Policy paper

Global Food Security Summit 2023 chair's summary: towards zero hunger and ending malnutrition

Published 19 December 2023

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

On 20 November 2023, the UK hosted a Global Food Security Summit to boost international efforts to tackle hunger and malnutrition. In partnership with the UAE and Somalia and sponsored by and developed with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. The Summit brought together key development actors and galvanised support for long term, evidence-based solutions and future-fit partnerships to prevent food security crises and save lives.

Overview

• the world is facing a protracted food security and nutrition crisis, driven by climate change, escalating conflicts, and economic disruptions, exacerbated by inflation, debt stress and the volatility of world food prices. Nearly 1 billion people experience severe levels of food insecurity, 238 million are experiencing acute food insecurity at extreme levels, 45 million children under the age of 5 are suffering from wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, and more than one in three people globally are not able to afford a healthy diet. The crisis is global, with women and girls disproportionately affected. As populations grow and move, and diets change, pressure is mounting across the world to urgently develop more sustainable food systems
• delegates met in London to discuss long-term solutions and urge the international community to address the underlying causes of hunger, to act early and more effectively to prevent food security crises and malnutrition, and to build more resilient agriculture and food systems in the face of climate change
• the pre-Summit evening event profiled the vital role of open and free trade in ensuring countries are better able to cope with food security crises. It also gave voice to the impact of food insecurity and malnutrition on women and girls, as well as their critical role in identifying and implementing inclusive solutions
• a key theme running through the Summit was the need for political will, better coordinated action, and policy and finance solutions which prevent malnutrition, transform food systems, invest in more sustainable agricultural practices, address entrenched inequalities, and reduce and mitigate the impact of conflict and climate change on global nutrition and food security
• it was agreed that to meet these challenges and to deliver on global development ambitions for food security and climate, the food and agriculture sectors must transform at scale, only possible through harnessing the power of innovation, science, and technology
• the UK Prime Minister launched the UK’s white paper on International Development which sets out a strategic agenda for tackling the intertwined climate, nature, and development challenges, with an emphasis on partnerships. The Global Food Security Summit demonstrated the white paper in action, building new and existing partnerships and galvanising international action. Amongst other commitments, the white paper commits the UK to shift and work with the international system to better anticipate and prevent food security crises, strengthening resilience to shocks, and galvanising action to achieve zero hunger and end malnutrition, building on outcomes of the Summit
• side events to the Summit included a follow up to the Wilton Park conference earlier in 2023 on ‘Addressing humanitarian need and famine risk: the role of climate finance’. We also held a pre-Africa Investment Summit roundtable on strengthening regional food markets and trade, allowing representatives to share food and agricultural market plans, experiences, and an exchange on accelerating private sector investment
• UNFCCC-COP28 in Dubai has moved forward ambition on climate action and it is critical that food systems, food security and nutrition remain high on the UNFCCC agenda. At the Summit, the UK called on other governments to sign up to the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action, and align this commitment with climate plans to unlock policy tools and resources needed for the transition to sustainable food systems
• a full programme, list of speakers, and recordings of the day can be found at our website https://ukglobalfoodsecuritysummit.com/ or made available by contacting [email protected]

New approaches to ending preventable deaths of children

This thematic session focused attention on galvanising action to address the worst forms of childhood malnutrition, that is life-threatening, limits potential, and is preventable. Participants heard about means to catalyse more sustainable financing, build stronger supply chains and help prevent, detect and treat child wasting, through the Child Nutrition Fund.

Key themes

• nutrition as an essential part of Universal Health Care and the need to integrate nutrition services into primary health care including child immunisation for mutually reinforcing gains in country health systems
• the experiences of countries, including Pakistan, Somalia, and Indonesia: in addressing the impact of malnutrition on their economies; their work to integrate nutrition into their national plans and across government ministries; their building the capability of the health workforce to prevent malnutrition; and their securing political commitment. National efforts are complemented by regional plans to tackle malnutrition, such as those of the AU
• the need for coherent approaches across organisational silos for early prevention and detection of child wasting, alongside efforts to improve and expand treatment to reach all those that need it, with new WHO guidelines to steer and cohere efforts at global and local levels
• the need to catalyse more sustainable financing and build stronger supply chains, and help prevent, detect, and treat child wasting, including through the Child Nutrition Fund
• more widely, the importance of nutrition for poverty reduction, economic growth, and resilience, and the need to integrate nutrition across multiple sectors including food systems and within science, innovation and research agendas

