Participatory policy-making on global food insecurity

Research from Coventry University has led to greater inclusion and diversity in the participation of marginalised groups in the global governance of food security through the UN Committee on World Food Security, the world’s leading platform addressing issues of hunger and food insecurity.

 

Issue

The most recent estimates for 2019 show that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic almost 690 million people were undernourished. Despite global efforts to address food insecurity, little progress has been reported as food system governance is marked by exclusionary processes favouring powerful corporations, investors, and big farmers.

 

Approach

The UN Committee on World Food Security was reformed in the aftermath of the 2008 Global Food Crisis to become a participatory multi-stakeholder platform with civil society engagement at its core.

Over the last 12 years, the Coventry research team have analysed how groups representing small-scale food producers have organised in transnational networks to speak with their own voice at the UN. They have documented how rural and urban constituencies have established the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSM) to participate in debates.

Funded by CSM, the research team focused on identifying obstacles to the effective participation of small-scale food producers and increasing inclusion and diversity.

 

Impact

The research generated four recommendations for improving the internal functioning of the CSM, many of which were adopted by the committee:

1. Enhance participation of rural youth.

2. Increase capacity of CSM sub-regional and constituency coordinators.

3. Increase representation of small-scale producers.

4. Develop new practices and spaces for a more inclusive CSM.

 

More information

• Read the full impact case study in the REF21 database

Institution: Coventry University 

Researchers: Dr Josh Brem-Wilson, Dr Priscilla Claeys