Feeding justice: the right to food is driving agrifood systems transformation

Rome, 03 November 2025 – A full house at FAO Headquarters gathered today for the CFS52 side event “Feeding Justice: Transforming Agrifood Systems through the Right to Food,” co-organized by Switzerland and FAO’s Right to Food Team, in collaboration with other partners. The event drew an exceptionally diverse audience of governments, civil society organizations, UN experts, and academic institutions, all committed to advancing rights-based agrifood systems transformation. 

Her Excellency Krisztina Bende, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Switzerland to UN Organizations in Rome, opened the session by underscoring that responding to immediate food crises must go hand in hand with long-term reforms anchored in equity and sustainability. She emphasized that CFS policy products offer practical guidance for governments seeking coherent legal and budgetary reforms, noting that Switzerland considers the right to food the “North Star” directing collective action by the Rome-Based Agencies. 

Juan Echanove, Right to Food Team Lead at FAO, thanked Switzerland for its sustained commitment, particularly through support to the Right to Food Sensitization Clinics project, a joint effort by FAO and the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub. Highlighting their growing impact, he stressed that food systems will only be truly transformed when they are guided by justice, equity, and the recognition that food is not charity, but a human right.   

The event showcased concrete examples of transformation already underway. Uganda’s Executive Chairperson of the National Planning Authority, Pamela Mbabazi, described her country’s determination to align institutions, legislation, and budgets with human rights principles. She pointed to the sensitization clinic held earlier this year and the subsequent Uganda Agrifood Systems Investment and Financing Conference as milestones that amplified the voices of marginalized communities, including refugee representatives. Strengthening accountability systems and integrating the right to food within public financing were highlighted as critical next steps. 

Other participants and panelists highlighted complementary perspectives. From Nepal, Ashish Thani shared youth-driven advocacy through UNDROP processes, calling for stronger protection of seed and land rights, and greater support for agroecology. Raúl Pinel García, from Rikolto Honduras, emphasized the importance of strengthening accountability through organized civil society participation, evidence generation, and rights-based advocacy. Geneviève Savigny emphasized UNDROP as a key instrument for realizing the right to food and urged wider awareness to ensure peasants’ rights inform national strategies. 

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, urged participants to understand food systems transformation as a shift in power: “Justice in food systems begins with rights — and, as today has shown, those rights are already changing lives.” He stressed that national budgets, debt relief, and legal frameworks must reflect the primacy of rights-holders. 

The discussion demonstrated that the right to food is not an aspiration but a practical tool for meaningful transformation—already shaping policies, strengthening participation, and advancing fairness across agrifood systems worldwide.