In 1996, 180 nations met at FAO headquarters for the World Food Summit (WFS) to discuss ways to end hunger. Nations pledged to eradicate hunger and committed themselves to a basic target: reducing the number of undernourished people by half by 2015.

The conclusions of that Summit are summarized in two documents, the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action.

To check on progress being made, nations met again in 2002 at the World Food Summit: five years later (WFS:fyl). At that time, FAO published technical background papers setting out the ways in which the WFS target could be translated into feasible programmes and projects. The Declaration of that Summit called for the creation of an International Alliance Against Hunger to join forces in efforts to eradicate hunger.

Almost all of FAO's activities, in one way or another, have at their base the WFS and its target. The most thorough explanation of FAO's response to the Summit is the Strategic Framework for FAO: 2000-2015, which outlines its long-term plans and activities.