The outcome of the Madrid High-Level Meeting on Food Security can be considered a victory for those who want to see the multilateral governance of the global food and agriculture system improved and strengthened, and conducted within the Right to Adequate Food framework.

On November 18th 2010, the European Union Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolo?, o? cially submitted a communiqué proposing a reorientation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to the EU Parliament, the EU Council and the public. What does the proposal imply for global agricultural markets and international food matters? Some re? ections.

Smallholder communities in the Bolivian highlands have managed to conquer hunger: cheese production o? ers great hope to the people of the Peñas Valley. Cheese provides healthy nourishment for their children, generates additional income for families, and stimulates the local economy. Education is a decisive factor.

The years of war have led to a rapid decline in the nutritional status of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. To cover their protein requirements, the rural population in the Kivu region in the east of the country have turned to raising guinea pigs. For many families these rodents are nowadays not just a vital element of their food security, but also an essential source of income.

Since the 2008 food price crisis, foreign investors have been acquiring more and more land in poor countries for producing foodstuffs and biofuels for their own use. Such investments have the potential to promote rural development and food security worldwide. By the same token, however, there is the danger of countless small farmers losing their land, of food insecurity increasing in many places, and of social and ecological systems collapsing through pure "land grabbing".

As the world continues to experience a severe food crisis, with over one billion people going hungry, land grabbing – the purchase or lease of land by wealthy, food-insecure nations and private investors from mostly poor, developing nations in order to produce food crops for export – is gaining momentum. Some governments and international agencies believe that the in? ux of money and technology can turn land grabbing into a win–win situation for all involved. But is this really the case?

Large land acquisitions can have a deep, lasting e? ect on livelihoods, food security and the future of agriculture, so there is a need for strategic thinking, vigorous public debate and government responsiveness to public concerns, especially in recipient countries

The recent upsurge in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in land raises the hope to bridge the gap of decades of underinvestment in developing countries’ agricultural sector, but it may also threaten host countries’ food security and increase the vulnerability of the rural population. Based on four country case studies conducted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), this article illustrates distinct impacts of large-scale investments in agricultural land.

Source: Fao.org

Les pressions sur les ressources naturelles, de plus en plus intenses, les inégalités qui continuent de se creuser et les répercussions négatives du changement climatique compromettent la capacité de l'homme à se nourrir par lui-même à l'avenir. Tel est le message alarmant d'un nouveau rapport de la FAO publié aujourd'hui.

The Voluntary Guidelines on the human right to food provide a further instrument of international law in the fight against world hunger.The Guidelines promise to be a powerful new weapon in combating malnutrition.They forge an alliance between development policy and human rights in the struggle for the right to food. The «human rights approach» has become the new watchword in the fight against hunger.

The world food crisis has spurred foreign direct investments (FDI) into arable land in developing countries. While significant financial inflows into agricultural sectors could be beneficial on a global scale, it could negatively affect local livelihoods. This article provides an overview of the different types of FDI in land. In addition, examples of investment flows are illustrated in an overview and a sustainable impact matrix outlines the occurring effects. Finally, requirements of avoiding negative effects are presented, to achieve a Pareto-efficient win-win situation.

The Voluntary Guidelines to support the Progressive Realisation of the Right to Food have served the very useful purpose of placing the right to food squarely on the international development policy agenda.To avoid practice lagging behind theory, concerted efforts are required by governments, development agencies and donors to implement these Guidelines to accelerate the realisation of the right to food at country level. Lessons learned from such learning by doing will help show how to put the right to food into practice.