Food Security Standard

Food security is a human right, yet hunger and malnutrition persist in many countries that produce agricultural commodities for global markets. Approximately 80 percent of people facing hunger live in rural areas of the Global South and often work in the agricultural sector—including smallholders, farmers and landless labourers (Global Hunger Index 2022). The Food Security Standard (FSS) aims to support the private sector's effort to improve social sustainability and end hunger for farmers, workers and neighbouring communities. It seeks to realize the right to adequate food through the responsible production and global trade of agricultural commodities. The FSS complements existing sustainability standards by providing a holistic approach to the human right to food through a practical toolbox and measurable criteria designed to be applied to all agricultural products, farm sizes and business forms. The FSS was developed in 2017 as a cooperation of the Center for Development Research (University of Bonn, Germany) and the NGOs Welthungerhilfe (Bonn, Germany) and WWF (Berlin, Germany). It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture (BMEL) via the agency "Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe". The Standard is now actively managed by MEO Carbon Solutions and Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. Together, they want to anchor the right to adequate food in sustainability certifications.