Food Governance Conference

3–5 July 2019
From 3 to 5 July 2019 the Sydney Law School and the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre will host the second Food Governance Conference in 2019.

Everybody eats; it is the key to our survival, but food also has the potential to compromise health. The global food system is challenged by issues of drought, climate change, trade, malnutrition, and exploited workers. Population growth and the forces of marketization have further compromised the ability of the food system to deliver safe, nutritious and sustainable food to the world's population.

The 2019 Food Governance Conference will explore how law, policy, and regulation address food system challenges or contribute to them at local, national, regional, and global levels. This includes issues such as food security, food safety, food sustainability, equity and social justice in global food systems, and nutrition: under/malnutrition, obesity, and noncommunicable disease.

While food-specific law and regulation will be a key focus of the Food Governance Conference, it will consider how broader legislative and policy regimes impede or facilitate access to a nutritious, equitable, and sustainable food supply, including economic, trade, and intellectual property regimes.

The conference takes a broad, interdisciplinary approach, in the hope of highlighting the interrelationships between the main challenges facing the global food system in the 21st century, and to create new opportunities for collaboration between researchers, policymakers and practitioners in the related fields of food safety, security, and sustainability, and diet-related health.

Opening public oration: Hilal Elver, UN Rapporteur on the Right to Food.

Conference details

Register for the conference here. 

Key dates

  • Abstract submission opens: 11 September 2018 - Submit your abstracts here. 
  • Abstract submission closes: 22 February 2019 
  • Notification to authors: 29 March 2019
  • Early bird registration closes: 3 May 2019
  • Closed workshops: 3 July 2019 (expressions of interest will be sought for running a workshop)
  • Opening public oration: 3 July 2019, 6-7.30pm
  • Main days of the conference: 4 July–5 July 2019
/by

Launch of the HLPE report “Agroecological and other innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition”

Wednesday 3rd July, 14.00-17.00 (Rome time)
Green Room (FAO HQ)

Ambassador Mario Arvelo, Chair of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and Dr Patrick Caron, Chairperson of its High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) are proud to announce the launch of the 14th report of the HLPE on Agroecological and other innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition.

The Summary and Recommendations are available in English to download here (All other UN official languages will be available on July 2nd 2019)

The event will be chaired by Ambassador Mario Arvelo, Chair of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). An opening address will be made by FAO’s Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department (AG) Assistant Director-General, Bukar Tijani.

Next steps: the Report will be edited and made available on-line in English within the next few days after the launch. It will be released in all UN official languages six weeks before the opening of the next plenary session of the CFS.

 

The event will be webcast live at: http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/

The draft agenda of the event can be downloaded here

No registration is required; please contact the Secretariat at cfs-hlpe@fao.org if you need a building pass to attend the launch

/by

MEDIA ADVISORY | FAO and OECD to launch Agricultural Outlook 2019-2028

New projections on agricultural production, expected developments in the global commodities and food trade, with a feature on the Latin America and the Caribbean region
/by

MEDIA ADVISORY | FAO and OECD to launch Agricultural Outlook 2019-2028

New projections on agricultural production, expected developments in the global commodities and food trade, with a feature on the Latin America and the Caribbean region
/by

UN to launch new progress report on achieving Zero Hunger

On 15 July 2019, the latest edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World will be launched by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO.
/by

FAO Director-General in Mexico: “Migration must be optional and safe”

A joint action program to promote rural development and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger so that migration becomes an option and not a necessity, is the objective of a High-level meeting on migration, development and food security in Mesoamerica that kicked-off in Mexico City today.
/by

Online consultation – CFS policy process on the development of the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition

Open until: 

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the FSN Forum are pleased to invite you to take part in the online consultation CFS policy process on the development of the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition. 

You are invited to share your comments on the V0 Draft of the Voluntary Guidelines. Your inputs will feed into the preparation of the first draft, which will be negotiated in spring 2020. 

Further information is available online in English, French and Spanish. In preparing your contribution we kindly ask you to use the template for submissions, which is also available in English, French and Spanish.

To submit your contribution, you can upload your completed template as an attachment to your comment on the FSN Forum website or send it to FSN-moderator@fao.org.

The consultation will be open until 2 August 2019.

The e-consultation outcomes will contribute to the preparation of the First Draft of the Voluntary Guidelines, which will be negotiated in spring 2020. The final version of the Voluntary Guidelines will be then presented for consideration and endorsement by the CFS Plenary at its 47th Session in October 2020.

