About Food Security Cluster

The Food Security Cluster (FSC), established in 2011, jointly led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), coordinates food security responses during and after a humanitarian crisis, addressing issues of food availability, access, utilization, and stability. Through a network of about 1,200 partners across 34 operations in 30 countries, the FSC ensures timely, coherent, and effective food security interventions, at both local and global levels. The FSC engages with other global clusters including Health, Nutrition, and WASH, the Joint Intersectoral Assessment Framework and the Global Cluster Coordinators Group to elevate country clusters’ key asks and increase awareness on the state of the food crises. Additionally, the FSC’s accountability to partners is guaranteed by the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) and Working Groups (WGs). Through the global Food Security Cluster (gFSC), guidance, technical and strategic support as well as operational capacity is provided to ensure that national level FSCs are well-positioned to perform on the six core functions[1] and ensure accountability to affected populations. Cluster coordinators lead, steer, and coordinate the food security response towards a common strategic objective agreed with partners and CLAs.

The role of the FSC

Role of food security cluster

 

The 2023-2025 Strategic Plan Priority pillars include: 

  • Improve, scale-up and mainstream anticipatory action on food crises by coordinating and harnessing different sources of financing, technical support, and acting on early warnings. 
  • Strengthen participation, leadership, and capacity of local/ national actors (L/NAs) and drive the localization process. • Build the FSC capacity to contribute to and/or bridge existing development and peace coordination platforms, foster dialogue and identify synergies. 
  • Raise awareness on food insecurity conditions, resource mobilization for humanitarian action, enhance humanitarian advocacy and position the FSC as lead reference for food security analysis and evidence. • Mainstream cross-cutting issues at all stages of the FSC work.

Pillar 1 - Anticipatory Action 

The FSC will contribute to increased understanding of anticipatory action among actors, ensuring country teams have support systems. 

  1. OUTCOME 1. Alignment is facilitated on operational approaches as well as guiding principles to address the complexity of food crises through coordinated anticipatory action. 
  2. OUTCOME 2: Improve the use and accountability of early warnings to ensure anticipatory actions are implemented in a timely manner. 
  3. OUTCOME 3: Improve learning and share best practices to raise awareness and inform practical action of FSC teams and members. 
  4. OUTCOME 4: Advocate for funding for anticipatory action. 
  5. OUTCOME 5: Contribute to the development and inclusion of AA in the Humanitarian Programme Cycle. 

Pillar 2 - LOCALIZATION 

The gFSC will promote meaningful engagement and leaderships of L/NAs in food security coordination responses, enhance capacity building and exchange of best practices, as well as advocate for financial resources. 

  1. OUTCOME 1: Participation and representation 
  2. OUTCOME 2: Leadership, advocacy, and resource mobilization 
  3. OUTCOME 3: Capacity strengthening 
  4. OUTCOME 4: Generating learning 

Pillar 3 – Humanitarian Development Peace (HDP) Nexus 

The FSC will increase country teams’ capacity to integrate the HDP approach into food security programming, foster a strengthened collaboration among humanitarian, development, and peace actors, and provide both enhanced human resources and tools to facilitate coordination. 

  1. OUTCOME 1: Enhanced understanding of, and coordination between, HDP platforms and actors 
  2. OUTCOME 2: Enhanced joint context analysis of systematic and basic drivers of food insecurity and crisis 
  3. OUTCOME 3: Improved programmatic coherence and alignment among HDP actors and actions 
  4. OUTCOME 4: Improved coordinated joint monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEAL) OUTCOME 5: Effective joint initiatives to advocate the HPD approach to reduce humanitarian needs over time 

Pillar 4 – Communication & Advocacy 

Advocacy will strengthen further the positioning of the FSC as the lead reference for analysis and evidence on food security and an effective catalyst for improving how the humanitarian system delivers for affected populations. 

  1. OUTCOME 1. Actively contribute to high-level advocacy platforms to end hunger, save, and enhance livelihoods at national, regional, and global levels. 
  2. OUTCOME 2. Engage in humanitarian advocacy to effectively influence policy makers in addressing the root causes of the global humanitarian crisis and drivers of food insecurity. 
  3. OUTCOME 3. Enhance and leverage the food security partners’ networks, media partnerships and advocacy calendar for coordinated and timely initiatives 
  4. OUTCOME 4. Measure the level of change generated by the FSC advocacy initiatives on the humanitarian response and affected populations 

Cross-cutting 

The gFSC and country FSCs will promote the use of common tools, guidance notes and best practices, as well as deliver training with other stakeholders to improve the quality of the FSC response with the aim to be more accountable to the communities, to reduce the FSC climate footprint and to improve the food security and nutrition outcomes of the FSC responses. 

  1. Protection, Gender, and Inclusion 
  2. Environment and Climate 
  3. Broadened collaboration across sectors for nutrition and health outcomes