Celebrate the 20 years of the Right to Food Voluntary Guidelines!

In 2024, the Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security (RTFG) turn 20!

In our complex world with ever-growing and changing challenges, the Guidelines are as relevant as ever. They remind us of the importance of international cooperation and collaboration towards the collective public good of ending hunger, malnutrition in all its forms, poverty and inequality.

To mark this important milestone, the FSN Forum – FAO’s open, neutral platform for multistakeholder dialogue − opened a call for submissions to help inform on the progress towards the realization of the right to adequate food at local, national, regional and global level, providing an important stocktaking moment for countries and their people.

To participate in the call for submissions, click here.

If you want to dig deeper, browse through the selection of titles below.

Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of the national food security
The Right to Food Guidelines provide practical guidance on how to implement the right to adequate food in a wide range of policy and programme areas through a human rights-based approach. They were endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and adopted by FAO Council in 2004.

Fifteen years implementing the Right to Food Guidelines
These guidelines show the efforts of countries, organizations and groups in taking legislative action, designing policies and strategies, and setting up accountable institutions and bodies to respect, protect and fulfil the human right to adequate food.

Right to Food Handbooks
This collection of ten publications, prepared in collaboration with PROSALUS, provides practical information and guidance on how to implement the right to food and apply human rights-based approaches to key areas of work, namely, legislation, monitoring, assessment, budget and education.

Right to Food Methodological Toolbox
This toolbox provides a practical aid for the implementation of the  Right to Food Guidelines. It contains a series of analytical, educational and normative tools that offer guidance and hands-on advice on the practical aspects of the right to food. It covers a wide range of topics such as assessment, legislation, education, budgeting and monitoring. It emphasizes the operational aspects of the right to food and contributes to strengthening in-country capacity to implement this right.

Further reading

• FAO's work on the right to food
• Consumer organizations and the right to adequate food – Making the connection
• Food loss and waste and the right to adequate food: Making the connection. Right to Food Discussion Paper
• Parliamentary fronts against hunger, and legislative initiatives for the right to adequate food and nutrition
• The right to food and responsible investment in agriculture and food systems
• Small-scale fisheries and the human right to adequate food – Making the connection: exploring synergies in the implementation of the SSF Guidelines and the Right to Food Guidelines
• Women and the Right to Food
• The right to adequate food and Indigenous Peoples
• The Right to Food and Access to Natural Resources
• The Right to Adequate Food and the Right to Decent Work: Joint work in rural areas
• The right to adequate food in emergency programmes

Additional resources

• FAO Right to Food website
• Committee on World Food Security (CFS) website
• The Right to Food Timeline
• The Right to Food around the Globe
• FAO publications catalogue