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Evidence has shown that the improvement in food and nutrition security is principally due to policies, programs and frameworks that are anchored in legislation. Parliamentarians are fundamental custodians of political commitments on food security and nutrition; therefore critical partners in achieving food and nutrition security.
Foremost amongst the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the eradication of poverty, achieving zero hunger, good health and well-being. The Rome Declaration on Nutrition and Framework for Action also prioritizes the eradication and prevention of hunger and poverty in all its forms. These global commitments are necessary, since despite the progress made, over 820 million people still suffer from hunger and high levels of malnutrition continue to persist.
Eradicating hunger and malnutrition is therefore at the center of FAO’s efforts. In order to achieve this, all stakeholders must be involved. This includes Parliamentarians and non-State actors such as Civil Society and the Private Sector.
Key facts
- Since the establishment of the Parliamentary Front against Hunger (PFH) in Latin America and the Caribbean, 23 Alliances were created at national, regional and city level while 4 framework laws have been produced and more than 30 laws relating to food and nutrition security, family farming, school feeding and fisheries have been enacted.
- The Pan-African Parliamentary Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition has held workshops and trainings in different countries such as Uganda, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Madagascar to strengthen capacity development of Parliamentarians to combat hunger and malnutrition and to achieve the SDGs and Agenda 2030.
- The partnership between FAO and the EU has been strengthened through political dialogue with Parliamentary Committees and the members of the European Parliament’s Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition, to contribute to the commitment in fighting against hunger and malnutrition at the European level.
- Outreach efforts in countries in the Asian region led to the setting up of the FAO Parliamentarian Friendship League in Japan (2017) and the FAO-Legislative Advisory Group in Philippines (2018). Thanks to the work of the Friendship League, the Parliament adopted in May 2019 the first food loss and waste law.
- Over the last years, 5 Parliamentary Alliances were established at sub regional level, including the Eastern Africa Parliamentary Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (EAPA FSN), the Parliamentary Network for Food Security in Africa and the Arab World, the ECOWAS Parliamentary Network for gender equality and investment in agriculture for food security, the Central Africa Parliamentary Alliance (RAPAC-SAN), and the trans-regional parliamentary alliance, the Afro-Latin American Parliamentary Forum (AFROLAC).
- The Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition, which took place on the 28 and 29 of October 2018 in Madrid, co-organized with the Spanish Senate, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Latin America and the Caribbean Parliamentary Front against Hunger and the support of the European Commission, IFAD and APF, sought to advance political will, as expressed by parliaments, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) at a global level.