Associated announcements

• inauguration of the Child Nutrition Fund, a financing mechanism designed to accelerate scale-up of sustainable policies, programmes and supplies to end child wasting, led by UNICEF with support from the UK, CIFF, BMGF and other partners. The Summit set ambitious outcome target for the Fund to support the mobilisation of resources to reach 350 million women and children
• a number of countries have already allocated domestic budgets to the Fund, to access supplies, including Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Kenya. The UK pledged a further £16 million to the Fund. Sir Chris Hohn, Chair of CIFF, announced a personal contribution of $50 million to the CNF to help leverage a target of $500 million further funding for prevention and treatment of child wasting. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives gave an additional $8 million to the CNF
• publication of new and expanded Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Child Wasting developed by the WHO to provide recommendations for governments to tackle a range of nutritional challenges, including interventions for mothers and caregivers, management of moderate acute malnutrition through dietary and clinical treatment, programs to prevent wasting and addressing psychosocial factors affecting care for vulnerable children
• the UK announced a doubling of support under the Child Wasting Innovation Programme to a total of £61 million and an extension to 2030 (including the £16 million to CNF)
• up to £38 million investment in health and nutrition in Somalia over the next three years, delivered through UNICEF in partnership with the Somali Federal Ministry of Health. This will improve access to basic health facilities for 2.8 million people, including maternal and newborn care, the provision of routine immunisations, and screening and treatment of severe malnutrition

Looking forward, in the white paper

• the UK will champion a new Global Compact on Nutrition, mainstreaming nutrition in our food and agriculture programmes, encouraging food industry accountability, and scaling up work on child malnutrition

Anticipating and preventing famine and food security crises

This session addressed the collective international response to the underlying challenges fuelling acute food insecurity, particularly conflict and climate change, and the need for better, earlier action that builds resilience and averts hunger and famine as well as the need to better promote compliance with International Humanitarian Law.

Key themes

• the importance of prevention and anticipation strategies in countries facing the intertwined impacts of climate and conflict. This includes the need for scaling up disaster risk finance, including through regional insurance pools such as Africa Risk Capacity, which supports countries and humanitarian actors to target rapid, reliable finance where it is needed after a shock
• consistent political will, as a counterpart to adequate, pre-emptive and long-term financing, is essential for turning evidence into action. It remains critical to mainstream early warning systems in African countries so that policymakers can make informed decisions. Early warning systems need to be more affordable, accessible, and available
• increasing access to finance for fragile and conflict affected states (FCAS) where 50% of extremely poor people live. Currently, global ODA spending on FCAS is disproportionately low. International development and climate finance, including disaster risk finance, needs to be more accessible to these most food insecure countries
• social protections systems that are in place ahead of time to ensure that resources can be channelled effectively at pace to people in need, flexing in response to shocks
• the importance of global collaboration in a fragmented landscape. A lot of different actors work in silos – including on climate and on conflict - and that is hindering global efforts
• the crucial role of civil society in crisis response and women’s empowerment as key to tackling food insecurity. There is a need to promote engagement with local civil society, leveraging their impact in conflict zones, and to prioritise gender equality as a key strategy for reducing hunger
• conflict as a key driver of hunger, impacting on economies, services and food production; and the denial of food used as a deliberate tactic. Focus should be on application of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL). While accountability and prosecutions are important, more can be done to promote compliance with IHL to prevent food insecurity in the first place, including incorporating IHL guidance and food security elements into military manuals, rules of engagement and training. Customary or religious laws which have the same intention as IHL should be invoked where relevant
• the international community has a responsibility to look at practices in the conduct of hostilities. Prevention strategies, including addressing war economies and bringing belligerents to the negotiating table, are essential

Associated announcements

• up to £100 million to respond to food security crises and their impacts in the world’s hunger and malnutrition hotspots, and where food security is being directly threatened by climate related shocks. Funds will reach Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, the Sahel, Afghanistan, Myanmar; Malawi and Zambia, with important additional global support to resilience and anticipatory action through FAO. The funds cover programmes and sectors that matter for food security, including food, nutrition support and cash support to the most vulnerable households
• up to £100 million to improve climate resilience in Somalia to support the most vulnerable and food insecure families in times of crisis with shock responsive social protection, more effective natural water resource management for food security, and communities in rural areas to adapt farming and other livelihoods to climate change, particularly in drought-stricken areas
• the UK will provide a further £77 million of humanitarian support to DRC’s food security crisis which will support over 1 million people up until 2026. UK funding will reduce food insecurity by supporting emergency humanitarian lifesaving activities, treatment and prevention for malnutrition and livelihood recovery activities. It will provide support to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence where they were made vulnerable by food insecurity
• driving forward a process for unlocking International Climate Adaptation Finance for fragile and conflict-affected states, and to enhance national actors’ capacity to effectively leverage it for resilience. A side event brought together key stakeholders to discuss progress against these recommendations and ensure alignment with the UAE’s climate agenda ahead of COP28
• developing a partnership with the World Bank to better link Humanitarian Assistance and Social Protection to collectively address food insecurity and support people to better cope with shocks and crises. This will be focussed on 5 countries initially: Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Ukraine
• a forthcoming publication of A Practitioner’s Legal Handbook on Conflict, Hunger and International Humanitarian Law to help avoid and address food insecurity in armed conflicts

