“We produce enough food to feed 1.5 (times) the global population” (2024)

First off, apologies for sending this two days late. Last week was particularly hectic. I plan to get back to scheduled publishing next week.

Despite the delay, this is quite a bumper issue, so I hope you enjoy it.

What’s CFS?

Now, most people outside of the food aid/development bubble wouldn’t have heard of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) but you should because well, it’s dealing with the governance of something that is literally the difference between life and death - the food that nourishes and sustains us.

CFS was established in 1974 as an inter-governmental body and born out of the food crisis in the early 1970s. Its path hasn’t always been smooth and it embarked on an ambitious reform programme after the 2007-2008 food crisis.

It’s still not perfect but it is one of the few global bodies that brings in all stakeholders - civil society, farmer groups, the private sector, governments, financial institutions, UN agencies, academics and researchers - to work on food security issues.

There continue to be debates around its existence and role - see my stories here and here over what civil society saw as attempts to supplant it at last year’s Food Systems Summit - as we grapple with yet another food price crisis amid an ongoing pandemic, conflicts, and climate change.

A great background reading on this topic is this piece from Nora McKeon on why we should all care about global food governance. It also touches on the birth of CFS and issues around it.

“Never before has it been so critical to get the architecture of global food governance right.”

Why is Thin talking about the CFS now?

Because every October, CFS holds a week-long meeting in Rome, and after three mostly virtual discussions, they’re holding a hybrid version this year which begins tomorrow (Monday, Oct 10).

The 50th Session of the CFS runs till Oct 13 (Thurs), and will feature a full-day ministerial session on coordinating policy responses to the global food crisis following the publication of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022.

Side note - I’ll be there in person so if you’re planning to go there too, pls do drop me a line!

Q&A with CFS Chair

So I thought it’s a great opportunity to ask the chairperson of CFS to tell us more about who they are, what they do and what the meeting is all about.

Below is a Q&A with Gabriel Ferrero, Spain’s Ambassador at Large for Global Food Security, who was elected as chair of CFS last year.

Q: For those who don't know about CFS, can you explain in one or two sentences who you are and what you do?

A: The UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is the global food governance body of the United Nations - based in FAO, where Member States of the UN are joined by civil society, private sector, UN agencies and other stakeholder to deliberate upon and drive convergence on global policies to address systemic and structural causes of hunger and malnutrition in support of countries-led efforts.

Q: What are the key outcomes you want to achieve at the end of this week?

A: Coming at a time when the world is facing a worsening food and cost-of-living crisis caused by the interlinked shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and armed conflicts – including the war in Ukraine, CFS 50 has a number of expected outcomes:

• The ministerial segment is expected to contribute towards coordinated policy responses to the global food crisis in support of national-led solutions.

• CFS 50 is also expected to endorse newly agreed Policy Recommendations on Promoting Youth Engagement and Employment in Agriculture and Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.

• It will also shift discussion on boosting responsible investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems through and review the use of on the CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems endorsed in 2014.

Q: CFS was reformed post-2008 food crisis. Is it better prepared for the current one we're in? How?

A: Yes, today’s CFS is better prepared to respond to the food crisis than it was 12 years ago. The lessons we learned from the 2007-8 food crisis were that meaningful and principled policy response should support country-led solutions and involve all of society especially those most affected by the food crisis from farmers to consumers, civil society, and businesses.

The reform of CFS made it a truly multistakeholder and inclusive bringing all these groups together. The high-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) was also established to backstop CFS with scientific inputs.

Since the reform, CFS has delivered globally agreed Voluntary Guidelines, Principles and policy frameworks that are cornerstones of well-functioning Food Systems; on the governance and tenure of land and natural resources; on responsible investments in agriculture; on climate change, water management or empowering smallholder farmers, to name a few.

Q: How worried are you that things could worsen?

A: I am very concerned.

• The figures recently published in the 2022 “State of the World Food Security and Nutrition” indicate that as many as 828 million people were hungry globally in 2021 a majority of who are in East Asia and Africa.