Through this e-consultation, CFS stakeholders are kindly invited to answer the following guiding questions using the proposed template:

  • Does Chapter 1 adequately reflect the current situation of malnutrition and its related causes and impacts, particularly in line with the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda? What are the underlying problems that currently hinder food systems to deliver healthy diets?
  • What should be the guiding principles to promote sustainable food systems that improve nutrition and enable healthy diets? What are your comments about the principles outlined in Chapter 2? Are they the most appropriate for your national/regional contexts?
  • In consideration of the policy areas identified in Chapter 3 and the enabling factors suggested in paragraph 41 of the Zero Draft, what policy entry points should be covered in Chapter 3, taking into account the need to foster policy coherence and address policy fragmentation?
  • Can you provide specific examples of new policies, interventions, initiatives, alliances and institutional arrangements which should be considered, as well as challenges, constraints, and trade-offs relevant to the three constituent elements of food systems presented in Chapter 3? In your view, what would the “ideal” food system look like, and what targets/metrics can help guide policy-making?
  • How would these Voluntary Guidelines be most useful for different stakeholders, especially at national and regional levels, once endorsed by CFS? 
/by

Online consultation – CFS policy process on the development of the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition

Open until: 

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the FSN Forum are pleased to invite you to take part in the online consultation CFS policy process on the development of the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition. 

You are invited to share your comments on the V0 Draft of the Voluntary Guidelines. Your inputs will feed into the preparation of the first draft, which will be negotiated in spring 2020. 

Further information is available online in English, French and Spanish. In preparing your contribution we kindly ask you to use the template for submissions, which is also available in English, French and Spanish.

To submit your contribution, you can upload your completed template as an attachment to your comment on the FSN Forum website or send it to FSN-moderator@fao.org.

The consultation will be open until 2 August 2019.

 

The e-consultation outcomes will contribute to the preparation of the First Draft of the Voluntary Guidelines, which will be negotiated in spring 2020. The final version of the Voluntary Guidelines will be then presented for consideration and endorsement by the CFS Plenary at its 47th Session in October 2020.

Through this e-consultation, CFS stakeholders are kindly invited to answer the following guiding questions using the proposed template:

  • Does Chapter 1 adequately reflect the current situation of malnutrition and its related causes and impacts, particularly in line with the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda? What are the underlying problems that currently hinder food systems to deliver healthy diets?
  • What should be the guiding principles to promote sustainable food systems that improve nutrition and enable healthy diets? What are your comments about the principles outlined in Chapter 2? Are they the most appropriate for your national/regional contexts?
  • In consideration of the policy areas identified in Chapter 3 and the enabling factors suggested in paragraph 41 of the Zero Draft, what policy entry points should be covered in Chapter 3, taking into account the need to foster policy coherence and address policy fragmentation?
  • Can you provide specific examples of new policies, interventions, initiatives, alliances and institutional arrangements which should be considered, as well as challenges, constraints, and trade-offs relevant to the three constituent elements of food systems presented in Chapter 3? In your view, what would the “ideal” food system look like, and what targets/metrics can help guide policy-making?
  • How would these Voluntary Guidelines be most useful for different stakeholders, especially at national and regional levels, once endorsed by CFS? 
/by

Food and agriculture must play a vital part in reaching a sustainable future

There is a growing realization that food and agriculture must play a vital part in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals and that in this context, FAO provides a neutral forum to address global issues of transboundary dimensions, the UN agency’s Director-General, José Graziano da Silva said today.
/by

The Near East and North Africa region needs to step up its efforts to end hunger by 2030

Countries in the Arab region need to set up policies supporting local food production and improve their governance of natural resources if hunger is to be eradicated from the Near East and North Africa by 2030.
/by

Trailblazers for food security lauded at FAO ceremony

Government ministries in Pakistan and Rwanda, a group of Spanish journalists, a Norwegian research vessel, a group of current and former parliamentarians in Chile, and FAO field staff have been recognized at today’s FAO Awards ceremony, held on the sidelines of the 41st FAO Conference.
/by

“Triple burden of malnutrition” slows down progress towards Zero Hunger in Europe and Central Asia

Despite the heterogeneity of the region, there is one common challenge related to food security that is present in all countries of Europe and Central Asia - “the triple burden of malnutrition,” representatives of FAO Member Countries heard today at a special event on the sidelines of the UN Agency's Conference.
/by