World Food Summit fails to deliver

Sixty heads of state and many representatives from intergovernmental organisations met in Rome at the World Summit on Food Security. The summit aimed to confront the global challenges of feeding the world’s hungry but the official declaration that emerged from the meeting has been widely criticised as unsubstantial.

Jacques Diouf , FAO Director-General, voiced regret at the end of the summit that the officials had failed to agree to “targets or deadlines that would permit better monitoring and implementation.”

Representatives of NGOs present in Rome for the meeting also voiced disappointment, pointing out that rich country heads of state had not attended the summit and that the outcome had left many questions hanging. The summit didn’t give the UN Committee on Food Security (CFS) money, made no commitments or ability to monitor. The summit sanctioned the CFS to address global governance on hunger but didn’t give it any of the tools.

NGOs also pointed out that the summit statement fails to address the role that developed country subsidies and market access barriers play in shaping global agricultural production and trade.