Between October 15 and 19, the FPSC participated in the 39th Session of the Committee on Food Security (CFS) of FAO, together with other international organizations to develop projects focused on agriculture and food security, representatives of civil society and private industry, UN agencies working in the same field and delegations from more than 100 nations.
Among the results of the session, one highlight was the agreement between the states, the private sector and civil society representatives on new principles for responsible investment in agriculture. In addition, the Committee accepted the Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenure. Civil society representatives hope this will give small farmers and herders more rights and avoid land abandonment. The UN member states pledged funds to help national governments to implement these guidelines.
A purpose of the principles for responsible agricultural investment, approved by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), the Working Group of Civil Society in charge of this issue,of which the FPSC is a member, is now preparing a framework document to be presented during the next CSA to provide guidance to the weight of governments that wish to implement these guidelines nationwide.
The full report of the 39th Session of the CSA is available at the Website of the FAO: http://www.fao.org
Moreover, parallel to this meeting, representatives of the FPSC participated in several events: “Regional priorities for food security in the context of the ongoing social and political transition in the Arab Region”, “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems: ensuring food security and nutrition in a changing climate”, and “Cooperation between the EC and the Rome-based Agencies”.