Addressing global food security at the UN Committee on World Food Security

Matters discussed included The state of food security and nutrition in the world in 2024 Report (SOFI), advancing the right to adequate food in the context of national food security, strengthening the uptake of CFS guidelines, addressing the issues of inequalities in relation to food security and nutrition, promoting decent work, women and girl equality and urban and peri urban food systems in the context of food security and nutrition along with setting out the CFS strategy towards 2030.

Karol was part of the Private Sector Mechanism (PSM’s) at this event and partook and spoke in a number of settings. He addressed the Plenary session of the CFS on the 24th of October, setting out the PSM’s position on the strategy to 2030 and talked about the requirement for properly funded budgets. In this address he also welcomed the proposed High-Level Forum in 2025 on ‘Strengthening Responsible Investment and Financing for Food Security and Nutrition’.

Karol moderated the PSM “side event” on “Reducing Inequalities in food systems by expanding market access for inputs, outputs and services”. The panel was made up of representatives from the Global Dairy Platform, Pinion, The International Seed Federation, along with farming entrepreneurs from Nigeria and France and the Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the FAO. Practical examples were outlined and discussed at the side event on the benefits of proper market access enabling reductions in such inequalities.

He also moderated the discussion at the PSM High Level event on Climate and Food Systems Hub which was attended by over 150 dignitaries and senior FAO staff in advance of the High-Level Forum on Climate, Biodiversity, and the Right to Food and Decent Work.

Commenting after CFS Karol said, “it is very worrying to realise that there are still over 750 million people undernourished and 2.33 billion people suffering some form of food insecurity in the world today. Events such as CFS help put a focus on this and on other inequalities in our Food Systems, but concrete action is required to go along with reports and guidelines. From this perspective I am hopefully that the creation of a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which will be launched in November, under the Brazilian presidency of the G20 may see some real actions.”

He continued, “we have many challenges, such as climate, biodiversity and conflicts that are affects food security. It is important that us here in Ireland take our responsibilities in the areas of climate and biodiversity serious but also do not lose the realisation that there are food scarcities in the world today and we must maximise the production of nutritious food, within our climate and biodiversity boundaries.”