETC Group (Canada)

CFS Rapporteur of the Process

Anthony Murithi, Alternate Permanent Representative of Kenya to the RBAs

Calendar available for the process:

September 2022 | Launch of the HLPE Report on Data collection and analysis tools for food security and nutrition 

October 2022 | CFS 50 Plenary Session. Political debate on the findings of the HLPE Report 

End of 2022 | Beginning of the policy convergence process

15 May 2023 | CFS releases draft for negotiations 

29 May – 2 June 2023 | First round of negotiations 

17 – 21 July 2023| Second round of negotiations 

October 2023 | CFS 51 Plenary Session. Adoption of the Policy Recommendations on Data collection and analysis tools for food security and nutrition 

See the CFS Workplan for the Data workstream for more information.