13 October 2014: Governments and stakeholders approved the ‘Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems’ at the 41st session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS 41). The Committee, which also endorsed policy recommendations on food loss and waste, and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, met on 13 October 2014, in Rome, Italy.

Opening the session, José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General, highlighted that food security is everyone’s business as it is a society, not a government that decides to eradicate hunger. While political commitment and leadership from governments are the first step, he said, civil society, private sector and other non-state actors also need to embrace the goal.

Delivering remarks on behalf of the UN Secretary-General, Thomas Gass, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said “a focus on rights, on sustainable waste-free food systems and on responsible, accountable collaboration between stakeholders will help us tackle root causes of food and nutrition insecurity.”

Ertharin Cousin, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, cautioned that “an unprecedented number of shocks, stresses and ever-more complex crises now threaten food and nutrition security, repeatedly proving that without stability, the fourth dimension of food security, that food systems can quickly collapse.”

The RAI Principles adopted at CFS 41 are voluntary, non-binding and represent the first time that governments, the private sector, civil society, UN agencies, development banks, foundations and academia came together and agreed on what constitutes responsible investment in agriculture and food systems. They address all types of investment and provide a framework that all stakeholders can use when developing national policies, regulatory frameworks, corporate social responsibility policies and programs, and individual agreements or contracts.

The Principles outline how responsible investments should contribute to the right to adequate food, gender equality, health, youth empowerment, respect of legitimate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests as well as existing and potential water uses, sustainable natural resource management, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. They also touch upon genetic resources and indigenous rights.

Before the CFS session, countries agreed on a series of policies granting people access to healthier diets, contained in a Declaration and a Framework for Action to be adopted at the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), taking place in Rome, Italy, on 19-21 November 2014. [FAO Press Release][FAO Article on the Principles]