A network of local actors for food security

Global Food Security is a priority to which the entire international community is committed. At a European level, efforts were made to create greater coherence between policies that impact on Food Security, seen as a human right to ensure to the world’s population.
Local authorities play a strategic role in this process because they are key actors in ensuring social cohesion in the local territories, facilitating the institutionalization of good practices locally identified and in providing the right combination of local action and regional, national and global policies. Given the key role of local authorities, the project REAL-San aims at setting up a pilot network of decentralized cooperation on Food Security and sustainable development among 24 local authorities in Italy, 24 in Spain and 24 municipalities involved in the PRESANCA (Programa de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional en Centro America). The main objective is to maximize the contribution of decentralized cooperation in the strategies of cooperation in Central America, starting from the mobilization of local actors in Europe and in Central America with a common work agenda. The action involves several Italian and Spanish local bodies, among them Comune di Milano, prime contractor of the project, Province of Milan, Milan Provincial Fund for International Cooperation and Fondo Andaluz de Municipios para la Solidaridad Internacional, together with the Italian NGO Acra (www.acra.it) and other Civil Society Organizations. The agenda focuses on global food security as a common objective to be achieved through coherent policies and effective practices in the field of sustainable rural development.