The Committee on Food Security is the foremost inclusive intergovernmental and international political platform on food security and nutrition with the explicit vision to foster the progressive realization of the right to adequate food for all.

The CFS was established in 1974 as an intergovernmental committee, hosted by FAO, to monitor the commitments made during the first World Food Conference in 1974, and later the World Food Summit in 1996

In 2009, under the impression of the world food price crises 2007/2008, the CFS underwent a profound reform and became the foremost inclusive platform with a particular openness to the participation of civil society. The Committee reports to the UN General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and to FAO Conference.

The reform identified the following 6 roles for the CFS:

1. Increase coordination at the global level to strengthen action among governments, regional organizations/agencies, CSOs, private sector and other stakeholders;
2. Promote policy convergence and coordination through developing international strategies and voluntary guidelines on food security and nutrition policies, based on lessons learned from local experiences and input from national and regional levels;
3. Provide support and advice on regional and country-led plans to eliminate hunger, based on applying right to food approaches that are founded on the principles of participation, transparency and accountability;
4. Coordinate at national and regional levels through building and strengthening national and regional mechanisms and networks working on food security and nutrition issues;
5. Promote accountability and share best practices through developing innovative monitoring mechanisms and common indicators to help countries monitor and report quantitatively on their progress on tackling hunger;
6. Develop a global strategic framework for food security and nutrition in order to improve coordination and guide synchronized action by a wide range of stakeholders.

The key actors of the CFS are:

Members: CFS members are the governments. The current 138 members have the right:

• To intervene in Plenary and breakout discussions
• Approve meeting documents and agendas
• Submit and present documents and formal proposals
• Have exclusive voting and decision taking rights, including drafting the final report of CFS Plenary sessions.

Participants: representatives of the UN Agencies (FAO, IFAD, WFP, WHO), Civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations (CSM), international agricultural research bodies, International and regional financial institutions (WB, IMF, WTO), representatives from the private sector (PSM), associations and private philanthropic foundations. Participants have the right:

• To intervene in Plenary and breakout discussions
• Contribute to preparation of meeting documents and agendas
• Submit and present documents and formal proposals
• Contribute regularly to intersessional activities of the Committee through the Advisory Group and Open-Ended Working Groups established by the Bureau.

Observers: interested organizations invited to observe by the CFS or the Bureau (local authorities or regional associations)

How does the CFS work:

1. GLOBAL PLENARY SESSION: Members, participants and observers at the CFS meet as whole once a year for an annual plenary session. The Plenary is the central body for decision making, debate, coordination, lesson-learning and convergence by all stakeholders at the global level on issues pertaining t food security and nutrition.
2. INTER-SESSIONAL WORK: the ongoing work of the CFS throughout the year is maintained though regular meetings of the Bureau and the Advisory Group, the OEWGs and the TTs.