FAO launches FARE project to strengthen implementation of the right to food in Guatemala, Indonesia, and Malawi

A new three-year project has been launched to enhance national efforts to protect and promote the right to adequate food in Guatemala, Indonesia and Malawi. Titled “FARE – Food, Accountability, Rights and Empowerment,” the initiative focuses on raising the awareness of rights holders and duty bearers, and strengthening monitoring, accountability and enforcement mechanisms.

Despite growing global understanding of food as a basic human right, many countries continue to face barriers in meeting related obligations.  These challenges can include weak institutional frameworks, the absence of standardized data collection tools, limited access to justice—particularly for remote communities and marginalized groups—and restricted access to public information, among others. The FARE project is designed to directly address these challenges through targeted national support and cross-country collaboration.

“The project aims to pave the way for the progressive realization of the right to food and contribute to the overarching goal of ensuring food security and nutrition for all,” said Juan Echanove, Team Leader of the Right to Food Team. “By addressing the gaps in access to justice, current monitoring mechanisms and bolstering accountability measures, FARE focuses on implementation, developing adaptable models for global replicability.”

Concrete tools for stronger rights
At the heart of the initiative is the development of a consolidated right to food monitoring framework accessible to all stakeholders, including governments, civil society organizations and the public. Fine-tuning tailored and harmonized methodologies, the project will enhance national capacities to track progress and enforce relevant obligations.

Key activities include analyzing the existing legal framework, supporting robust monitoring systems, and holding training sessions for a variety of actors, including civil society, government and the judiciary, to improve transparency, awareness of redress mechanisms and access to justice, and towards the publishing of a Right to Food Transparency Report. Public and social accountability is also a major pillar: the project will support capacity development for duty bearers, and rights holders, raise awareness through community-based advocacy campaigns, and contribute to improving access to justice for affected communities.

Cross-country learning and impact
In addition to national-level actions, FARE will foster knowledge exchange between Guatemala, Indonesia and Malawi. Through workshops, conferences and joint strategy development, the project seeks to identify replicable models and best practices that can be adapted in other countries.

With the financial support from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), FARE will be implemented in partnership with national human rights institutions —as well civil society organizations, Geneva-based agencies, and academia.

The initiative is designed to benefit the three target countries by knowledge exchange and building on more inclusive, and transparent implementation and monitoring mechanisms to realize the right to food, supporting the accountability and performance of public institutions. 

FARE will run through December 2027. Stay tuned for further developments and updates as the project unfolds.