• In addition, 2.3 billion people in the world were moderately or severely food insecure while almost 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020. These are not just numbers:

These are parents going through the torment of watching their children go hungry. Mothers and fathers deciding which meals to skip, which ailment needs a visit to the doctor, or deciding if their children continue in school.

Q: There's suddenly a lot of interest on food security issues following the war in Ukraine. As someone who's been in this space for many years were you frustrated by it or do you see this as a good sign that people are finally realising its importance?

A: War anywhere is tragic. I express my solidarity with, and condolences to, the families of the victims of the ongoing war in Ukraine and conflicts elsewhere.

In addition to the heavy humanitarian toll, this conflict is further damaging the food security situation for all countries, and for all communities, which was already seriously compromised by the COVID-19 pandemic, other conflicts, climate change and rising food prices.

While the war in Ukraine has certainly put a spotlight on the interconnectedness of our food systems, the first strategy to fight hunger is peace.

Q: What are the biggest misconceptions people have about food insecurity?

A: A number of misconception on food insecurity exist.

First, some people tend to think it’s all about hunger. Yes, this is a big part of it but there is also micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity.

In addition, healthy diets are not affordable for more than 3 billion people. Poor nutrition contributing to nearly 45percent of the deaths in children under the age of five and 1 in 5 children are stunted which compromises their capabilities and opportunities for life.

The other misconception is in the narrow focus of food security and nutrition which looks at availability, access, utilization and stability only. Through the work of HLPE-FSN, we are calling for the evolution of the concept of food security and nutrition to recognize the centrality of “agency” and “sustainability”.

Q: Where is the world going wrong when it comes to ensuring everyone has sufficient food?

A: That close to a billion people go hungry is an indictment on all of us. Today, the world produces 150% more food on only 13% more land compared with 1960, thanks to many innovations in food production made over the years.

We produce enough food to feed 1.5x the global population. That's enough to feed 10 billion yet we are at just over 7 billion currently. There is enough for everyone.

The problem is our food systems – the way we produce, harvest, transport, process, market and consume food.

These food systems do not particularly work for smallholder farmers around the world who produce 80% of the food we eat, but remain mired in poverty, face ever worsening challenges from climate change, from conflict, and now from pandemics.

At the same time, food and agriculture account for around one third of GHG emissions and are the main drivers of biodiversity loss and soil degradation.

Q: Are we (the media) getting it right or wrong when it comes to reporting the fallout of the latest food price crisis? Where are we getting it right/wrong?

A: I commend the work done by media around the world to raise public awareness on the crisis and hold those of us in leadership accountable.

What I would now like to see more of is greater call for long-term transformation of our food systems to deliver food security, adequate nutrition and healthy diets for all people, while providing decent jobs and incomes to family farmers and food producers.

These diets must be carbon neutral, reverse biodiversity loss, and restore ecosystems. The UN Food Systems Summit convened in 2021 by the UN Secretary-General gave us the momentum for this transformation.

Interested in food systems reporting?

Sentient Media is organising a webinar with yours truly on Oct 13 (Thursday) where I’ll share tips for journalists covering the intersection of food and environment.

Sentient Media @Sentient_Media

Are you a member of Twitter's #WritingCommunity? Join us for a conversation on October 13 with @thinink where Thin will share tips for journalists covering #FoodSystems and environmental issues.Gain access here: bit.ly/WritersCollect…

11:38 PM ∙ Oct 4, 2022

3Likes2Retweets

Aim4C comes under fire

Last week saw the publication of two hard-hitting pieces by Rachel Sherrington on DeSmog on Aim4C, a multi-billion dollar initiative officially launched with much fanfare during the Glasgow Climate Talks by the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

In this comprehensive article, Rachel focused on the fixation with technological solutions to the current crisis in our food systems. In this one, she highlighted how a meat lobby group that has publicly questioned whether human activities have really caused climate change is part of Aim4C.

As always, have a great weekend! Please feel free to share this post and send tips and thoughts on twitter @thinink, to my LinkedIn page or via e-mail thin@thin-ink.net.