On 7-11 Oct, Maris Gavino, WOCAN Liaison in Rome, attended the 40th Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), in Rome, Italy. The decision box of the policy roundtable discussion, on Investing in Smallholder Agriculture for Food Security and Nutrition gave due emphasis on women as a key player in the attainment of food security locally and worldwide. CFS encouraged governments, national and international stakeholders to:
- enable national policies, governance and their evidence base
- promote access to assets, public goods, social services, research and extension and technology
- enable investment, access to markets, productive services and resources.
The other policy roundtable discussion that took place during the 40th CFS was on Biofuels and Food Security. The civil society movements blamed the governments for defending the interests of the biofuels industry rather than the interests of people pushed into hunger by biofuels policies. Current biofuel production creates competition between biofuel crops and food crops. The High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) in its report to the CFS, clearly concluded that there is a link between the energy policy and food security and that biofuels have been a key driver behind steep food price spikes and food price volatility in recent years. It was recommended, interalia, that government and operators should support the participation of farmers, in particular smallholders and women, in food-energy security programs.
Ambassador Gerda Verburg of the Netherlands, a familiar figure to WOCAN, was elected chairperson of CFS for the period 2013-2015. She was one of the initiators of the Network of Women Ministers and Leaders of Agriculture.
The HLPE, as well as the 40th CFS, reports can be found in www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/en/.