CAFoSeL: WCC Delegates Coordinate Food Security and Livelihood Action After the World Social Forum

During the World Social Forum in Cotonou, the World Council of Churches convened a side event titled “Fiscal Justice for Food Systems: Debt, Subsidies and Smallholder Support,” open to participants from across West Africa and beyond. The discussion examined the structural pressures facing smallholder farmers and food systems, including debt, subsidy regimes, and fiscal policy.

Among the WCC-sponsored delegates who attended the side event were a number of Nigerian organizations and individuals. In the aftermath, this group took the initiative to come together, review the lessons of the discussion, and agree that they should be carried into concrete, actionable work. Rather than attempt to act on every theme raised, they chose to concentrate on one area: food security and livelihoods.

This resolve led to the Inaugural Food Security and Livelihood Coordination Meeting, held on Monday, 17 August 2026, at the Urban Agriculture Garden and Academy, National Museum of Unity, Ibadan, Oyo State. The meeting was hosted by Mrs Oluwatomi Olatoye, Director of the Urban Agriculture Garden and Academy, and opened with a prayer.

The meeting brought together representatives from organizations working across food security, nutrition, urban agriculture, livelihoods, environmental sustainability and community development. These included the Ecumenism for Development and Peace Initiative (EDAPI), represented by Dr Abiodun James Aderele, Miss Precious Oyekanmi and Mr Alexander Ayodele; the Family Peace and Development Initiative (FPDI), represented by Mr Emmanuel Ayegboyin; and For Nature and Future Eco Green Initiative (FONAFGI), represented by Mr Elijah Ibukun Adejimi. Approximately eight organizations were already connected to the emerging initiative at the time of the meeting, with room for further participation.

Discussions centered on the need for organizations to complement one another's expertise and resources rather than work in isolation, and on the difference between a coordination mechanism and a consortium. Participants agreed that a Terms of Reference should be developed to define the vision, mission, objectives, membership, communication channels, meeting frequency and funding mechanisms of the coordination. A three member committee, including Mr Elijah Ibukun Adejimi, Miss Precious Oyekanmi and Mr Emmanuel Ayegboyin, was tasked with coordinating this drafting process.

The meeting also identified areas for potential joint programming, among them food production and urban agriculture, food security and nutrition, livelihood development, sustainable agriculture, environmental conservation, food processing and value addition, and climate resilient food systems. Members noted the importance of pursuing projects that are both impactful and fundable, and discussed possible engagement with partners such as the International Organization for Migration and Bread for the World.

An immediate point of focus for the coalition is World Food Day on October 16, 2026. Following guidance from Dinesh Suna (WCC Program Executive for Land, Water, and Food), CAFoSeL will integrate its World Food Day mobilization with the WCC, Caritas Internationalis, and World Vision International campaign, "Give your loaves and fish." Launched under the Prayer and Action Against Hunger Coalition (PAAHC), this campaign calls on local communities and churches to share resources and drive local solidarity to combat hunger<!-->^-->. Members agreed to plan a joint activity around this initiative, using World Food Day as a springboard for ongoing community-based action across Nigeria.

The next coordination meeting is scheduled to take place online in September 2026, when the completed Terms of Reference will be reviewed and a concrete action plan for World Food Day will be agreed.

From this foundation emerged CAFoSeL, the Coordination of Actors on Food Security and Livelihoods, whose broader goal is to advance the agendas of the World Social Forum and the World Council of Churches in practical and measurable terms, beginning in Nigeria with an ambition to grow across the region. Participation is structured primarily around organizational membership, with individual partners also welcomed. CAFoSeL looks forward to the continued support of the World Council of Churches and the World Social Forum as it develops its Terms of Reference, executes its joint "Give your loaves and fish" World Food Day program, and works toward publishing a Fact Sheet on Food Security and Livelihood in Africa for 2027.