The 2nd GCAP Italy report Right to food. Sustainable development starting from food systems focuses on the issue of policy coherence for sustainable development, starting from the polices related to food production, consumption, trade. It was presented in Rome on the 4^th of July.

According to the FAO SOFI 2018 Report, 821 million people are caught in the grip of hunger, most of which lives in rural areas. A figure that has continued to grow since 2014, which brings us back ten years and that highlights a new paradox: the number of obese and overweight people is increasing, even in countries where food insecurity rates are high – Africa , Asia, Latin America – as well as in Europe and North America. To counter this emergency, the key aspect to focus on is that of rights.

“We need an approach that is not based solely on the eradication of poverty, but is also focused on fighting inequalities and all forms of discrimination, based on the assumption that as human beings we are entitled to universal and inalienable rights”, says Stefania Burbo, co-spokesperson for GCAP Italy.

According to the GCAP Report, the tragedy of hunger intersects with social, economic, political and environmental issues: unjust production and consumption patterns that threaten health, policies set up to the detriment of farmers and peasant women, consumers and the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. Hunger is not a casual accident, but the product of a system that does not work.

“Consistent and sustainable policies can be built only if a profound dialogue develops between decision makers and social actors, precisely when the policies are designed and set. And it is necessary that in this dialogue a central place is taken by the protection of rights, in particular of the most vulnerable people, whose voice is struggling to be heard in the increasingly popular “multistakeholder consultations” formula,” says Massimo Pallottino, co-spokesman for GCAP Italy.

The 2030 Agenda is an opportunity to foster a real change also in guaranteeing the right to food, but it is necessary to go beyond the constraints imposed by a ‘silo effect’ in SDGs and to overcome a rigid division between the internal and external dimension of the policies. GCAP Italy welcomes the establishment of the “Benessere Italia” control room at the Presidency of the Council of Italian Government and the creation of the Forum for Sustainable Development; however, it is necessary that these dialogue spaces are rooted on the principle of respect for human rights and the ecosystem, and on the recognition of the need that the voice and the rights of the weakest and most marginal social actors is guaranteed.

The GCAP Italy Report is produced as part of the “Make Europe Sustainable for all” projects co-funded by the European Union, whose Italian partner is ENGIM International, and “Positive Narratives of Cooperation” co-funded by AICS – Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

GCAP Italy page