Committee on World Food Security
Making a difference in food security and nutrition
Turning CFS Global Policy Guidance into Action
CFS has developed globally recognized policy products to guide countries toward more sustainable, inclusive, and rights-based agriculture and food systems. While the endorsement of these policy products is a crucial milestone, their real impact depends on their effective application at the country level.
This means integrating CFS policy guidance into national strategies, legislation, policies and programmes, and it requires sustained commitment, awareness, capacity, coordination, and learning across institutions and stakeholders.
A Shared Responsibility
Ensuring that CFS policy products make a difference is a shared and collective responsibility that requires joint efforts.
While Member States have the primary responsibility for promoting CFS and the use and application of its policy products, meaningful results can only be achieved through collaboration and active engagement of all CFS stakeholders, ranging from UN Rome-based Agencies (RBAs), that play a pivotal role in providing technical support for the operationalization of the CFS policy guidance, along withother UN and international bodies, financial, research and philanthropicinstitutions, civil society and the private sector.
The Action Plan on Uptake
At its 52nd Plenary Session held in October 2024, the Committee endorsed the Action Plan to Strengthen the Uptake of CFS Policy Products which presents a roadmap with actions for different CFS stakeholders that are responsible and accountable for promoting the uptake of CFS policy products at all levels towards the progressive realization of the right to adequate food.
The Action Plan includes tiered actions to be addressed by different CFS stakeholders, with proposed activities to be undertaken to strengthen the usefulness and ownership of CFS policy products, promote awareness and their use among intended users, and to advance cross-cutting areas that refer to the ability to raise resources, monitor and evaluate activities and provide a platform for discussions for interested stakeholders.
Monitoring Progress and Sharing Experiences
Real impact of CFS policy products can only be understood by monitoring progress and learning from experiences.
This was already recognized by the Committee. During its 45th Plenary Session in 2018, the Committee already expressed the importance of supporting the uptake of its policy work, promoting accountability and sharing best practices at all levels, including through voluntarily monitoring the use and application of its policy products and recommendations.
To this end, the Committee agreed to regularly hold monitoring events and Global Thematic Events (GTE) to assess how different CFS policy products are being used to inform concrete actions at national level and provide a platform to exchange lessons learned in advancing food security and nutrition.
Each monitoring exercise and Global Thematic Event is informed by contributions from a wide range of stakeholders. These inputs are collected through an open call for inputs focused on a specific CFS policy product or set of recommendations under review.
The submissions received are compiled and summarized in a document made available to delegates in advance of the relevant CFS Plenary Session, supporting informed discussion and collective learning.