Wageningen University student, Jesse Opdam, has written a post about the importance of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) to address emerging issues. --- microphone-and-handSometimes the words we leave unspoken are the most important ones, especially during policy negotiations where the political stakes are high. A lot of issues regarding food and nutrition have been addressed this week. It is simply impossible to address every single issue regarding food security within one week. But what about sudden important (urgent) issues? Should the CFS not address them? This question was answered by Chair H.E. Amira Gornass with the following words: “I think CFS should be open to emerging issues”. And in my opinion, she is completely right. If the CFS does not address urgent issues on time, or before other food security platforms do, the CFS will lose its relevance.
This post was written by Josh Geuze, an MSc student in International Development at Wageningen University. --- blog-1-afbeeldingForget all the empty promises, the real problems that need to be addressed are being carefully kept off the table by the CFS. To many people it will not come as a surprise to hear that capacity exists to create our own DNA codes. Current technologies offer us the opportunity to take out the DNA code of a cell and insert a completely new one. By using computer programs, it is possible to design a new DNA code. This code is printed and implemented in an emptied cell. This process is called synthetic biology. The range of opportunities this creates is endless. It is even possible to synthetically print out from scratch all the DNA of a living organism. Craig Venter, an American biotechnologist, succeeded in creating a microbe completely consisting of machine-created DNA. He called this “the first self-replicating species on the planet whose parent is a computer”. To some this might sound alarming, others will see the potential. The question is, why should we bother?

Myriam Welvaert, a Wageningen University student who is participating in the CFS as a social media reporter, has written a new blog post on the New Nordic diet.Here is what she...

19 Oct

This blog was originally posted here on the Event Blog of the Committee on World Food Security. It was written by Nadia Lambek and Jessica Duncan. --- [caption id="attachment_1772" align="alignleft" width="300"] CFS42 (photo...

17 Oct
This week I am teaming up with Nadia Lambek to research, reflect and write about the CFS.  In our conversations with people over the last few days (well actually, the last 6 years), we have been asked a lot of questions about the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS), and often, the questions are the same. To save you, and us, some time, we have identified the top 5 questions we get about the CFS and provided our answers below.

This weekend I am attending a social media bootcamp (#CFS43SMB, for those of you on twitter) hosted by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the Global Forum for...

Climate change, agriculture and food security What is the evidence that climate change is affecting food security and agriculture? What should governments, farmers and food producers do in order to facilitate...

The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) will meet next week in Rome for its 43rd session.  It is thus rather good timing that a new paper on the CFS has just been published in the Review of International Studies.  The paper, written by Josh Brem-Wilson, Research Fellow, Coventry University, is called "La Vía Campesina and the UN Committee on World Food Security: Affected publics and institutional dynamics in the nascent transnational public sphere"
Please note that while the following may seem a bit off track, a bit different from the normal postings on this blog, agrarian reform is a fundamental component of the Colombian peace agreement. It is also a key moment in history that we need to be paying attention too. Congrats on publishing this, Felipe!

After a lifetime of conflict, we Colombians have a chance to vote for peace

This piece was originally published on The Conversation by Felipe Roa-Clavijo, University of Oxford On October 2, the Colombian people will vote in a referendum to approve or reject the peace agreement their government has signed with the FARC, a revolutionary left-wing guerilla movement. Many Colombians have waited their whole lives for a chance like this – and me among them.