February 2013: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), the co-leaders of the Global Thematic Consultation on Hunger, Food Security and Nutrition (HFSN) in the post-2015 development agenda, have published a progress report and collection of the contributions received from online consultations.

The progress report summarizes key themes emerging from the consultations, which took place on the World We Want 2015 platform, and will be used to inform future consultation discussions. The collection of contributions introduces the consultation and provides the complete text from all 275 respondents.

Participants responded to three themes during the e-consultation: 1) lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on hunger, food security and malnutrition, and future challenges and opportunities in achieving HFSN; 2) addressing HFSN challenges; the importance of accountability, governance, political commitments and rights-based approaches in achieving food and nutrition security; and drawing upon current initiatives, such as the Zero Hunger Challenge and the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition; and 3) proposals on objectives, targets and indicators, including on global, regional, country-specific and time-bound objectives.

Contributions express strong support for including HFSN in the post-2015 agenda. They recommend increasing the resilience of agriculture production and food systems, given climate change and economic shocks, and increasing productivity in equitable, resilient and sustainable ways. They recommend reducing food waste and reducing diversion of food resources to animals and biofuels. They support: rights-based perspectives, including strengthened fisheries, forestry and land tenure rights, especially for women; gender equality; good governance; and integrated approaches to food security and public health.

Contributions also recognize the importance of small-holder agriculture, including for eradicating poverty, ensuring food access, achieving multiple goals and creating jobs. Some contributors recommend establishing social protection, including food assistance and access to safety nets. Contributors express different opinions on food price policy. Some support State interventions in food markets, while others advocate market liberalization.

On framework design, contributors say goals should be developed principally at the national level. They support ambitious objectives and a better-targeted framework. Many mention the Zero Hunger Challenge as a relevant example, while some advocate an intermediate goal on political commitment to hunger reduction.

The HFSN consultation includes three stages: the online consultation, which took place from 19 November-10 January 2013; a FAO-WFP consultation of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) to refine emerging issues from the e-consultation and define key messages for the post-2015 framework, which will be held on 11 February 2013; and a High-level Consultation, hosted by the Governments of Colombia and Spain, which is expected to be held in Madrid, Spain, in early April. The HFSN Consultation is one of 11 global thematic consultations on key topics related to the post-2015 agenda. [HFSN Consultation Webpage] [Issues Paper] [Zero Hunger Challenge Website] [Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition Webpage]