18 Jun VGGT: A case study in the effectiveness of the Committee on World Food Security

Hello from the beautiful Hohenheim University in Stuttgart, Germany.
I am lucky to be here to talk to the class on “Gender, Nutrition and the Right to Food” in the Faculty of Agriculture, Hohenheim University, Department for Gender and Nutrition.
The title of the lecture is: Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT): A Case Study in the effectiveness of the Reformed Committee on World Food Security
Abstract: The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) was established upon the recommendation of the World Food Conference of 1974 as an intergovernmental body to serve as a forum for review and follow up of food security policies. In 2009 the Committee underwent a reform to become the most inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for all stakeholders to work together in a coordinated way to ensure food security and nutrition for all.  Central to the reform was the inclusion of civil society organizations as official participants on the Committee.
In May 2012, the CFS endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs). These guidelines serve as a reference and to provide guidance to improve the governance of tenure of natural resources with the overarching goal of achieving food security for all and to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food.
To begin to evaluate the reformed CFS in terms participation and policy outcomes, this presentation uses the VGGTs as a case study and considers:

• the engagement of civil society actors in the negotiations of the VGGT; and,
• the VGGTs as a tool for policy making and advocacy.

The presentation is structured in three parts.

1. The first part will review the reform of the CFS and the development of the autonomous Civil Society Mechanism.
2. The second part will present the methods used to undertake the research and analysis, highlighting the processes, opportunities and challenges of doing solidarity research with social movements.
3. The final section presents the VGGTs and considers the impact of civil society organizations as well as the implications moving forward. Recommendations from the Policies Against Hunger Conference 2013 will be reviewed.

Students will be encouraged to engage and interject with questions and comments throughout the presentation, leading to discussion that will link method, policy analysis and practice to broader themes presented in the course.
You can download the slides here: Honheim Lecture VGGT Case study