Lost and Wasteful

by Khristian Mendez // I spent most of the day yesterday with the Civil Society working group of Food Losses and Waste. We left the building at 11pm, carrying behind us the dread of a horrible round of negotiations. We lost a few battles, in favor of wasteful systems. Food Losses and Waste is one of those topics that sounds pretty: all we have to do is waste less food, right? That was my initial...

Let us walk out of the hunger map

by khristian mendez // A world free from hunger and malnutrition. That is what we are here to imagine. Yesterday, the 41st Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS41) began. We heard introductions by Gerda Verbug, the Director-General of FAO José Graziano da Silva, and the heads of other Rome-based agencies. The State of Food Insecurity 2014, a report usually presented at this...

Nothing about us, without us / The 5th Annual CSO Forum

by Clara Mareschal & Khristian Méndez // We are at work. Civil Society Organizations from around the world are gathered once more at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, to prepare in advance their coordinated visions on the political architecture needed to guarantee food security and nutrition for all. This is the 5th Annual Civil Society Forum of the International Civil Society Mechanism...

We Need to Talk About Adaptation

by khristian méndez // As the President of Guatemala walked out the room, the First National Congress on Climate Change came to an end. Behind the President, Otto Pérez Molina, came a parade of political figures: the Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, the President of the Guatemalan Congress, a German Ambassador, and several other local and political authorities. Of course, they...

Divided before a Changing Climate

by khristian méndez // Bright eyed and still a little weary from a charged first day, the First National Congress on Climate Change carried on today in Guatemala City. As I wrote yesterday, there's quite a spectrum of political actors and stakeholders regarding climate change. Today, the voices began to show stronger colors, some in stark contrast of each other, characterizing the different...