By José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Instituto Fome Zero | 05/03/2025

Global hunger has largely been attributed to conflicts, climate change, and economic crises. In recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have further exacerbated this situation, disrupting supply chains and driving up food prices. However, another crucial factor, often overlooked in the fight against hunger, is the fragile global governance of food systems.

The way countries and international organizations coordinate their efforts to eradicate hunger directly impacts the effectiveness and sustainability of national policies. Fragmented and inefficient governance weakens local responses to crises, increases duplication of efforts, and makes accountability in food security initiatives more difficult. Strengthening global governance of food security and nutrition initiatives is, therefore, an essential pillar of any strategy aiming for a world without hunger.

A recent report by the Kofi Annan Commission, titled Reimagining Global Governance for Food Security, sheds light on this issue and presents a set of transformative recommendations that demand urgent attention. The report highlights how the current global food governance system lacks coordination, transparency, and efficiency, making it inadequate to address today’s interconnected challenges.

The Kofi Annan Commission proposes four fundamental changes to enhance governance structures and make them more effective. These recommendations, which I fully support, outline a path toward a more efficient global response to hunger and malnutrition.

First, the report calls for greater alignment between international food security efforts and the 2030 Agenda, particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger). Currently, overlapping mandates and competing initiatives dilute the impact of actions. A key proposal is the creation of a Food Governance Group, bringing together leading international organizations such as FAO, WFP, and the World Bank to harmonize strategies and strengthen accountability. Additionally, reinforcing the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) as an independent body, with evidence-based recommendations, would help bridge the gap between political commitments and concrete actions.

Second, the report advocates for prevention rather than reactive crisis responses. Too often, hunger is addressed through emergency aid rather than structural solutions. Investing in the resilience of food systems—by promoting peace in conflict zones, expanding social protection programs, and ensuring stable food supply chains—must be a priority. A Food Security Protection Mechanism (FSPM) could play a proactive role in safeguarding vulnerable populations before crises occur.

Third, the report underscores the need to recognize food as a global public good, integrating food security into broader global agendas, such as climate action, trade policies, and financial systems. Currently, food and agriculture receive less than 4% of global climate funding, despite being major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Incorporating food security into climate adaptation strategies and ensuring fairer trade policies are fundamental to long-term sustainability.

Finally, innovation and inclusion must be at the core of governance reforms. Small-scale producers and local communities, often the most affected by food insecurity, need a stronger voice in decision-making. Encouraging sustainable private-sector investments and ensuring equitable access to technological advancements will also be essential to building resilient food systems.

In this context, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, launched during Brazil’s presidency of the G20, represents an important step in the right direction.

The Alliance introduces two essential elements to improve global governance. First, it establishes a “policy basket“, compiling successful food security experiences already tested in different countries, identifying what works, and fostering knowledge exchange among participating nations.

Second, the Alliance makes an explicit call to create synergies with previous global initiatives to eradicate hunger. Over the past two decades, at least 20 major initiatives have been launched with similar goals—to build sustainable food systems and ensure healthy diets for all. However, a critical governance failure has been the lack of a comprehensive assessment of these initiatives’ actual impact: How many people have been reached? How were resources allocated? What tangible results were achieved?

Many of these initiatives still have active funding, yet new programs continue to be developed in parallel, often with the same partners and resources. This inefficiency highlights the urgent need for a systematic approach to food security governance, ensuring that new initiatives build upon existing efforts rather than duplicate them.

A fifth key recommendation, which could be added to those in the Kofi Annan Commission report, is precisely this: conducting a comprehensive evaluation of past food security initiatives, analyzing their impact, and ensuring that future efforts are strategically aligned. Without this approach, global governance will remain fragmented, and progress toward Zero Hunger will continue to be slow and uneven.

The Kofi Annan Commission report provides a valuable roadmap for strengthening global food governance. The challenge is not just to feed the hungry today but to build food systems that prevent hunger tomorrow. Governance is the missing link. Addressing it is not just an option—it is a necessity.

The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty offers a concrete opportunity to put these lessons into practice. However, without strong leadership, clear accountability mechanisms, and a commitment to long-term investments, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past.

President Lula’s globally recognized voice in the fight against hunger naturally positions him as the ideal leader to mobilize efforts toward global Zero Hunger. As President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, Lula led the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger in less than a decade and is now steering the country back on track after years of dismantled food security policies. By 2026, at the end of his third term, if he chooses not to run again, Lula would be the ideal candidate to take on the challenge of becoming the leading voice of the Global Alliance Against Hunger, established under Brazil’s G20 presidency.