ABSTRACT
A review of the policy roundtables on food price volatility and smallholder sensitive investment provides insight into the functioning and implications for increased participation and policy outputs within the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The chapter explores how the shifting dynamics of intergovernmental negotiations play out through a review and comparison of two CFS policy roundtables: 'How to Increase Food Security and Smallholder-Sensitive Investment in Agriculture', and 'Food Price Volatility'. It provides examples of how civil society participants are influencing intergovernmental food security policy processes while shedding light on the internal dynamics and power struggles in the newly reformed CFS. The chapter presents debates on the role of participation in addressing a democratic deficit in global governance. It illustrates opportunities and strategies for ensuring more meaningful participation in multilateral policy processes. The roundtable on increasing food security and smallholder sensitive investment in agriculture began by reviewing the text of the decision box contained in the background document.
