FAO's Committee on World Food Security 29th session

Government Ministers and representatives from Inter-governmental and accredited Non-Governmental and Civil Society Organizations met in Rome from 12 to 16 May 2003 at the 29th Session of FAO's Committee on World Food Security (CFS).

Following the World Food Conference held in 1974, FAO decided to establish the CFS to serve as a forum within the United Nations system to review and follow-up policies concerning world food security. After the 1996 World Food Summit, the Committee was assigned the task to monitor the implementation of the Plan of Action of the Rome Declaration.

This year's session opened with a general assessment of the world food security situation followed by the presentation of the results of the first session of the Intergovernmental Working group (IGWG) for the elaboration of a set of voluntary guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security.

Under the section dedicated to recent FAO initiatives in the fight against hunger, presentations were made regarding the Anti-hunger Programme and the International Alliance Against Hunger (IAAH). Representatives of Member Nations gave their support to the IAAH as a global alliance to strengthen political will in the fight against hunger and poverty. This was the first time that a FAO governing body discussed both initiatives.

The session also included several debates related to the world food situation, such as:

• The role of aquaculture in improving food security and nutrition at the community level - A review of sustainable cases
• The impact of disasters on long term food security and poverty alleviation - Policy Implications

The FAO Distinguished Lecture on Food Security during the 29th session was delivered by the honorary Governor of the Bank of France and former Managing Director of the IMF, Mr. Michel Camdessus, who called for a long-term assistance from developed countries and long-term policies from developing countries to tackle the roots of hunger and poverty.

In addition, he also underlined the importance of investing in making water accessible to all. According to Mr. Camdessus, some $100 billion a year is urgently needed in order to bring safe and clean water to nearly 1.1 billion people that do not have access to this resource.

To read the background papers for the CFS 29th Session, please click here.