Pan African Parliament launches an historic legal instrument to guide African legislators in fighting hunger and malnutrition

Midrand, South Africa. Gathered for the 3rd Session of its Sixth Parliament, the Pan African Parliament (PAP) held a ceremony on 28 June to officially launch the first ever Model law on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa. While not a legally binding document, this model law will provide parliaments and parliamentarians with legislative patterns and serve as a valuable tool to design sound legal and institutional frameworks to achieve sustainable food security and nutrition. 

This model law is the tangible fruit of a longstanding partnership and collaboration between the African Union legislative body and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), both committed to advancing parliamentary action towards food security, nutrition and food systems transformation in Africa. 

In a keynote speech during the opening session, Dr Abebe Haile Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director General and Regional Representative for Africa, highlighted the crucial role of parliamentarians in setting political and legislative agendas, enacting laws and budgets and scrutinizing government action, in addition to having an incomparable influence on opinion and on society at large. Dr Gabriel welcomed the launch of the model law on the eve of the International Day of Parliamentarism on 30 June, underlining the pressing need for greater collaboration between FAO and African parliamentarians to tackle hunger and malnutrition in Africa. 

FAO is committed to its work with parliaments in achieving food security and nutrition,  and will organize the Third Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition in Africa by 2026, as requested by parliamentarians from across the world in the Global Parliamentary Pact against Hunger and Malnutrition, which was adopted during the Second Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition in June 2023.  Dr Gabriel called on the support and commitment of every parliament in the region to participate in the Summit and  showcase the leadership of African Parliamentarians on the global stage, including the on-going parliamentary initiatives and successes in the fight for food and nutrition security in the region and elsewhere.   

In a panel following the opening ceremony, Kysseline Cherestal, Legal Officer in FAO’s Development Law Service welcomed the enthusiasm in the room and joined participants in a call to seize the moment and ensure that the model law is implemented so its content becomes a reality for every African man, woman and child. Participants widely stressed the importance of coordination, communication, partnerships and learning from existing best practices to implement the model law at national level. 

Also on the panel, Honorable Esther Passaris from Kenya and Member of the PAP Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, noted that "the rationale behind this model law is to persuade state and non-state actors to ensure adequate funding in this area, which will result in adequate food. […] The guiding principles on how the challenges of food and nutrition security are to be tracked, key among them being the effective participation of all stakeholders, accountability, non-discrimination, gender equality, human dignity, empowerment, rule of law and good governance." 

FAO’s global engagement with parliamentarians  

The Model Law on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa is a significant outcome of a long-standing partnership between the PAP and the FAO. The partnership was formalized with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2016 and the launch of the Pan African Parliamentarians' Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (PAPA-FSN). By forming alliances, fronts and networks, parliamentarians can effectively facilitate interest and parliamentary actions on food security and nutrition, ultimately contributing to a more coordinated and effective response to critical challenges.  

FAO, through its Partnerships and UN Collaboration Division and decentralized offices, will continue to explore partnership and closer collaboration with parliamentary networks in Africa and at global level in support of the implementation of the Global Parliamentary Pact against Hunger and Malnutrition. The Pact represents a historic milestone in the fight to end hunger and achieve food security for all, as the first global parliamentary pact on the progressive realization of the right to adequate food and the transformation of agrifood systems.