Looking forward, in the white paper

• a new Resilience and Adaptation Fund, which will act alongside our humanitarian support. This fund will help countries and communities adapt to and build resilience to climate impacts and ensure support ahead of crises for populations in need, including through scaling up our support to Pre-Agreed Finance and anticipatory approaches
• expanded coverage of disaster risk financing for vulnerable populations and support for the evolution of regional risk pools to provide disaster risk finance at scale, including by funding multi-year premium subsidies to support governments, through African Development Bank, and humanitarian actors to access climate risk insurance policies from Africa Risk Capacity

Building a climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture and food system

Sustainable agriculture is key to food security, healthy diets, livelihoods, and national incomes. It provides jobs for 27% of the global workforce and added US$3.5 trillion to the global economy in 2019. Yet, these benefits are increasingly undermined by climate change and environmental degradation, causing extreme vulnerability particularly in countries contributing least to climate change. In collaboration with the UAE COP28 Presidency, this discussion focused on how both policy action and climate-smart investments are key to achieving sustainable and nutritious food security.

Key themes

• the climate and food security agendas are now more interlinked than ever. Governments, civil society and business need to bring a sense of urgency to securing sustainable, nutritious food for all, whilst continuing to support farmers, through the transition to climate-resilient and sustainable, productive, nutritious food systems. This includes through country- and region-led initiatives, plans and platforms, and globally through the Agriculture Breakthrough and the global Agriculture Policy Dialogue
• the need to apply what is known to work, for example, the transformative investments catalysed through the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). There are technically feasible and affordable solutions (some of which are outlined in the Agricultural Breakthrough Report) which can be scaled quickly to achieve impact
• mobilising more climate finance for agriculture, including from the private sector and multilateral development banks. MDBs have scaled up their finance to respond to the food security crisis, providing $60 billion in total for both the short term and long-term but more can be done. Governments and MDBs can unlock private sector finance for climate-smart agriculture by de-risking investments using blended finance, as through the efforts of Private Sector Window of GAFSP implemented by the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• climate finance must reach small-holder farmers. Climate finance to small-scale agrifood systems is estimated at just 0.8% of total climate finance. The unmet financing needs of smallholder farmers are estimated at USD 170 billion annually and climate finance for small-scale agrifood systems experienced a 44% drop in 2019 to 2020, compared with 2017 to 2018. Investment needs to be unlocked for smallholders and SMEs across the agricultural value chain
• multi-national companies should step up. Approximately 50% of multinational companies have targets on regenerative agriculture, but less than 10% of them take measurable, decisive action. There are huge opportunities to improve agri-food businesses’ footprint by prioritising clarity and accountability. For example, the FCDO has partnered with the World Benchmarking Alliance to provide an accountability mechanism in the FAO-OECD’s Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative

Associated announcements

• governments were called upon to sign up to the COP28 Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, to unlock the policy tools and resources needed for transition to sustainable food systems. The United Kingdom announced its endorsement. Subsequently, 152 countries have signed up.
• further UK contributions to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to support investment in climate resilience production by smallholder farmers in food insecure low-income countries in late stages of planning.
• the African Development Bank announced an $87 million loan to strengthen the resilience of Tunisia’s cereal sector, heavily impacted by the effects of drought. This was enabled by the United Kingdom’s Room to Run Guarantee (Room2Run), originally announced at COP26, which unlocked a total of $2 billion of additional climate finance from the African Development Bank.
• priority Action Plan outlining priority international actions for 2024 to make climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture the most widely adopted option for farmers everywhere by 2030.
• up to £45 million in support over the next 5 years through the Just Rural Transition Support Programme, in partnership with the World Bank (‘FoodSystems 2030’ Trust Fund).
• up to £39.1 million for the Just Transitions for Water Security programme, launched on 1 December.

