The High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to global food security and nutrition. It is composed of a steering committee, different project teams selected to analyse specific issues, and a secretariat, hosted by FAO.
The HLPE-FSN is governed by a steering committee of 15 world-renowned scientists, expert in a variety of food security and nutrition related fields, drawn from academia, research institutions, the public and private sector, civil society and other constituencies.
This Committee works with an extensive network of over 2 000 experts from a variety of disciplines. The membership of the Steering Committee is renewed every two years, through an open nomination process based on scientific excellence.
Read more about the Steering Committee and the drafting teams
The HLPE-FSN is constantly working to address the many issues facing both policymakers and food and nutrition practitioners alike.
The HLPE-FSN working procedures ensure legitimacy among stakeholders and a high degree of scientific quality: they involve broad stakeholder consultations and the incorporation of diverse forms of knowledge and expertise, as well as a rigorous scientific peer-review process.
As directed by the CFS Plenary and Bureau, the HLPE-FSN advises the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), which is the foremost intergovernmental and international platform dealing with food security and nutrition.
In particular, the HLPE-FSN:
The HLPE-FSN reports are widely used as reference documents within and beyond CFS and the UN System, by the scientific community as well as by political decision-makers and different stakeholders at international, regional and national levels.
The HLPE-FSN draws its studies based on existing research and knowledge already conducted by various expertise-providing institutions and adding value by global, multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary analysis, and translates the richness and variety of forms of expert knowledge from many actors that draw on both local and global sources, into policy-related forms of knowledge.
The HLPE-FSN process is entirely funded through voluntary contributions. HLPE-FSN reports are independent collective scientific undertakings on topics requested by the Committee on World Food Security Plenary. HLPE-FSN reports are global public goods.
The HLPE-FSN thanks the donors who have contributed since 2010 to the HLPE-FSN Trust Fund, or provided in-kind contributions, thereby enabling the process of work of the HLPE-FSN, while fully respecting its independence. Since its creation in 2010, the HLPE-FSN has been supported, including through in-kind contributions, by: Australia, the Province of Quebec, China, Ethiopia, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
