The Quest for Inclusion: Working towards a cross-sectoral global food security strategy in Germany

Ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030, as decreed by the SDGs, will depend on a fundamental revision of development cooperation. According to the UN, this is in large part due to the ‘slow and uneven’ progress of the MGDs . Yet, on the eve of SDG implementation, critical questions remain unanswered as to which direction development revision will take, and who will have an influential voice in the process. Since the 2007-2008 world food crisis, Germany has steadily increased its overseas development aid (ODA) for agriculture and rural development to over €1.5B, and has made food security a centerpiece of its development agenda. Traditionally, technical cooperation and faith-based initiatives dominated the food security policy dialogue in the country. However, in recent years, there has been a push by civil society to widen discussion to other non-state actors-from NGOs and academia- and represent the diverse needs of the food insecure. With increased stakeholder dialogue comes its own challenges, such as stalemates between civil society and the private sector over best practice, questions over protectionist national agricultural policies, and concerns with the nature of public-private partnerships. Despite such challenges, the urgent need for solutions to high-profile issues which reach across sectors, across silos and across borders ultimately outweighs the growing pains of a shifting paradigm for decision making. This paper draws on research conducted during the German Chancellor Fellowship with support of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Germanwatch. Through a review of recent trends in Germany’s food security initiatives and expert stakeholder interviews from across sectors, this study looks at the evolution of policy influencers, and the trajectory for Germany’s strategy in the next 10-15 years. Key findings examined in the proposed paper include: • A map of the changing food security political landscape in Germany • Analysis on progress and key challenges to the empowerment of civil society in food security decision-making • Linkages between food security policy and other high-profile development issues in Germany such as migration, climate change and trade agreements Germany’s struggle to widen food security discourse echoes that of power negotiations in other donor countries- but the importance of stakeholder inclusion remains clear. Full and meaningful participation, according to FAO, is ultimately what will lead to improved efficiency of governmental action. Looking ahead, the efficiency and success of the SDGs will depend on the ability of national strategies to find cohesion and inclusion of new approaches.