Looking forward, in the white paper

• the UK will inspire agricultural and food system transformation, including by mobilising investment in climate and nature smart agriculture, supporting strong land governance, and backing initiatives such as the AU’s Post-Malabo/CAADP process to end hunger and deliver growth
• the UK will help farmers to secure their livelihoods through sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems. We will do this by mobilising investment in sustainable practices, through evidence and knowledge-sharing, partnerships and technical support, and by scaling up innovation
• the UK will mobilise political support and investment to protect and restore forests, land and forest tenure security, produce food sustainably, and tackle water insecurity. We will scale up support for public-private partnerships to catalyse private sector action and mobilise investment

Harnessing science and technology for food security

This session showcased upcoming opportunities for science and technology to accelerate progress towards food and nutrition security. It explored how the next generation of climate resilient technology and innovation can contribute to food security, nutrition, and more resilient food systems in way that supports people, planet and prosperity.

Key themes

• how science and innovation can reinforce policy at global, regional and national levels to transform food security and nutrition
• a range of solutions to the key constraints to uptake of science and technology innovations. For example, transforming potential crop yield gains into reality requires governments to help drive markets with an enabling policy environment
• ensuring the benefits of scientific and technological advancements are inclusive and accessible to all. In particular, ensuring that small holder farmers, including women, in low- and middle-income countries are not left behind and can apply context-specific innovations to increase yields, incomes and build resilience
• the need for more equitable and fair research partnerships between high-income countries and LMIC institutions to deliver transformative change
• developing and scaling research and innovation takes time: it needs consistent, stable political and financial support, including innovative finance models, from governments, private sector, research institutions and international partners
• the importance of demand-led research and co-creation, with farmers as active stakeholders, not passive recipients throughout. With collaborative and interdisciplinary partnerships to maximise the relevance and impact of research investments
• the role of science and innovation in combatting pests and diseases with better, more timely data for early warning systems, that allow adaptive technology to be put in the right places at the right time – with opportunities for AI

Associated announcements

• launch of the new virtual UK-CGIAR Centre for Science Collaboration to drive cutting edge research to accelerate breeding of climate resilient and nutritious crops, and scale sustainable agricultural practices. UK investment has helped millions of farmers to increase the resilience of their crops; CGIAR wheat varieties are sown by more than 44 million families, producing more than 200 million tonnes of wheat, contributing to food security for more than 1.85 billion people
• a new partnership with USA on the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils in Africa (VACS) via CGIAR to target under-utilised productive, climate resilient and nutrition enhancing crops, matched to country contexts; and support to the Crop Trust protecting priceless biodiversity and seed varieties by funding global crop gene banks. In total, including these initiatives, the UK pledged an additional £45 million of funding for the CGIAR, taking UK funding to a total of £110 million for CGIAR over the next 3 years
• new work on Scaling Agriculture Investment in Digital, AI and Innovation (SAIDAI) to develop and scale innovations that have the most potential for transformative impact, generating evidence of what works (£32 million)
• new support to increase food system resilience by reducing animal and plant pest and disease threats through the Animal and Plant Health Innovation and Evidence Delivery (APHID) Platform (£29 million) including with CABI. This includes previously announced funding for the Centre for Veterinary Vaccine Innovation and Manufacturing (CVIM)
• a new Nutritious Food Systems Policy Research Platform, to grow a global network of researchers, and strengthen the evidence on what works to improve nutrition outcomes throughout the food system (£25 million). This builds on 10 years of partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on nutritious food systems

Looking forward, in the white paper

• the UK will invest in agricultural technology and innovation to address the global challenges of food security, climate change and nature, in particular by delivering new international science partnerships
• the UK will support major international research collaborations, and work in partnership with likeminded research funders that seek to harness new solutions and cutting-edge technologies to solve the global challenges of securing food, nutrition and health security for all in the face of a changing climate

What next? 

• as the white paper illustrates, the UK remains committed to listening, adapting and working collaboratively with our partners towards a food secure future, deepening the themes of the Summit and reflecting UK’s wider work on these issues across the world

• this includes through the outcomes of the UNFCCC-COP28 hosted by UAE in 2023, with Brazil’s G20 Presidency, Italy’s G7 Presidency and France’s Nutrition for Growth Summit, all of which will be vital for reinvigorating and mobilising international action to achieve SDG2 –zero hunger and an end to all forms of malnutrition

• we thank all participants and supporting partners who engaged in the Summit, its outcomes, and share our long-standing and deep investment in tackling hunger and malnutrition. In particular we thank, HE Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, HE Mariam Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, UAE, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation