Focus on Rights, Sustainable Systems, Responsible Investment in Agriculture Key Ingredients for Ending Food Insecurity, Secretary-General Tells Rome Meeting

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the forty-first session of the Committee on World Food Security, delivered by Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-agency Affairs, in Rome today:

I am pleased to send greetings to the forty-first session of the Committee on World Food Security.  When I visited in May, I had the great honour of seeing how the revitalized Committee on Food Security has evolved into the foremost intergovernmental body on food security.  Your focus on knowledge and expertise, on rights, and on effective multi-stakeholder dialogues and partnerships is advancing our shared work to realize my vision of a world with zero hunger.

I welcome the Committee’s imminent endorsement of the “Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems”, which you have developed in an inclusive process over the last two years.  The Principles will serve as a new point of reference for all, providing guidance to Governments, investors, businesses, farmers, local communities, intergovernmental organizations and civil society organizations.  Responsible investment is desperately needed, and I share your hope that the Principles will have a positive impact.

You will also agree on policy recommendations to reduce food losses and waste in the context of food security, and on how sustainable fisheries and aquaculture can contribute to food security and nutrition.

The world is facing multiple humanitarian and political crises, as well as the realities of a changing climate.  I commend the cooperative approach you are taking in working to address these challenges.  I also welcome the attention you are devoting to family farming, women’s empowerment and sustainable food systems.  I urge you to stay engaged, through your capitals and representatives in New York, in the ongoing deliberations on the post-2015 development agenda.  Your expertise continues to play an important role in these discussions, and I reaffirm that you have the full support of my High-level Task Force on Global Food Security.

Since its establishment, the Committee on Food Security has envisioned a future without hunger, and I share that vision.  A focus on rights, on sustainable waste-free food systems and on responsible, accountable collaboration between stakeholders will help us tackle the root causes of food and nutrition insecurity.  As we mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Right to Food guidelines, I am convinced that an end to hunger is not only possible but can be achieved in our lifetimes.

You are leading the way, and I wish you all success for your meeting.