the committee on world food security A visual introduction
The Commitee on World Food Security (CFS). has become one of the central platforms for food policy and global food governance. As with many UN bodies, its structure and workings are full of acronyms and hazy relationship. We have attempted to capture the broad relationships between each of its parts, and their relevance.
what is the CFS?
The High-Level Panel of Experts reports go through many stages. Experts are selected to develop a “zero draft”. The first version, which includes policy recommendations, is then subject to peer review and public consultation.
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The outputs from the CFS take many shapes. While most of the text from the negotiations is not legally binding, but legally-binding documents are not the way to achieve meaningful progress. The CFS also reports to the UN General Assembly.
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In advance of the CFS Annual Sessions, the Civil Society Mechanism holds an Annual Forum, where CSOs have a chance to strategize and try to find common points of consensus. This work is supported by various working groups that work year-round on different policy issues.
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The Right to Food was first internationally recognized under the International Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and then under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in 1966.
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It is the responsibility of the governments to ensure to progressive realization of the Right to Food. The Right to Food does not imply that governments are responsible for giving food to people, given that they are able to feed themselves. Cases where governments fulfil the right to food by giving out food include feeding people in prisons, for example, since they cannot feed themselves.
These reports for the basis of the CFS policy roundtables. All CFS members (including Civil Society Organizations and the private sector) participate in these negotiations until consensus is reached amongst the Member States. Member states are the only ones able to vote as they are accountable for upholding the decisions. What makes the CFS so unique is that the 2009 CFS Reform ensures that CSOs are able to participate in negotiations and directly influence the text. In most other UN negotiation processes, if civil society is allowed to be present at all, they are only observers.
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The application of the Right to Food in different countries varies, and since its first mention in the Covenant, it has been included several other international law treaties and guidelines. One of the most recent and important of these further applications of the Right to Food, are the Right to Food Guidelines, approved by the FAO in 2004.
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It was further interpreted by the general comment 12 made by the UN in 1996. The most detailed interpretation of the Right to Food are the Voluntary Guidelines for the Progressive Realization on the Right to Food in the Context of National Food Security. The Guidelines were negotiated during 3 years, and were adopted by the FAO Council in 2004.
This Zero Draft is submitted to the Food Security & Nutrition Forum. Here different stakeholders are able to provide feedback. Members of the Civil Society Mechanism also gives feedback to the High-Level Panel of Experts in a variety of ways. After the consultation, the HLPE finalizes the report.
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The CFS also works year-round, and not just during its week-long annual plenaries (usually held around World Food Day, on October 16th.)
The Secretariat sets out the items for the agenda (previously decided by the CFS plenary) for each Session. ideally, these themes are based on the reality of the people suffering hunger and malnutrition. At the Plennary Sessions, members of the CFS, with input from the HLTF, also determine key agenda issues that should be addressed at the next Session. The High-Level Panel of Experts is then tasked with developing reports on these issues. These reports are meant to serve as the basis for the policy roundtables.
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Since then, the CFS has emerged as the most transparent and participatory organization addressing food security at the global level. The CFS includes a diverse set of actors but maintains the UN principle of one country-one vote. The CFS works to come to consensus on best practices and policies and to encourage coordination and implementation at country level. A good example is the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security.
how it all works
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The work of the CFS revolves around the coordination of food security policy worldwide to guarantee the progressive realization of the Right to Food. Over the course of the years, the CFS began to see that in order to stay relevant, it needed to reform and listen to the people who actually experienced hunger. After the food protests in 2008, and strong lobbying from social movements, the CFS was reformed, to allow for the participation of private sector and civil society.
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CFS stands for the Committee on World Food Security, which was founded in 1974 after the World Food Conference.
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So, what does the output actually look like? Some recent examples are the First Version of the Global Strategic Framework on Food Security and Nutrition, and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of National Food Security. As confusing and elaborate as these titles might sound, they contain vital information that can be used by governments, policy makers, businesses and CSOs when creating or contextualizing policy. Most importantly, in line with the objectives of the reform document, these are policy recomendations that have informed by voices of those most affected by food insecurity, and they can impact laws at the national level.
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An administrative component of the CFS, the Secretariat serves the function of overseeing, coordinating and supporting the work of the rest of the Committee, as well as setting the agenda for every Plennary session.
Composed by actors like other UN institutions, philanthropic organizations, private sector, civil society and research bodies. Its role is to support the Bureau, and ensure a two way communication between the Bureau and the rest of the CFS. The Civil Society Mechanism has 4 seats on it, and the Private Sector Mechanim has one.
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The space where all members of the CFS convene every year, and where major decisions are taken within the CFS. Plenary sessions are numbered according to the year in which they happened, starting from CFS1 in 1974, except for 2012, which held both CFS 38 in May, and CFS 39 in October.
A group of 12 countries plus an elected chair. They are responsible, among other things, for creating the agenda before every plenary session, and maintaining coordination amongst all other actors at all levels.
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The structure of the CFS also includes a Private Sector Mechanism that serves a parallel function to the Civil Society Mechanism. The relationship between the private sector and business entities with the rest of civil society tends to be very contentious, which is why having two separate mechanisms seems to be an effective way of dealing with that dynamic.
When the CFS was reformed in 2009 it made CSOs official participants. To coordinate their autonomous participation in the CFS, CSOs created the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM). The CSM has the responsibility to facilitate discussions between civil members of social movements and NGOs, and to it serves as a formal mechanism that allows for the voices of civil society to be heard in negotiation tables.
high-Level Panel of Experts A team of 15 scientists that creates project-teams and provide scientific knowledge in relation to the topics that the Plenary session covers. They have access to a group of over 120 experts worldwide, from which they can form the project teams.
The renewed CFS has three types of people as its components. Any state that is a member of FAO, WFP, IFAD, or the United Nations at large can become a member of the CFS. Members take part in discussions and can approve items at Plenary. Participants can be representatives of other UN Agencies and bodies that have a mandate relevant to food security, civil society through the CSM, representatives of agricultural research (such as CGIAR), International Financial institutions, and private sector networks through the PSM. Participants take part in discussions, but cannot approve and don't have voting power. Academic institutions, civil society organizations, regional country unions, and regional develoment agencies can be observers. Observers cannot take part in discussions, but can be asked to intervene by the chairs.
rome-based agencies These organizations are often referred to as the Rome-based agencies, both because of their geographic location, and due to their partnership in working within the same field.
food and agriculture organization of the united nations A Specialized Agency that is focused on solving the problem of hunger worldwide. It has other, smaller areas that focus on specific themes like Forests. It was founded in 1945, and it has offices for each of five regions.
Food Security & nutrition Forum The Food Security & Nutrition Forum was launched by the FAO in 2007 as a way to connect the academic community with the issues that the FAO addresses. In the past couple of years, the Forum has become a place where the Version Zero (V0) drafts of the different reports that the HLPE prepares.
international fund for agricultural development An international financial institution that administers funds to establish agricultural projects in developing countries.
world food programme The World Food Programme administers food to countries that are experiencing short or long term food crises. It provides food to about 90 million people per year, and it is part of the United Nations Development Group.
who we are
Earth in Brackets is a student organization engaging in international environmental and sustainable development politics. Since 2006, we have worked to bring a sense of justice—environment and social—to international negotiations on biodiversity, climate change, sustainable development, and food security. We believe another world is not only possible, but necessary, and we want to bring more young people into the fight for and celebration of that world.
text and design by khristian méndez
earth in brackets - 2014
another world is possible...