The High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis Progress Report
The spike in food prices of last year (2008) underscored what experts have been telling us for many years: the world's food systems are in crisis. The High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis (HLTF) and its members have supported -over the last 8 months- national authorities as they respond to food and nutrition insecurity. This tracks the progress of the task force over this period.
At the end of April 2008 the United Nations’ Chief Executives Board established a UN System High Level Task Force (HLTF) as a temporary measure to enhance the efforts of the UN system and International Financial Institutions in response to the Global Food Security Crisis. The mandate of the HLTF was to ensure a coherent system-wide response to both the causes of this crisis and its overwhelming adverse consequences among the world’s most vulnerable populations. The UN Secretary-General serves asask Force Chair with the FAO Director General as Vice-Chair.
Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA):
At the time the HLTF was established, many of its 22 member entities were already working to help responsible bodies to address both the immediate and longer term aspects of the food security crisis. They developed a Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA) as an overarching strategy for their work: this recognises the global threats posed by widespread food insecurity and outlines the comprehensive and coordinated approach required to ensure access to, availability and utilization of food. It details two sets of actions: those that contribute to short-term outcomes related to immediate needs and long-term outcomes needed for sustainable food systems that can withstand shocks associated with food price volatility, economic contraction, demographic change and adverse climatic events.
During the latter half of 2008 the UN Secretary-General introduced the CFA as the HLTF’s approach to increasing investments in agriculture, food security and nutrition and encouraged greater international support for country-led responses based on this comprehensive approach. He advocated a combination of investments – both to support the institutions that ensure social protection, safety nets and emergency food assistance and to support sustained investments in smallholder-based agriculture, reversing the decades-long decline in spending on food security both within national budgets and in international development assistance.
Assessing the Impact of the High Level Task Force:
This progress report describes the overall impact of work undertaken by the entities within the High Level Task Force since its establishment 18 months ago. It is also designed to enable assessment of the added value of the HLTF itself as a mechanism for intensifying and coordinating the work of the UN system, International Financial Institutions and other stakeholders. The outcomes spelt out in the CFA are used as a basis for assessing the overall impact of HLTF entities, and the HLTF’s programme of work is used as the basis for assessing its added value.