There is a strong evidence that the today’s problem of hunger is not related to quantity and production, but can be sourced to limited access to food, inefficient distributional policies and other factors contributing to the rise of hunger such as: (i) economic downturns, (ii) unsustainable use of the natural stocks and resources such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (iii) depletion of forest resources, which serve as a direct source of food and income for over 1 billion poor people globally; (iv) conflicts and population displacement; (v) natural disasters; (vi) lack of social protections and safety nets; (vii) food waste. Eliminating hunger and malnutrition requires policies, strategies and laws to guide the action in a holistic, cross-sectoral and systemic way. Therefore, the role of parliaments is crucial. According to FAO, theparliamentarians are fundamental custodians of political commitments on food security and nutrition; therefore critical partners in achieving food and nutrition security.
They play an essential role in building inclusive governance structures and mechanisms, allocating the budget resources, so to ensure that the governance structures and mechanisms are adequately funded to perform and achieve their goals; and monitoring government action in order to encourage greater coordination. Significant role play“the framework laws” which refer to a legislative mechanism used to address multisectoral issues (FAO, 2018).
What the parliaments should do in order to design the efficient and holistic policies to tackle the rising hunger and malnutrition was discussed on The Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition, held on October 29-30 in Spain. It is a joint initiative of the Spanish Parliament, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO) and the Latin America and the Caribbean Parliamentary Front against Hunger.
Over the two days that the meeting took place, a call was made to all parliamentarians to establish policies, prepare legislation, assign specific budgets and forge alliances and agreements aimed at achieving the objectives within the SDG 2; a goal that must be encouraged by means of transversal policies in all parliaments. The goals include developing effective legal and institutional instruments to guarantee the right to food; bringing together and coordinating legislative representatives seeking alliances with civil society; opening up consultation, discussion and awareness-raising opportunities; and generating and exchanging knowledge and experiences so as to make the most of technical assistance, good practices and lessons learned in diverse political arenas. Climate change, nutrition, gender and participative governance are also key issues due to their impact on food security.
Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General during his speech urged parliamentarians from all over the world to place food security and nutrition at the top of the political agenda and ask to play a more active role in transforming the food systems, including by developing parliamentary alliances. “Despite the recent setbacks, a world without hunger and malnutrition is still within reach, but we must act quickly and decisively. It is our common responsibility to promote the political will that will allows us to guarantee that everyone can feed themselves with dignity. Zero Hunger by 2030 is still possible if we all work together,” Graziano da Silva concluded.
