By Liliana Mosca, SI Representative to the United Nations Office in Rome
The 53rd Plenary Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) took place in Rome from 20–24 October 2025, bringing together ministers and deputy ministers of member states, ambassadors, representatives of international and regional organisations, and country delegates to discuss how global policies can better respond to the growing pressures of hunger, malnutrition, inequality, and climate change.
The theme, “Making a Difference in Food Security and Nutrition,” reflected the Committee’s ambition to influence and improve global food systems. The agenda included the launch of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2025 report, regional dialogues, a panel on Collaborative Governance, and discussions on responsible investment and financing, as well as the intersection of climate, biodiversity, and the right to food.
The Plenary opened with statements from the United Nations Secretary-General, the CFS Chairperson, the ECOSOC President, the FAO Director-General, the IFAD President, the WFP Executive Director, and the HLPE-FSN Steering Committee Chair.
This was followed by Máximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), who introduced the SOFI 2025 report, first presented in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 28 July 2025. The report highlights how elevated inflation in many countries has undermined purchasing power and, particularly among low-income populations, access to healthy diets — increasing food insecurity and child malnutrition across most subregions of Africa and in Western Asia. The prevalence of undernourishment in Africa surpassed 20% in 2024, while in Western Asia it rose to 12.7%.
Key figures:
- According to current projections, 512 million people worldwide may be chronically undernourished by 2030, nearly 60% of them in Africa.
- Food insecurity remains more prevalent among adult women than men in every region of the world. Among indicators of child nutritional status, only stunting has shown significant improvement — from 26.4% in 2012 to 23.2% in 2024.
- More than half of countries with data to assess progress on child wasting (74 of 132) are on track to meet the 2030 target. Globally, only one-third (34%) of children aged 6–23 months and two-thirds (65%) of women aged 15–49 achieved minimum dietary diversity.
A panel discussion on the challenges facing different regions and constituencies in achieving SDG2 was moderated by Ms Luz María de Regil, followed by a debate on regional perspectives on SOFI.
Agenda items 2 and 3 gave the CFS an opportunity to present initiatives promoting food security and nutrition, including the CFS High-Level Forum on Tackling Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Land Degradation through the Right to Food, as well as a communication plan to strengthen responsible investment and financing for food security and nutrition.
Session IV was dedicated to the presentation of the CFS Policy Recommendations on Strengthening Urban and Peri-Urban Food Systems to Achieve Food Security and Nutrition in the Context of Urbanization and Rural Transformation, delivered by Jujjavarapu Balaji, Alternate Permanent Representative of India and Rapporteur of the policy convergence process.
The report, endorsed by CFS 53, highlighted that more than half the world’s population now lives in cities — a figure likely to reach 70% by 2050 — where most of the world’s food is consumed. It called for strengthened multi-level governance, resilient food systems supported by diverse supply chains and infrastructure, and the integration of food security into urban planning. The policy aims to ensure that strategies account for diverse urban and peri-urban contexts and the links between rural and urban areas, promoting inclusive and equitable food systems. These recommendations complement those of the CFS High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) report on the same theme.
On the same day, Session V saw Ms Alison Blay-Palmer present the HLPE-FSN Report (2025) on Building Resilient Food Systems. This was followed by Session VI, “Strengthening the Impact of CFS Policy Products,” introduced by CFS Chairperson H.E. Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile, which provided an overview of the roles and responsibilities of various CFS stakeholders in promoting the use of CFS policy products. Session VII, on the CFS’s strategic direction towards 2030, focused on integrating the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into all areas of its work — particularly through strengthening conceptual thinking on food security and nutrition (FSN), promoting inclusive, evidence-based policy recommendations, and improving national-level implementation.
The fourth day’s agenda featured the Global Thematic Event on Conflicts and Food Security and Nutrition: Advancing the Uptake of the CFS Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises. Protracted food crises are not temporary shocks but entrenched situations where acute food insecurity persists year after year, driven by conflict, fragility, climate risk, and poverty. The event urged political leaders to realign global commitments in support of the CFS Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises (CFS-FFA), with affected populations and civil society playing a central role in the process.
I participated remotely on the final day of CFS 53, which covered:
A) Date of the 54th Session of CFS — to be held 19–23 October 2026.
B) Election of CFS Chair, Bureau Members and Alternates — the new Chairperson of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is Mr Anas A. Al-Nabulsi, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Professor of Food Microbiology and Safety at Jordan University of Science and Technology. (For details of the new Chairperson and Bureau, see: https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-governance/c/en/)
C) Adoption of the Final Report
In her concluding remarks, Ambassador Nosipho Jezile, Chair of the CFS, stressed that achieving global nutrition and food systems transformation requires strengthened multilateral processes and greater collaboration to build fair, sustainable, and resilient food systems. She emphasised that progress demands intentional investment and closer alignment of policies, finance, and partnerships, urging governments, civil society, and the private sector to work together to scale up and sustain existing transformations. Ambassador Jezile specifically highlighted the importance of collaboration, intentional investment, multi-stakeholder partnerships, and sustained collective effort in achieving food system transformation amid global challenges.
