The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) announced food security and nutrition targets for the post-2015 development agenda. Representatives from the three agencies stressed the need to finish the job of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that expire in 2015, but also to broaden their scope to address deeper issues of universal relevance like malnutrition, sustainable and inclusive food systems, and their inter-linkages. The three agencies identified a list of targets which include: - access to adequate food for all people; - end malnutritionin all its forms with special attention to stunting; - make allfood production systems more productive, sustainable, resilient and efficient; - secure access for all small food producers, especially women, to adequate inputs, knowledge, productive resources and services. Improvement in these areas would have to come through innovative partnerships - among governments, with the private sector, with development institutions, and with all members of society, from producers to consumers. It seems necessary to develop new governance mechanisms in order to monitor impact, ensure accountability, and give different stakeholders a voice in decision-making. The UN Rome-based agencies emphasized the important role in global food security of small-scale food producers who need to be at the centre of new investments and new partnerships for a hunger-free world. The overarching priority of the post-2015 development agenda is indeed the realisation of a world where, within our lifetime, no-one experiences chronic hunger and malnutrition. Even if the three UN agencies acknowledged that successes associated with the MDGs have been substantial in some areas, still around 840 million people remain chronically hungry and poverty continues to be pervasive in rural areas around the world. The gLAWcal Team Friday, 4 April 2014 (Source: FAO News)

@