“The GSF constitutes a step forward in promoting a new model of governance on food, agriculture, and nutrition”, said Martin Wolpold-Bosien, from FIAN International. “It reaffirms States’ obligations to implement the human right to adequate food through national, regional and global policies – something FIAN International has advocated for over 25 years”. 

The main areas of progress and concern

The GSF negotiations, in which FIAN International participated actively, reached an important consensus on human rights-based monitoring and accountability, which implies that States, intergovernmental institutions and the private sector are held accountable for their actions and omissions regarding their obligations under international human rights law. In addition, the document underlines women’s rights and recognizes the central role of smallholder farmers, agricultural food workers, artisanal fisher folks, pastoralists, indigenous people, landless people, women and youth to food and nutrition security. 

The GSF also recognizes that formal employment of rural workers and assurance of minimum living wages are key to food security and nutrition. The document mentions the potential of agro-ecology and provides important guidance on nutrition based on the Right to Food Guidelines. It also reaffirms the strong commitment of States to the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Lands, Fisheries and Forests, including through agrarian reform.

However, several issues that are important to civil society are not addressed in the current version of the GSF, in particular, food sovereignty. “Together with social movements and other civil society organizations, we will bring forward the debate about the food sovereignty paradigm in the CFS”, said Natalia Landívar, from FIAN Ecuador and member of the Coordination Committee of the Civil Society Mechanism to the CFS. 

Priority issues in the strategic framework

At present, price volatility has been attracting a lot of attention as a key obstacle to progress towards achieving food security for all. Volatility itself is the result of fundamental, structural problems in the functioning of markets including those which do not involve the trade of agricultural commodities. Un-coordinating policy responses to supply or demand shocks also contribute to price volatility. High and volatile food prices contribute to civil unrest and political instability. Recent experience shows that the food security and nutrition of poor rural and urban populations can severely deteriorate following food price spikes, given the large share of their income that poor households spend on food. However, high food prices and experiences of poor performance of international food markets have also increased incentives for agricultural investment, including cross-border capital movements. Such investments are not always beneficial to recipient countries and poor populations, nor have they always considered nutritional outcomes. Unstable energy prices have contributed to food price volatility, and lack of infrastructure for market access creates a context in which farmers find it difficult to operate profitably and meet their own food and nutrition needs. 

Challenges faced by women 

Women make crucial contributions to the food security of developing countries, but they consistently have less access than men to the resources and opportunities for being more productive farmers. Women  lack  secure tenure over their land, access to inputs such as fertilizers, improved seed varieties and mechanical equipment and proper access to credit  and extension services. According to SOFA 2011, closing the gap between men and women in access to inputs could raise yields on women’s farms by 20% to 30%, which in turn could increase production in developing countries by 2.5% to 4% and reduce the prevalence of undernourishment by between 12% and 17%.

Women also have their own unique set of responsibilities (and vulnerabilities) in terms of securing food security and nutrition: as producers of food themselves, as income earners, as primary caregivers and as mothers. A women’s nutritional status is critical not only to her own health but also to her ability to maintain a secure livelihood and ensure that her children are properly nourished and healthy, both in the womb and from birth.

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