Commission for Social Development calls to make food systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable

The 60^th session of the Commission for Social Development drew to a close today, adopting by consensus a resolution on its priority theme focusing on poverty and hunger.

The 60^th Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD60) ended today with the adoption by consensus of a resolution on its priority theme, ”Inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19 for sustainable livelihoods, well-being and dignity for all: eradicating poverty and hunger in all its forms and dimensions to achieve the 2030 Agenda”. 

In the resolution, the Commission expressed its concern with the global hunger trends outlined in “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” 2021 flagship report, and noted that the pandemic had slowed efforts to deliver in full on the 2030 Agenda, including on SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). 

Against this backdrop, the resolution reaffirmed the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. It also encouraged Member States to strengthen food systems, including through a holistic food systems approach, so that they become more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable, by delivering healthy diets to end hunger and improve food security and nutrition; invest in science, technology, and innovation to increase agricultural productivity, sustainability, resilience and reduce disaster risk; and strengthen policy coherence and coordination among government entities responsible for social protection, agriculture, food security, and nutrition. 

In the resolution, the Commission also recognized the important role of family farmers, rural women, and indigenous peoples in delivering food security and nutrition and sustainable food systems for all, as well as the need to address challenges faced by rural populations.

Urgency to act

Framing the session’s deliberations, the Chair of the Commission for Social Development and Permanent Representative of Argentina to the United Nations, Ambassador Maria del Carmen Squeff, said at its opening that “we must take advantage of this crisis to come out transformed on the other end,” using imagination to build more just and equal societies.

The Chair also stressed the urgency to act: “We need to ensure that everyone can live a dignified life. Those who live in poverty, without access to food, are clearly deprived of their basic human rights. It is therefore imperative that the international community make it a priority to address these problems and find solutions to them. We cannot delay this any longer.”

In his keynote address to the Commission, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu highlighted the need to invest in rural areas, where 80 percent of the world’s extreme poor live. “Rebuilding from the pandemic will require increased and targeted investments in rural development. For this, it is critical that our agrifood systems should be transformed to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable,” he said.

The Director-General also stressed the importance of social protection as a critical component of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We need to increase the productivity of small-scale producers through investments in human capital, social protection systems and rural infrastructure,” added the Director-General, also noting that countries with strong social protection systems were better able to respond to the increasing demands for immediate assistance 

FAO at the Commission for Social Development 

FAO actively contributed to the 60^th session of the Commission for Social Development, including by working alongside the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs to prepare the session, contributing to the Report of the Secretary-General on the priority theme, briefing the Commission at an intersessional informal preparatory meeting in December 2021, and offering views on the interlinkages between social development, hunger, and the transformation of food systems through interventions by the FAO Director‑General and its Chief Economist Máximo Torero Cullen at the session itself. 

Related links

• Access the resolution on the priority theme of CSocD60.
• Access the Report of the Secretary-General on the priority theme of CSocD60.
• Revisit FAO’s participation at CSocD60.