CFS event highlights the role of data-driven evidence in building resilient food systems

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) convened a high-level event at FAO Headquarters on “Leveraging data-driven evidence-base and frameworks to build more resilient food systems”. The discussion brought together experts to explore how data, monitoring frameworks and early-warning systems can support informed policy choices for more sustainable and equitable agrifood systems. 

The event was co-organized by FAO and the CFS Secretariat. 

Speakers and panelists 

The session showed how monitoring frameworks and early-warning systems, such as the Food Systems Countdown Initiative, can be used to strengthen food security and nutrition policies. By combining robust, data-driven evidence with local and contextual knowledge, policymakers can move from reactive crisis response to proactive planning for farmers, agri-food workers and development partners. 

Dr Lauren Phillips, Deputy Director of FAO’s Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP), underscored the importance of integrating gender and climate considerations into decision-making. Drawing on FAO’s flagship report The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems (2023) and The Unjust Climate (2024), she emphasized how climate change disproportionately affects women and marginalized groups and highlighted the need for more inclusive adaptation measures. 

Dr Nicholas Sitko, Senior Economist at FAO, presented findings from The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems (2025) and The Unjust Climate (2024). The research shows that while global debates often portray youth as particularly vulnerable to climate shocks, young rural households can demonstrate greater adaptability through off-farm employment and asset diversification, compared with older households. 

The analysis also revealed that rural people and their climate vulnerabilities remain largely invisible in national climate policies. Among the 24 countries reviewed in The Unjust Climate, only 6 percent of the 4 164 climate actions proposed in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and national adaptation plans (NAPs) mention women; just 2 percent explicitly mention youth; less than 1 percent refer to poor people; and around 6 percent reference rural farmers. Of the total climate finance tracked for 2017/18, only 1.7 percent reached small-scale producers. 

These findings highlight the urgency of improving the visibility of rural people, youth and women in climate policy and finance, ensuring that data-driven insights translate into tangible resilience gains. 

Panel discussion and key takeaways 

Panelists stressed the need to integrate tracking and forecasting tools into national and regional policy frameworks, strengthen data partnerships, and promote open and interoperable information systems. They also noted the value of local data and participatory monitoring to complement global frameworks and inform national investment priorities. 

Participants agreed that building resilient food systems requires timely, disaggregated data that captures the experiences of women, youth, and small-scale producers, groups most at risk from climate change and economic shocks. 

Looking ahead 

The event reaffirmed the CFS’s central role in promoting evidence-based policy dialogue across the global food security governance landscape. Participants called for greater investments in data systems, enhanced coordination among national and international actors, and continued support for inclusive, science-based policymaking that leaves no one behind.